Literary Fiction

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A Thread of Light

A Thread of Light

London, 1941. As German bombers descend on the city, two women find themselves caught in a different struggle: the fight for Indian independence from British rule. Ruby, a lonely air raid warden, becomes involved with the India Forum, a group campaigning for India’s freedom. She has her own reasons for joining the movement, but her growing attraction to Satyajit, a charismatic and potentially dangerous freedom fighter, forces her to question her loyalties. Meanwhile, Kitty, an Indian lawyer who has left her family in Bombay to build a life in Britain with the man she loves, risks everything to help Indian men challenge wartime conscription. As their lives intersect, political tensions, personal betrayals, and the threat of violence push both women towards decisions that could change their futures forever. Set against the Blitz and India’s independence movement, A Thread of Light uncovers a lesser-known chapter of British wartime history. Through its intertwined stories of love, sacrifice, and resistance, the novel explores the complicated relationship between colonial power and freedom, asking what people are willing to risk for their beliefs and the people they love.

India United Kingdom 2025

The Book of I

In the year 825, a Viking raid leaves a remote Scottish island littered with the dead. Only three unlikely survivors remain: Martin, a young monk who escaped the massacre; Una, a beekeeper and mead maker freed from her abusive husband by the violence; and Grimur, an ageing Viking who survives being buried alive by his own companions. Stranded together on an island where trust seems impossible, the three begin building an unexpected life. Martin clings to his Christian faith, Una finds freedom in the rhythms of nature, and Grimur discovers that peace may offer something the battlefield never could. But can a fragile community survive when its members come from opposing worlds—and when the past refuses to stay buried? Set against the wild beauty of the Scottish coast, The Book of I blends brutal history with irreverent humour and surprising tenderness. David Greig explores faith, guilt, redemption, and the possibility of finding family in the most unlikely places. It is a story about what remains after destruction—and whether people who once stood on opposite sides can learn to live together.

United Kingdom 2025

The Original

A painting is burned to ashes. Years later, it mysteriously returns. And in a crumbling English country house, nothing—and no one—is quite what they seem. Oxfordshire, 1899. Grace Inderwick has spent most of her life as an unwanted guest in her wealthy uncle’s household. An outsider with a talent for copying paintings, she secretly turns her unusual skill into a way to earn money and imagine a life beyond the estate. But when her cousin Charles, presumed dead after disappearing at sea, suddenly returns, the family is thrown into turmoil. Some believe he is their long-lost relative; others suspect an impostor hoping to claim the family fortune. As Grace becomes entangled in the mystery, her own secrets threaten to surface. In a world where appearances can deceive and even love involves a kind of imitation, she must decide whom to trust—and who she wants to become. Atmospheric, witty, and full of Victorian intrigue, The Original explores the blurred boundaries between authenticity and deception, asking what makes a person truly original.

United Kingdom 2025

There Are Rivers in the Sky

There Are Rivers in the Sky

In There Are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak weaves together the lives of three characters connected by water, memory, and the ancient city of Nineveh. In Victorian London, Arthur, a gifted boy born into poverty, develops a fascination with the Epic of Gilgamesh. In nineteenth-century Ottoman Mesopotamia, Narin, a young Yazidi girl, faces the threat of displacement as her community’s traditions and homeland come under pressure. In contemporary London, Zaleekhah, a hydrologist struggling with personal loss, becomes drawn into the histories of the Tigris and its surrounding landscapes. Moving across centuries and continents, the novel explores the enduring connections between human lives, ancient civilizations, and the natural world. Through its interwoven narratives, Shafak examines environmental destruction, cultural heritage, religious persecution, and the transformative power of water as a source of life, memory, and renewal.

Iraq United Kingdom 2024

The List

One anonymous post. One devastating accusation. One month until the wedding. Ola Olajide has built her career exposing powerful men accused of misconduct. As a successful journalist at Womxxxn magazine, she knows exactly what women should do when allegations surface—and what happens when they stay silent. Now, just weeks before her wedding, Ola wakes up to a message that threatens to destroy the future she has imagined: her fiancé, Michael Koranteng, has appeared on a viral online list of men accused of abusive behaviour. Until now, Ola and Michael have been the couple everyone admires. But as the allegations spread, their carefully curated love story begins to unravel. Ola must decide whether to stand by the man she loves or risk becoming the very kind of woman she has spent her career criticising. Meanwhile, Michael insists he is innocent, and the relentless online speculation leaves little room for uncertainty. Sharp, unsettling, and impossible to dismiss, The List explores what happens when the court of public opinion delivers its verdict before all the facts are known. Yomi Adegoke delves into the collision between feminism, accountability, loyalty, and the unforgiving machinery of social media. When the internet decides who you are, can the truth still save you?

United Kingdom 2023

Western Lane

Eleven-year-old Gopi lives in England with her father and two older sisters following the death of her mother. Struggling to express their grief, the family turns to squash, and Gopi gradually becomes consumed by the sport. The discipline of training provides structure and a way to connect with her father, but it also distances her from her sisters. As Gopi develops into a talented player, she discovers how competition, repetition, and physical movement can express emotions that words cannot. Maroo’s restrained prose captures the quiet complexities of family relationships, the isolation of grief, and the experience of growing up within a Gujarati immigrant family. Western Lane is a moving exploration of how people mourn differently and how shared routines can become a language of love and survival.

United Kingdom 2023

Trespasses

In 1970s Northern Ireland, as the Troubles bring violence and fear to everyday life, Cushla Lavery tries to build a future beyond the narrow confines of her small Catholic community. She teaches young children at a parochial school and helps run her family’s pub, all while caring for her troubled mother. One evening, she meets Michael Agnew, an older, married Protestant barrister known for defending IRA members. Despite the religious divisions and social dangers surrounding them, Cushla begins a passionate affair with him. But their private relationship unfolds against a landscape where loyalties are fiercely policed and even the smallest actions can have devastating consequences. When a young pupil’s father is brutally attacked, Cushla becomes caught in a chain of events that threatens the people she loves. Tender and unflinching, Trespasses explores forbidden love, sectarian hatred, and the impossible choices faced by ordinary people living through extraordinary violence.

United Kingdom 2022

Salt Slow

In her brilliantly inventive and haunting debut collection of stories, Julia Armfield explores bodies and the bodily, mapping the skin and bones of her characters through their experiences of isolation, obsession, love and revenge. Teenagers develop ungodly appetites, a city becomes insomniac overnight, and bodies are diligently picked apart to make up better ones. The mundane worlds of schools and sleepy sea-side towns are invaded and transformed, creating a landscape which is constantly shifting to hold on to its inhabitants. Blurring the mythic and the gothic with the everyday, salt slow considers characters in motion – turning away, turning back or simply turning into something new entirely.

United Kingdom 2022

The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac

The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac

In this striking collection of fifteen short stories, ordinary lives unravel in unexpected ways. A newly married woman finds herself abandoned in a half-finished housing estate; a mother grows increasingly suspicious of her husband’s relationship with a teenage girl; a woman struggles with guilt after an abortion threatens her marriage. Across these stories, Louise Kennedy’s characters confront betrayal, poverty, violence, loneliness, and the quiet desperation of lives that have not turned out as planned. Set against the landscapes and social realities of Ireland, the collection reveals how private struggles are shaped by wider forces, from the legacy of the Troubles to restrictive expectations placed on women. Kennedy balances bleak humour with moments of tenderness and beauty, finding humanity in characters who are often flawed, trapped, or complicit in their own unhappiness. The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac is an unflinching portrait of people at breaking points, exploring how cruelty and vulnerability coexist—and how unexpected glimpses of hope can emerge from the most difficult circumstances.

United Kingdom 2021

Kololo Hill

In 1972, Ugandan Asians are given just ninety days to leave the country under President Idi Amin’s expulsion order. For Asha and Pran, newly married and working to secure their future, the decree means abandoning the family business and the life they have built. Pran’s mother, Jaya, must also leave the home she has known for decades. As violence escalates in Kampala and people begin disappearing, the family faces an uncertain journey to Britain, where refuge does not necessarily mean belonging. Arriving in a country that feels unfamiliar, they must rebuild their lives while carrying the emotional weight of everything they have lost. But their struggle is complicated by a devastating secret surrounding their expulsion—one that threatens to fracture the family just when they need one another most. Moving between the green hills of Kampala and the terraced streets of London, Kololo Hill explores displacement, family loyalty, and the meaning of home. Inspired by the history of Uganda’s Asian community and the author’s own family heritage, this moving novel reveals how political upheaval can reshape lives across generations.

Uganda United Kingdom 2021

We Are All Birds Of Uganda

We Are All Birds Of Uganda

In 1960s Uganda, Hasan is struggling to rebuild his life after the death of his wife. Just as he begins to find his footing, political upheaval and rising racial prejudice threaten everything he has worked for. As a member of Uganda’s South Asian community, Hasan faces an uncertain future in a country his family has long called home. The political climate deteriorates further under Idi Amin’s regime, which ultimately forces many South Asians to leave Uganda. Decades later, in London, Sameer appears to have everything: a successful career as a lawyer and the future he once dreamed of. Yet beneath his achievements lies a persistent sense of emptiness. An unexpected family tragedy draws him back into his family’s history, revealing the sacrifices, losses, and unanswered questions that shaped his identity. Moving between generations and continents, We Are All Birds of Uganda explores displacement, racial prejudice, inherited trauma, and the complicated meaning of belonging. Through Hasan and Sameer’s intertwined stories, Hafsa Zayyan examines how migration reshapes families and how the past continues to influence those who inherit its consequences.

Uganda United Kingdom 2021

Let's Tell This Story Properly

Let's Tell This Story Properly

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

In Let’s Tell This Story Properly, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi explores the experiences of Ugandans living in Britain, examining how migration reshapes identity, family relationships, and the meaning of home. Across a collection of interconnected stories, her characters navigate the challenges of building lives in a country where they may be highly visible as workers and neighbours yet remain socially marginalised. From airport security staff to healthcare workers and families divided between continents, the stories reveal the everyday realities of belonging to more than one place. The title story follows Nnam, a Ugandan woman living in Manchester, who returns to Uganda with her husband’s body for his funeral rites. There, she discovers that the life she thought she understood concealed painful secrets. Other stories explore the difficult adjustment of immigrants, generational tensions within diaspora families, and the ways cultural expectations persist across distance. Characters often find themselves caught between the home they left and the new home they are trying to make, never feeling entirely at ease in either. With emotional depth, sharp observation, and occasional dark humour, Makumbi portrays migration as more than a geographical journey. It is also a process of renegotiating family loyalties, cultural identity, and personal history. The collection asks how far people must travel to find belonging—and what happens when the meaning of home changes while they are away.

Uganda United Kingdom 2019