Join us for an evening with Juliano as he talks about his novel The Steps. It will be an in-conversation event. The first time Derek was ever afraid of the children was two or three weeks in, when Angelo screamed at them for ruining his life and headbutted the plate in front of him until it was shrapnel ... The Steps unravels the story of Derek and his childhood sweetheart, Sophie, as she relocates from Canada to his home in England with her children, each of them still raw with grief after a recent tragedy. As Derek gets to know the steps Angelo, Ema, Jules, Elio, and Biagia he finds himself increasingly unsettled by their erratic behaviour, their increasing needs, and the strange happenings that keep him up at night. As they attempt to build a new life together, the fragile family is shadowed by loss, myth, and an ever-present sense of the uncanny. Through shifting perspectives, debut novelist Juliano Zaffino paints an unforgettable portrait of love, loyalty, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. Blending psychological suspense with intimate family drama, The Steps is both deeply moving and eerily unsettling, a profound meditation on trauma, the bonds that hold families together, the cost of grief and the thin line between tenderness and violence.

Join us to celebrate the launch of Rod Fieldings debut, Cause and Effect. A little more of what to expecta crisp autumn morning greets the nations commuters. But one man will stop at nothing to ensure they never complete their journey... When the multi-millionaire owner of one of the largest transport and logistics companies in the UK attempts to paralyse the countrys motorway network via a co-ordinated terrorist attack, disillusioned police detective, Dan Tyler, must fight his own demons in a bid to prevent the impending disaster. But with the clock ticking, and the blame being deflected onto an innocent band of environmental activists, will Dan find a way to stop this plot in time?

London, the summer of 1858: as a choking miasma drives the citys elite into retreat, Sir Edwin Landseer works himself to the brink. England demands its lions, four monumental beasts to guard Nelsons Column, and after fifteen years of delay, failure is not an option. But as the bronze creatures stalk his alcoholsoaked dreams, Landseers mind slips between fever and memory. In his dreams, he is no longer a celebrated artist unravelling under pressure, but the brilliant unknown young painter he once was. The story sweeps across decades, from the squalor and splendour of Victorian London back to the waning Regency, when the irresistible Duchess - older, captivating, and far beyond his station - first storms into his life. Noble Beasts weaves the misted romance of the Scottish Highlands with the charged history of Trafalgar Square. It follows Landseers fraught ties to the Royal Academy and the Queen herself, tracing the turbulent path that ends in his declaration of insanity in 1872. And it delves into the notorious rumour: that the young artist famed for painting dogs, deer, and the Monarch of the Glen may have taken far more from the Duke of Bedford than artistic commissions.

Join us for an in-conversation event with the extraordinary poet and now novelist Romayn Ante to talk about her debut The Left-Behind Child. More about the book... a mother forced to leave her family. A daughter forced to reckon with what is left behind. Lipa, Philippines, 2001. Neneng is 11 when her mother, Rosa, leaves to work as a nurse overseas: abandoning Neneng to care for a distant father, unsettled relatives and rebellious siblings. Their home shatters, and Neneng finds herself facing womanhood alone. From that point on, she vows never to become a nurse, and never to trust her mother again. But Neneng is more like the strong-minded Rosa than she realises. As Neneng fights to survive and build a new life, the darknesses in the familys past come to light, and the reasons why Rosa needed to leave become clearer. When a twist of fate brings a new mother figure into her orbit, Neneng will come to understand why the profession of nursing matters so deeply to Rosa and when crisis strikes what care means to Neneng.

Prepare to be entertained by the dry, sharp wit of Lindsey Davis, the Godmother of Roman crime, who'll be talking about her latest novel, Murder in Purple and Gold which is the 14th book in the Flavia Albia series. More about the book.....when Flavia Albia stumbles upon the murdered corpse of a young man near Rome's famous Circus Maximus, she is about to embark on one of her most dangerous and complicated cases. Rome and the Romans are obsessed with chariot racing. Lepo was the rising star of the Purples, a new team created by the psychotic Emperor Domitian with big money backing. Suspicion immediately falls on Lepo's greatest rival, Agathon, a young man emerging from a rival team, the Golds. Convinced of his guilt, a lynch mob is hunting him. The Golds faction hire Flavia to clear their man's name. He appears to have an alibi for the night of the murder but, as Flavia soon finds out, nothing is as it seems in the dangerous and glamorous world of the charioteers in which fortunes can be won or lost in seconds and violent death in the arena is always just one race away.

Join us for an evening with Abigail Johnson in conversation talking about her latest book The Memory Keeper. Sometimes ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference . . . Meet Gracie. At mid-life shes fed up with her unhappy marriage and humdrum career, so when a new housing estate threatens to sever the last connection to her late father, the oak tree he planted as a child, she decides to take a stand only, Gracie has never stood up to anyone. When five-year-old neighbour Tilly unexpectedly bounds into her life, she shows Gracie that you shouldnt always take no for an answer. Despite revelations of long-buried family secrets and conflicts taking root, perhaps this could be the beginning of a new chapter, one in which Gracie finally discovers her inner strength and realises that even in the face of loss, there is hope. Full of warmth and joyful community, this is the uplifting story of one womans journey towards letting go of the past and creating memories worth holding onto . . .