When Memory Dies

Literature & Fiction

Sivanandan, A.

Genre Fiction

Arcadia Books

14289--While working as a missionary priest in the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship, Julian Tremayne championed the Communist rebels and found himself imprisoned for murder. Now, three decades later, following Julian's death, a cult develops around him, even calling for sainthood. When Philip Seward goes to investigate on behalf of Julian's family, he is drawn into a labyrinth of vice, violence, and corruption where nothing and nobody are what they seem. Enriched by a gallery of engaging characters ranging from priests to prostitutes, GIs to gangsters, and street children to Imelda Marcos, this outstanding novel is at once a gripping psychological thriller, a challenging moral mystery, and an unforgettable voyage into a dark and exotic landscape. "This is Arditti's most dazzling novel to date because of the scale of his ambition and his triumph in pulling it off. It seamlessly combines profound theological questions with a compelling psychological thriller."-Daily Telegraph.

The Breath of Night

Michael Arditti

A multi-layered, multi-faceted story of love and loneliness, finding and losing, and mixed-race marriage, Revolt is the tale of three wealthy sisters and the problems that no amount of money can solve. There is a daughter, abandoned because of an impulsive marriage, an aunt who pines for lost love, and a bridegroom with the biggest problem of them all. Set in England and the fictional village of Gulistan in Pakistan, with its fascinating array of quirky, eccentric and unforgettable characters, Revolt centers on the forthcoming marriage of two rich cousins and the often hilarious, but always deeply moving, pitfalls and perils of living in a place where everyone knows everybody else's business. "Intimately reveals Pakistani family life. Traditional Muslim values meet modern Western one, setting off a whimsical collection of problems and events."--World Lit Today, May-Aug. 2014

Revolt

Shahraz, Qaisra

Literary

A thrilling SOE spy novel by a former special forces officer who is 'poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carré'\n'Edward Wilson seems poised to inherit the mantle of John le Carré' Irish Independent\n'More George Smiley than James Bond, Catesby will delight those readers looking for less blood and more intelligence in their spy thrillers' Publishers Weekly\nCambridge, 1941. A teenage William Catesby leaves his studies to join the war effort.\nParachuted into Occupied France as an SOE officer, he witnesses remarkable feats of bravery during the 
French Resistance.\nYet he is also privy to infighting and betrayal - some of the Maquisards are more concerned with controlling the peace than fighting the war. Double agents and informers abound, and with torture a certainty if he is taken, Catesby knows there is no one he can trust.\nPassed from safe house to safe house, with the Abwehr on his tail, he is drawn towards Lyon, a city of backstreets and blind alleys. His mission is simple: thwart an act of treachery that could shape the future of France.\n'Edward Wilson's excellent Portrait of the Spy as a Young Man draws on his own special forces training' 
Independent\n'Engaging . . . Dynamic . . . Wilson's fascination is as much with how the spy betrays himself as with how 
he manipulates others' The Times\nPraise for Edward Wilson:\n'Stylistically sophisticated . . . Wilson knows how to hold the reader's attention' W.G. Sebald\n'A reader is really privileged to come across something like this' Alan Sillitoe\n'All too often, amid the glitzy gadgetry of the spy thriller, all the fast cars and sexual adventures, we lose sight of the essential seriousness of what is at stake. John le Carré reminds us, often, and so does Edward Wilson' Independent

Portrait of the Spy as a Young Man: A gripping WWII espionage thriller by a former special forces officer

Wilson, Edward

"An engrossing, enthralling and utterly captivating read, The Young Pretender tells a simply remarkable story with bounce, energy, wit, and lively authenticity . . . Michael Arditti's brilliant imaginative achievement offers high comedy, dark tragedy and everything between" STEPHEN FRY\n"The Young Pretender is an absolute joy - charming and funny, with the lightest hint of melancholy, and a wonderfully imaginative recreation of the Georgian theatre scene" KATE SAUNDERS\n"I loved how Arditti conjures...the smell of the theatre and the ghosts of these bygone players that haunt the stage...and the wonderful period details. Arditti wears his research so lightly" LARUSHKA IVAN-ZADEH, reviewing on Radio 4's FRONT ROW *****\nMobbed by the masses, lionised by the aristocracy, courted by royalty and lusted after by patrons of both sexes, the child actor William Henry West Betty was one of the most famous people in Georgian Britain.\nAt the age of thirteen, he played leading roles, including Romeo, Macbeth and Richard III, in theatres across the country. Prime Minister William Pitt adjourned the House of Commons so that its members could attend his debut as Hamlet at Covent Garden. Then, as rivals turned on him and scandal engulfed him, he suffered a fall as merciless as his rise had been meteoric.\n"Arditti's voice as Betty is impeccable. He is touchy, sometimes myopic, sincere in his ambitions. His attempts to reclaim lost glory are run through with an affecting melancholy" The Times\nThe Young Pretender takes place during Betty's attempted comeback at the age of twenty-one. As he seeks to relaunch his career, he is forced to confront the painful truths behind his boyhood triumphs. Michael Arditti's revelatory new novel puts this long forgotten figure back in the limelight. In addition to its rich and poignant portrait of Betty himself, it offers an engrossing insight into both the theatre and society of the age. The nature of celebrity, the power of publicity and the cult of youth are laid bare in a story that is more pertinent now than ever.\n"Entrancing and disturbing" ALLAN MASSIE, The Scotsman\n"Michael Arditti tells a story of a Regency child star with great panache and compassion, bringing a forgotten celebrity back to life for the modern age. A compelling read I was sad to finish." LINDA GRANT\n"Michael Arditti is a writer who takes risks. His material is always compelling and provocative, his techniques sophisticated and oblique" PATRICIA DUNCKER, Independent on Sunday\n"Arditti is a master storyteller" PETER STANFORD, Observer

The Young Pretender

Biographies & Memoirs

Arditti, Michael

Arts & Literature

'An engrossing, enthralling and utterly captivating read,&nbsp;The Young Pretender&nbsp;tells a simply remarkable story with bounce, energy, wit, and lively authenticity . . . Michael Arditti's brilliant imaginative achievement offers high comedy, dark tragedy and everything between' STEPHEN FRY Mobbed by the masses, lionised by the aristocracy, courted by royalty and lusted after by patrons of both sexes, the child actor William Henry West Betty was one of the most famous people in Georgian Britain. At the age of thirteen, he played leading roles, including Romeo, Macbeth&nbsp;and Richard III, in theatres across the country. Prime Minister William Pitt adjourned the House of Commons so that its members could attend his debut as Hamlet at Covent Garden. Then, as rivals turned on him and scandal engulfed him, he suffered a fall as merciless as his rise had been meteoric. The Young Pretender takes place during Betty's attempted comeback at the age of twenty-one. As he seeks to relaunch his career, he is forced to confront the painful truths behind his boyhood triumphs. Michael Arditti's revelatory new novel puts this long forgotten figure back in the limelight. In addition to its rich and poignant portrait of Betty himself, it offers an engrossing insight into both the theatre and society of the age. The nature of celebrity, the power of publicity and the cult of youth are laid bare in a story that is more pertinent now than ever. 'Michael Arditti is a writer who takes risks. His material is always compelling and provocative, his techniques sophisticated and oblique' PATRICIA DUNCKER, Independent on Sunday 'Arditti is a master storyteller' PETER STANFORD, Observer

On Hampstead Heath: A delightfully sharp and witty comedy of errors

"A mystery and an elegy for the death of old-fashioned journalism, it's a book that will warm your heart." The Observer\n"Splendid . . . Funny, poignant, perceptive and plenty of sharp elbows along the way." Val McDermid\nThorn Marsh was raised in a house of whispers, of meaningful glances and half- finished sentences. Now she's a journalist with a passion for truth, more devoted to her work at the London Journal than she ever was to her ex-husband.\nWhen the newspaper is bought by media giant The Goring Group, who value sales figures over fact-checking, Thorn openly questions their methods, and promptly finds herself moved from the news desk to the midweek supplement, reporting heart-warming stories for their new segment, The Bright Side, a job to which she is spectacularly unsuited.\nOn a final warning and with no heart-warming news in sight, a desperate Thorn fabricates a good-news story of her own. The story, centred on an angelic apparition on Hampstead Heath, goes viral. Caught between her principles and her ambitions, Thorn goes in search of the truth behind her creation, only to find the answers locked away in the unconscious mind of a stranger.\nMarika Cobbold returns with her eighth novel, On Hampstead Heath. Sharp, poignant, and infused with dark humour, On Hampstead Heath is an homage to storytelling and to truth; to the tales we tell ourselves, and the stories that save us.

On Hampstead Heath: A Delightfully Sharp and Witty Comedy of Errors

Humor & Entertainment

COBBOLD, Marika

Humor

As a woman in the early 1980s, Clarissa Phipps is unable to pursue her vocation to the priesthood. Instead, she joins the BBCs religious affairs department, where she is sent to interview celebrated artist, Seward Wemlock, about the panels he is painting for an ancient Cheshire church. 30 years on, Clarissa, now rector of that same church, chances upon Brian, the chief bell-ringer and husband of her closest friend, fondling 15-year-old David. Dismissing Davids claim that they are in love, Clarissa is obliged to act. Will she choose friendship or conscience, sympathy or her official duty of care? The fallout from that choice forces her to reflect on the controversy over Wemlocks panels and her concerns about his relationship with the teenagers who modelled for Adam and Eve. Had she acted on the whispers that reached her at the time, how many lives would have turned out differently?

The Choice

Aitti, Michael

Humor & Satire

Ingenious, consistently taut and witty' TLS 'Humorous and quizzical, with a light touch on weighty themes, the narrative darts about with lizard-like colour and velocity' Independent 'Strange, elliptical, charming' Guardian 'A poetic, beguiling meditation on truth and storytelling . . . from the dreamscapes of magical realism to a gripping political thriller and even a murder mystery' New Internationalist Félix Ventura trades in memories, a slippery character selling new pasts to people whose bright futures lack only a good lineage, and wiping clean the slate of their identity. In a narrative that darts between past and present Angola, a bookish albino man, a beautiful woman, a mysterious foreigner and a witty talking lizard come together to discover their real origins. For theirs is a world where the truth seems to shift from moment to moment and where history itself is up for grabs . . . WINNER OF THE&nbsp;INDEPENDENT FOREIGN FICTION PRIZE 'A work of fierce originality' Independent 'Without doubt one of the most important Portuguese-language writers of his generation' ANTÓNIO LOBO ANTUNES 'Cross J. M. Coetzee with Gabriel García Márquez and you've got José Eduardo Agualusa' ALAN KAUFMAN Translated from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn

The Book of Chameleons

Agualusa, Jose-Eduardo

MAIL ON SUNDAY THRILLER OF THE MONTH São Paulo, 20 March 2016 A campaign for the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff is in full swing, yet 100,000 people take to Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo in her support. On the same day, a young man from a wealthy family is murdered. Detective Mario Leme discovers the body. Two Military Policemen confront him.They strongarm him into the back of an SUV. Set against the backdrop of the biggest political corruption scandal in Brazilian history, Playboy is the story of Leme's attempt to clear his name, and find the young man's killer. Leme's investigation runs right through Sao Paulo society, from the bottom, to the very top and has implications far beyond. And the fight to prove his innocence might just cost Leme his life. A stylish, taut, and atmospheric novel in the hardboiled tradition of American noir, Playboy is a thrilling examination of the seething, violent street life of Sao Paulo and the political convulsions of contemporary Brazil. PRAISE FOR JOE THOMAS 'Brilliant' The Times 'Feverish energy' Guardian 'Wonderfully vivid' Mail on Sunday 'Sophisticated, dizzying' GQ 'Vivid and visceral' The Times 'Superbly realised vivid and atmospheric' Guardian 'Original' Mail on Sunday 'A stylish, atmospheric treat an inspired blend of David Peace and early Pinter' Irish Times 'Sparse, energetic, fragmented prose' The Spectator 'Vibrant, colourful, and complex' Irish Independent 'Stylish, sharp-witted, taut. A must for modern noir fans' NB Magazine 'Definitive confident and energetic' Crime Time 'Brilliant manic energy' Jake Arnott 'Wildly stylish and hugely entertaining' Lucy Caldwell 'Vivid, stylish, funny' Mick Herron 'Gripping, fast-paced, darkly atmospheric' Susanna Jones 'Snappy, thoughtful, moving' John King 'Exciting, fresh, incredibly assured' Stav Sherez 'Happy days!' Mark Timlin 'Utterly brilliant' Cathi Unsworth 'Had James Ellroy and David Peace collaborated on a novel they'd have written something like this' Paul Willets

Playboy (São Paulo Quartet)

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Thomas, Joe

Mystery

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Books by Arcadia Books

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

When Memory Dies

The Breath of Night

Revolt

Portrait of the Spy as a Young Man: A gripping WWII espionage thriller by a former special forces officer

The Young Pretender

The Young Pretender

On Hampstead Heath: A Delightfully Sharp and Witty Comedy of Errors

The Choice

The Book of Chameleons

Playboy (São Paulo Quartet)