December 2015 Bloomsbury Sales
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DECEMBER 2015 Scarpia Piers Paul Read Based on one of the central figures from Tosca, Puccini's classic opera, Scarpia is a powerful story of love, lust and political intrigue set in Rome after the French Revolution Description Man is a delicate mechanism. he can easily be set off course. It is the late 18th century and nobleman Vitellio Scarpia finds himself, penniless and in disgrace, on the streets of Rome. After leaving his home, on a quest for a successful military career, his fiery passion has seen him expelled from the Spanish royal guard and left to seek his fortune in Italy; a fortune inseparably bound to the Pope, whose regency has been in question since the French Revolution. Intent on furthering his position in Rome, Scarpia supplements his income as a guard by accompanying a seductive countess, delighted at the prospect of having an ex-soldier on her arm. With her as his guide, Scarpia is able to attend the many decadent parties and festivals open to the upper echelons of the city. That is, provided he does his duty. But, traversing a society swirling with questions of political and sexual morality, the provincial soldier feels himself harden. And, as his own path converges with that of the gifted, beautiful Floria Tosca, he discovers that the fate that led him to power will be the same one that tears him from it. Steeped in factual detail and exploring the fictional figure whose actions define Puccini's famous opera, Tosca, novelist Piers Paul Read here tells the powerful tale of Vitellio Scarpia, a story that shines a light into the dusty corridors of history and the dark corners of the human soul. About the Author Piers Paul Read is best known for his book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, which documented the story of the 1972 crash of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 and was adapted into a film in 1993. He has won a number of prizes for his fiction, including the Hawthornden Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Price: $29.99 (NZ$32.99) ISBN: 9781408867501 Format: Paperback - C format Dimensions: 234x153mm Extent: 320 pages Main Category: F Fiction Sub Category: FV Historical Fiction Illustrations: Previous Titles: Author now living: Bloomsbury DECEMBER 2015 The Inflatable Woman Rachael Ball An unconventional and magical debut graphic novel about unrequited love, illness, hope, comrades and delusion Description Iris (or balletgirl42 as she's known on the internet dating circuit) is a zookeeper looking for love when she is diagnosed with breast cancer. Overnight, her life becomes populated with a carnival of daunting hospital characters. Despite the attempts of her friends - Maud, Granma Suggs, Larry the Monkey and a group of singing penguins - to comfort her, Iris's fears begin to encircle her until all she has to cling to is the attention of a lighthouse keeper called sailor_buoy_39. The Inflatable Woman combines magic realism with the grit of everyday life to create a poignant and surreal journey inside the human psyche. About the Author Rachael Ball is a cartoonist and a teacher. Her illustrations and cartoons have appeared in various publications including City Life, Deadline, Fanny, the Times Educational Supplement, the Radio Times, The Strumpet and Russ Kick's Graphic Canon of Childrens' Literature. The Inflatable Woman is her first graphic novel. @rachaelcartoons Price: $35.00 (NZ$39.99) ISBN: 9781408858073 Format: Hard Cover Dimensions: 227x175mm Extent: 544 pages Main Category: F Fiction Sub Category: F Fiction Illustrations: Previous Titles: Author now living: Bloomsbury DECEMBER 2015 The Holy Sail Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud In the name of the Cross, Portuguese fleets head to the Gulf. In the name of Allah, Arabian tribes must resist. Description Oblivious to the invasions, massacres and religious fanaticism that characterise the 15th century, a young girl falls in love with a noble Arabian tribal leader. But all eyes are on the Portuguese fleets in the Arabian Gulf, intent on securing the profitable spice trade. Abdulaziz Al Mahmoud weaves a tapestry of momentous historical events with stories of love, honour and nobility, while guiding us around the medieval world of Lisbon, Cairo, Jeddah and Istanbul. The Holy Sail brings to life a neglected episode of history that impacted not only the region but the world for centuries to come. About the Author Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud is a Qatari engineer and journalist. He has a BA in engineering from Clarkson University in New York and an aviation and engineering diploma from the UK. He worked as editor-in-chief of Alsharq and The Peninsula newspapers as well as www.aljazeera.net. This is his second novel. Price: $19.99 (NZ$22.99) ISBN: 9789927101670 Format: Paperback Dimensions: 198x129mm Extent: 400 pages Main Category: F Fiction Sub Category: F Fiction Illustrations: Previous Titles: Author now living: Bloomsbury Qatar DECEMBER 2015 The Same Old Story Ivan Goncharov 'Goncharov is ten heads above me in talent.' Anton Chekhov Description Filled with dreams of pursuing a career as a poet, the young Alexander Aduev moves from the country to St Petersburg, where he takes up lodgings next to his uncle Pyotr, and a shrewd and world-weary businessman. As his ideals are challenged by disappointment in the fields of love, friendship and poetical ambition, Alexander must decide whether to return to the homely values he has left behind or adapt to the ruthless rules and morals of city life. Told in the author's trademark humorous style and presented in a sparkling new translation by Stephen Pearl, The Same Old Story - Goncharov's first novel, preceding his masterpiece Oblomov by twelve years - is a study of lost illusions and rude spiritual awakening in the modern world. About the Author Ivan Goncharov (1812-91) was a Russian official, novelist, critic and travel writer, who is best remembered for his masterpiece Oblomov. Price: $19.99 (NZ$22.99) ISBN: 9781847495624 Format: Paperback Dimensions: 198x129mm Extent: 384 pages Main Category: F Fiction Sub Category: Illustrations: Previous Titles: Author now living: Alma Books DECEMBER 2015 In Search of Mary: The Mother Of All Journeys Bee Rowlatt A fascinating journey on the footsteps of Mary Wollstonecraft and an exploration of never-dying themes, such as babies versus careers. Description Having been smitten by Mary Wollstonecraft's travel book Letters Written in Sweden, Norway and Denmark in her student days, Bee Rowlatt decides to follow, with toddler in tow, in the footsteps of the world's first celebrity feminist in order to explore the vitality of her legacy and retrace the never-dying themes of babies versus careers, comparing her encounters with guilt, progress and inequality in the eighteenth century to those experienced by women today. On this eventful social and biographical treasure hunt they discover wild Norwegian coasts, get chased around a hostile museum in Paris and are rebirthed by naked healers in California. In her quest to chart the progress made by women across the world, Bee finds herself consulting a witch, a porn star, a very quiet Norwegian archivist and the tenants of a blighted council estate in Leeds - finding out more than what she bargained for. About the Author Bee Rowlatt is a writer, journalist and broadcaster. She is a regular contributor to The Daily Telegraph and has reported for the World Service, Newsnight and BBC2. The co-author of the best-selling Talking about Jane Austen in Baghdad (Penguin 2010) as well as one of the writers featured in Virago's 2013 anthology Fifty Shades of Feminism, Bee won the K Blundell Trust award for In Search of Mary. She has four children and lives in London. Price: $29.99 (NZ$32.99) ISBN: 9781846883781 Format: Paperback Dimensions: 230x150mm Extent: 288 pages Main Category: B Biography/autobiography Sub Category: BG Biography: General Illustrations: Previous Titles: Author now living: Alma Books DECEMBER 2015 The Kiss and Other Stories Anton Chekhov Includes pictures and an extensive section on Chekhov's life and works Description While at a party organized by the lieutenant of his regiment, the shy and awkward Ryabovitch is suddenly kissed by an unknown woman in a dark room. This unexpected and electrifying encounter marks a turning point in his life and a shift in his personality, arousing his passions and setting him on a desperate quest to discover the identity of the mysterious lady. One of Chekhov's most admired stories, 'The Kiss' is joined in this volume by five equally celebrated tales in a brand-new translation by Hugh Aplin: 'The Lady with the Little Dog', 'Ward Number Six', 'The Black Monk', 'The House with the Mezzanine' and 'The Peasants' - making this an indispensable collection for those wanting to discover Chekhov at his creative best. About the Author Anton Chekhov is one of the giants of modern literature, exerting a strong influence - both as a prose writer and as a playwright - on many present-day novelists and dramatists. Price: $19.99 (NZ$22.99) ISBN: 9781847494191 Format: Paperback - B format Dimensions: 198x129mm Extent: 256 pages Main Category: F Fiction Sub Category: F Fiction Illustrations: Previous Titles: Author now living: Alma Books DECEMBER 2015 Sketches of Young Ladies, Young Gentlemen and Young Couples Charles Dickens 'The power of [Dickens] is so amazing that the reader at once becomes his captive.' William Makepeace Thackeray Description When the publishers of the Pickwick Papers, Chapman & Hall, brought out the anonymous 'Sketches of Young Ladies' in 1837, their resounding success prompted the twenty-six-year old Dickens to write, the following year, a companion piece, the 'Sketches of Young Gentlemen', followed two years later - to coincide with the engagement of Princess Victoria and Prince Albert - by the 'Sketches of Young Couples'.