‘Haunting, heartfelt and beautiful’ CHRIS CLEAVE
Nina, her son Christopher in tow, flies to Malta for one last visit with her aging parents.
Her previous attempt to see them ended in tears. Disowned for falling pregnant while at university in England, she was not allowed into the house.
This will be her final chance to make her peace with them.
But Malta holds more secrets and surprises than Nina could possibly imagine. What she finds is not the land of her youth, a place full of memories and happiness. Instead she meets dead people. Lots of them.
Malta, it transpires, is a transit lounge for recently deceased spirits and somehow Christopher enables her to see them, speak with them and help them.
And, in return, they help Nina come to terms with her own loss. One so great that she has yet to admit it to herself.
Like Bees to Honey is a story of family, redemption and ghosts. It is a magical tale that will live with you long after you finish reading.

Like Bees to Honey

Smailes, Caroline

Romance

The Friday Project

Black Boxes

Julie Myerson meets Ian McEwan in this gripping novel of family breakdown. Ana Lewis is trapped by her own expectations. Her intense relationship with fellow student Alex begins to crack beyond repair when she falls pregnant, and his subsequent withdrawal, emotionally and sexually are hard for Ana to bear. Eventually, following the birth of Pip and then Davie, Alex leaves Ana to a life of question and blame. Locked in her room for much of the time she woefully neglects her children, preferring instead to replay scenes from her life over and over, fighting the urge to blink for fear it should dissipate the memories. Told within the context of two black boxes, one Ana's and one Pip's, the story reveals the key factors that have contributed to this catastrophic breakdown of life. In Black Box 01 we meet Ana as she begins to deconstruct her life. She rails against Alex and his inability to love her, or to put her ahead of his domineering mother. Black Box 02 is Pip's diary which details in a schoolgirl terms the neglect that both Pip and Davie have suffered. Pip talks of her mother's deterioration, lack of cleanliness and of her mother's obsessions. Pip and Davie communicate through finger sign language, as their mother demands silence. Davie retreats into his own world, permanently soiled and communicating only by sign, while Pip, fat and desperate, sneaks out of the house at night to have sex with a boy who hates her. Pip and Davie exist in parallel, with only Ana's bedroom door separating her from them. She does not want to see them. They are the present and Ana chooses to live in a past, continually raking over the ashes of a relationship that was never really hers. Accomplished and affecting, Caroline Smailes weaves together a catastrophic tale of mismatched lives.

The Friday Project Limited

Ana Lewis is trapped by her own expectations. Her intense relationship with fellow student Alex begins to crack beyond repair when she falls pregnant, and his subsequent withdrawal, emotionally and sexually, are hard for Ana to bear. Eventually, following the birth of Pip and then Davie, Alex leaves Ana to a life of question and blame. Locked in her room for much of the time she woefully neglects her children, preferring instead to replay scenes from her life over and over, fighting the urge to blink for fear it should dissipate the memories. Told within the context of two black boxes, one Ana's and one Pip's, the story reveals the key factors that have contributed to this catastrophic breakdown of life. In Black Box 01 we meet Ana as she begins to deconstruct her life. She rails against Alex and his inability to love her, or to put her ahead of his domineering mother. Black Box 02 is Pip's diary which details in a schoolgirl terms the neglect that both Pip and Davie have suffered. Pip talks of her mother's deterioration, lack of cleanliness, and of her mother's obsessions. Pip and Davie communicate through finger sign language, as their mother demands silence. Davie retreats into his own world, permanently soiled and communicating only by sign, while Pip, fat and desperate, sneaks out of the house at night to have sex with a boy who hates her. Pip and Davie exist in parallel, with only Ana's bedroom door separating her from them. She does not want to see them. They are the present and Ana chooses to live in a past, continually raking over the ashes of a relationship that was never really hers. Accomplished and affecting, Caroline Smailes weaves together a catastrophic tale of mismatched lives.

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Harpercollins Pub, Ltd.

<div>A Christmas Carol meets Stranger Things in this funny, sweary and moving festive story. When 19-year old Theodora Quirke heads to work on Christmas Eve the last person she expects to find outside of her flat is St. Nicholas of Myra - the Saint people think is Santa Claus (much to Saint Nick's disgust). Given he is in full Santa suit and professing to be nearly 2000 years old Theo is wary, but St. Nick insists he is here to save her - although he isn't sure how or why. St. Nick does know that Theo is grieving however, so he shows her four scenes from her life that give her hope, but he's also had cryptic messages from the Christmas Higher Powers that lead him to begin Theo's training as the first ever female Christmas Angel - a role Theo is not sure she is cut out for. Theo's training is soon derailed by St. Nick's evil brother, filled with jealousy and spite over his brother's popularity and, with confidence dented, and saddened by society's spiraling levels of expectation and greed, St. Nick begins to falter. Theo does everything she can to defeat Nick's brother and to lift St. Nick's spirits, but as the deadline for Christmas miracles draws close, she realises she must complete them herself - but is she up to the job?</div>

The Unwrapping of Theodora Quirke

RedDoor Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smailes, Caroline. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Smailes, Caroline

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Smailes, Caroline. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Like Bees to Honey

Black Boxes

Black Boxes

The Unwrapping of Theodora Quirke