Fiction – Stanfords Blog

Author Event with André Rostant and Dom Joly

Last night we hosted a fascinating evening talking about André Rostant’s book The Muffin Man.

The Muffin Man is a frank exploration into the lives of those at the heart of bohemian Soho, told from the perspective of George, a fictional Big Issue Vendor in Soho. This story sheds a much needed light on the most pressing issues in society today and the still desperate need for change.

Dom Joly spoke to André about how his book is fiction but very much based on the lives of those who frequent Soho and about how communities in London can change so much that these people who have lived there their whole lives can be like tourists in their own areas.

Thank you to everyone who attended. We are donating all ticket proceeds and a percentage of book sales to the Big Issue.

If you were unable to attend this event but would like to make a donation to support the Big Issue, please click here

We have signed copies of The Muffin Man by André Rostant and The Conspiracy Tourist: Travels Through a Strange World by Dom Joly available while stocks last.

Author Talk: The Good the Bad and the Gringo by Kae Bahar

Last week we hosted a wonderful launch event where we heard from writer and filmmaker Kae Bahar who introduced his fascinating novel The Good, The Bad and The Gringo, a captivating tale of a young Kurdish man growing up in Iraq, confused about his gender and Saddam’s cruel terror.

Finding Solace from Saddam’s terror in the world of Cinema.

Growing up as a Kurd in Saddam’s Iraq, Merywan feels he doesn’t belong to this twisted society, but finds inspiration and comfort in the magic world of cinema.

He secretly writes letters to his hero, Clint Eastwood, whom he calls Gringo, begging him to help him escape to America. As his plans are disrupted, Merywan is drawn deeper into a roller – coaster ride of savagery, passion, betrayal and heroism, which makes the movies he adores almost seem trivial by comparison.

New Fiction we’ve been reading

Here are six new titles that we have been enjoying during our summer holidays:

Time of the Flies

by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle

£12.99

Set in: Argentina

Fifteen years after killing her husband’s lover, Ines is fresh out of prison and trying to put together a new life. Her old friend Manca is out now too, and they’ve started a business – FFF, or Females, Fumigation, and Flies – dedicated to pest control and private investigation, by women, for women. But Senora Bonar, one of their clients, wants Ines to do more than kill bugs – she wants her expertise, and her criminal past, to help her kill her husband’s lover, too.

This is Pineiro at her wry, earthy best, alive to all the ways we shape ourselves to be understandable, to be understood, by family and love and other hostile forces.

Book Launch: Sunbirds by Penelope Slocombe

Last night we hosted the launch of Sunbirds by Penelope Slocombe published by John Murray Press.

This is a perfect summer read if you are looking for some fiction with a sense of place. Set in the Himalayas.

Book Launch: ‘The Long Water’ by Stef Penney

Last night we hosted the launch of The Long Water by Stef Penney.

Around the World in 5 Books

Let us take you on a quick trip around the world via these five selected books of fiction with a sense of place that are currently on our shelves here at Stanfords:

Blessings

by Chukwuebuka Ibeh

£14.99

Set in: Nigeria

When Obiefuna’s father witnesses an intimate moment between his teenage son and the family’s apprentice, newly arrived from the nearby village, he banishes Obiefuna to a Christian boarding school marked by strict hierarchy and routine, devastating violence. Utterly alienated from the people he loves, Obiefuna begins a journey of self-discovery and blossoming desire, while his mother Uzoamaka grapples to hold onto her favourite son, her truest friend.

Interweaving the perspectives of Obiefuna and his mother Uzoamaka, as they reach towards a future that will hold them both, BLESSINGS is an elegant and exquisitely moving story of love and loneliness. Asking how we can live freely when politics reaches into our hearts and lives, as well as deep into our consciousness, it is a stunning, searing debut.

Author Event: French Windows by Antoine Laurain

On Tuesday evening we hosted an evening of discussion, storytelling and murder mystery with award winning author Antoine Laurain as he spoke to Jake Kerridge about his superb new novel French Windows, a surprising and suspenseful murder mystery, reminiscent of Hitchcock with a Parisian heart.

Book Launch: The Innocents by Bridget Walsh

Last week we hosted the launch of The Innocents by Bridget Walsh

Around the World in 6 Works of New Fiction

Let us take you on a reading journey to Panama, Vietnam, the Caribbean, Myanmar (Burma), Georgia and Italy via the pages of some new fiction on our shelves.

Explore the shortlisted titles in the Viking Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place category

Here at Stanfords we get a lot of customers asking for recommendations for fiction set in the place they are planning to go so that they can enjoy some in situ reading. With the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards later on this month, we thought we would take a closer look at the shortlisted titles in the Viking Award for Fiction with a Sense of Place category. Perhaps something on the list will inspire your next trip.