10 Gifts for Someone Who is Crashing Out

Butter

Compelling, delightfully weird, often uncomfortable PANDORA SYKES Unputdownable, breathtakingly original ERIN KELLY I have been glued to Asako Yuzuki's new novel Butter NIGEL SLATER A full-fat, Michelin-starred treat THE TIMES The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story. There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine. Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation's imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe...

The Secret History

The Secret History by Donna Tartt follows a group of elite college students led by an enigmatic professor who become deeply involved in studying ancient Greek culture. Their exploration leads them to commit a murder, and the story delves into the psychological aftermath and moral consequences of their actions.

The Starving Bride

Lessons in Chemistry

Set in the 1960s, Lessons in Chemistry follows Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant chemist who finds herself navigating the male-dominated scientific world. Through a twist of fate, she becomes the star of a cooking show, where her unique approach to blending chemistry and cuisine inspires change and challenges societal norms.

Dear Debbie

From #1 New York Times and global bestselling author Freida McFadden comes a twisted, subversive thriller about a columnist who finally decides to start following her own advice to make men pay for their sins... A brand new twisted thriller that will have you cheering "good for her!" from the #1 New York Times bestselling and global sensation Freida McFadden, author of The Housemaid! Sometimes, enough is enough… Debbie Mullen is losing it. For years, she has compiled all of her best advice into her column, Dear Debbie, where the wives of New England come for sympathy and neighborly advice. Through her work, Debbie has heard from countless women who are ignored, belittled, or even abused by their husbands. And Debbie does her best to guide them in the right direction. Or at least,...

Beautiful Ugly

'Her best book yet' - Harlan Coben, author of Fool Me Once The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists, Alice Feeney, returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage . . . and revenge. Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life. Grady calls his wife as she's driving home to share some exciting news. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by a cliff edge, the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there . . . but his wife has disappeared. A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can't sleep, and he...

The Yellow Wallpaper & Herland

The Yellow Wallpaper & Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman combines two of her renowned works. "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a psychological tale exploring a woman's descent into madness during a prescribed rest cure, focusing on the oppressive forces that affect her mental health. "Herland" follows an expedition to an isolated, all-female society, examining themes of gender roles and utopian ideals through the lens of a matriarchal world.

Rebecca

DISCOVER THE DU MAURIER DARK ROMANCE COLLECTION'Rebecca has woven its way into the fabric of our culture with all the troubling power of myth or dream. A stunning book' SARAH WATERS'It's the book every writer wishes they'd written' CLARE MACKINTOSH'The greatest psychological thriller of all time' ERIN KELLY***He did not belong to me at all, he belonged to Rebecca. . .Everyone knows that Maxim de Winter was obsessed with his glamorous wife - and devastated by her tragic death. So when he proposes to a shy, anxious young woman after a whirlwind meeting in the South of France, no one is more surprised than the new bride herself. But when they reach Manderley, his beautiful, isolated Cornish mansion, the second Mrs de Winter begins to realise that every...

The Awakening

The Awakening by Kate Chopin follows Edna Pontellier, a woman living in late 19th-century New Orleans, as she grapples with her roles as wife and mother. She discovers a yearning for personal freedom and self-identity amidst societal pressures. The novel explores themes of individuality, feminism, and the constraints of traditional marriage.

Ariel

'The world is blood-hot and personal': in her moving and illuminating introduction, the poet Emily Berry remembers her own teenage encounters with Ariel and offers a personal way into this definitive collection. She shows us how Plath can crystallise our most volatile emotions, transforming them into images so potent and precise that they resonate with us all. Plath has been an inspiration to successive generations; her influence, enduring and profound. 'If the poems are despairing, vengeful and destructive, they are at the same time tender, open to things, and also unusually clever, sardonic, hardminded . . . They are works of great artistic purity and, despite all the nihilism, great generosity . . . the book is a major literary event.' A. Alvarez, Observer, 1965