Shelfology Book Pairing

A retelling of the classic Greek myth from the author of The Silence of the Girls

by Pat Barker

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Following her bestselling, critically acclaimed The Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker continues her extraordinary retelling of one of our greatest myths. 'Myth for a MeToo age. Pat Barker returns to Homer in this gory but unexpectedly uplifting novel' Sunday Times Troy has fallen. The Greeks have won their bitter war. They can return home as victors - all they need is a good wind to lift their sails. But the wind has vanished, the seas becalmed by vengeful gods, and so the warriors remain in limbo - camped in the shadow of the city they destroyed, kept company by the women they stole from it. The women of Troy. Helen - poor Helen. All that beauty, all that grace - and she was just a mouldy old bone for feral dogs to fight over. Cassandra, who has learned not to be too attached to her own prophecies. They have only ever been believed when she can get a man to deliver them. Stubborn Amina, with her gaze still fixed on the ruined towers of Troy, determined to avenge the slaughter of her king. Hecuba, howling and clawing her cheeks on the silent shore, as if she could make her cries heard in the gloomy halls of Hades. As if she could wake the dead. And Briseis, carrying her future in her womb: the unborn child of the dead hero Achilles. Once again caught up in the disputes of violent men. Once again faced with the chance to shape history. Masterful and enduringly resonant, ambitious and intimate, The Women of Troy continues Pat Barker's extraordinary retelling of one of our greatest classical myths, following on from the critically acclaimed The Silence of the Girls. 'Readers turn to Barker's novels for their plain truths and clear-eyed sense of our history and creation stories. But the sombre clarity of her writing is offset by a luminous wisdom' Sunday Times 'The Women Of Troy's immediate beauty is its accessibility and Barker's precise, elegant writing' Metro 'Barker has always looked on the world with the combination of a cold eye and a sympathetic understanding. Her characterisation is sharp, her sympathy deep' ipaper

Winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction

by Barbara Kingsolver

#1 NEW YORK TIMES READERS BEST BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY PARTITA - THE HEARTRENDING NEW NOVEL FROM BARBARA KINGSOLVER - COMING OCTOBER 2026 A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION TWICE WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR FICTION THE MULTI-MILLION COPY SELLING AUTHOR BOOK AT BEDTIME ON BBC RADIO 4 AN OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK 'Without a doubt the best book I'll read this year.' KATE ATKINSON 'It's EPIC. Righteously angry, DEEPLY moving and exquisitely written.' MARIAN KEYES 'Daring, entertaining and highly readable.' The Times 'Electrifying.' Daily Mail 'A blaze of a book.' RACHEL JOYCE 'A masterclass.' RICHARD POWERS 'Masterful.' Pulitzer Prize 'Powerful.' Guardian 'A work of genius.' KATE MOSSE ____________ Demon Copperhead is a once-in-a-generation novel that breaks and mends your heart in the way only the best fiction can. Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise. In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster care. For Demon, born on the wrong side of luck, the affection and safety he craves is as remote as the ocean he dreams of seeing one day. The wonder is in how far he's willing to travel to try and get there. Suffused with truth, anger and compassion, Demon Copperhead is an epic tale of love, loss and everything in between. ____________ Readers love Demon Copperhead: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Outstanding . . . I don't know how someone can write a book like this: inhabit a totally different character and create it with such empathy, respect and fullness.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Powerful and brilliant. To immerse yourself in a Kingsolver novel is to put yourself in the hands of a master.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This was one of the greatest books I have read . . . Kingsolver is a magician with words, and her rage quietly seeps from each page.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Raw, angry, starkly beautiful . . . Genuinely one of the best books I've ever read.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'An incredibly raw and moving read, with a big-hearted hero who will stay with me for a long time.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I cannot overstate how absorbing this book is. It is wonderful and has restored my faith in fiction and novels.'