{"title":"9\/8\/25","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781447208242","title":"Our Evenings","description":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eSue says about Our Evenings: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"This is a book to take slowly and let the elegant prose wash over you. Spanning six decades, it is the story of Dave Win, the mixed-race son of a single mother, and it is a gentle and engaging read. Perfect for those looking for something contemplative and beautifully written.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA ‘Book of the Year’ for The Guardian, The Observer, The Times, Daily Express, The Spectator, The Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlan Hollinghurst, the Booker Prize-winning author of The Line of Beauty, brings us a dark, luminous and wickedly funny portrait of modern England through the lens of one man’s acutely observed and often unnerving experience. It is a story of race and class, theatre and sexuality, love and the cruel shock of violence, from one of the finest writers of our age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDave Win is thirteen years old when he first goes to stay with the sponsors of his scholarship at a local boarding school. This weekend, with its games and challenges and surprising encounters, will open up heady new possibilities, even as it exposes him to their son Giles’ envy and violence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs their lives unfold over the next half a century, the two boys’ careers will diverge dramatically: Dave, a gifted actor struggling with convention and discrimination, Giles an increasingly powerful and dangerous politician.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur Evenings is the intimate and touching story of Dave Win’s life as a schoolboy and student, his first love affairs, in London, and on the road with an experimental theatre company, and of a late-life affair, which transforms his sixties with a new sense of happiness and a perilous security.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-olk-copy-source=\"MailCompose\"\u003eAuthor: Hollinghurst, Alan\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eEngland\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003ePublished on 3 October 2024 by PAN MACMILLAN (Picador) in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003eHardback | 496 pages\u003cbr\u003e163 x 244 x 45 | 730g\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hollinghurst, Alan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56068496359798,"sku":"9781447208242","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0362\/8423\/5908\/files\/9781447208242.jpg?v=1754730920"},{"product_id":"9781805220725","title":"The Accidental Garden : Gardens, Wilderness and the Space In Between: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE","description":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eSue says about The Accidental Gardener: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Essentially an account of creation of Mabey's own Norfolk garden, but also a reflection on the act of gardening itself, questioning how much we should intervene, manage, adapt and introduce. A thought provoking read.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe regard gardens as our personal dominions, where we can create whatever worlds we desire. But they are also occupied by myriads of other organisms, all with their own lives to lead. The conflict between these two power bases, Richard Mabey suggests, is a microcosm of what is happening in the larger world. Rooted in the daily dramas of his own Norfolk garden, Mabey offers a different scenario, where nature becomes an equal partner, a 'gardener' itself. Against a background of disordered seasons he watches his 'accidental' garden reorganising itself. Ants sow cowslip seeds in the parched grass. Moorhens take to nesting in trees. A spectacular self-seeded rose springs up in the gravel. The garden becomes a place of cultural and ecological fusion, and perhaps a metaphor for the troubled planet. This is vintage Mabey - maverick, intensely observed, and written with an unquenchable sense of wonder.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-olk-copy-source=\"MailCompose\"\u003eAuthor: Mabey, Richard\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eConservation of wildlife \u0026amp; habitats\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003ePublished on 1 May 2025 by Profile Books Ltd in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003ePaperback \/ softback | 176 pages\u003cbr\u003e129 x 198 x 13 | 150g\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Mabey, Richard","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56068496392566,"sku":"9781805220725","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0362\/8423\/5908\/files\/9781805220725.jpg?v=1754730921"},{"product_id":"9781526674609","title":"The Instrumentalist : A spellbinding debut novel that will transport you to 18th-century Venice this summer","description":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eSue says about The Instrumentalist: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Intricately blending fact and fiction this is the remarkable story of orphan Anna Maria della Pieta, born in Venice in 1696, who went on to become one of the greatest violinists of the 18th century - it's a fascinating and gripping read.\" \u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnna Maria may have no name, no fortune, no family. But she has her ambition, and her talent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer best hope lies in her teacher, Antonio Vivaldi. Soon she is his star pupil.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut as Anna Maria’s star rises, not everyone is happy. Because Anna Maria’s shining light is threatening to eclipse that of her mentor…She will leave her mark, whatever it takes. And her story will be heard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-olk-copy-source=\"MailCompose\"\u003eAuthor: Constable, Harriet\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eHistorical fiction\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003ePublished on 15 August 2024 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003eHardback | 336 pages\u003cbr\u003e242 x 164 x 33 | 542g\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Constable, Harriet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56068496425334,"sku":"9781526674609","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0362\/8423\/5908\/files\/9781526674609.jpg?v=1754730922"},{"product_id":"9780008651817","title":"The Lie of the Land : How a Tiny Group of Landowners Wrecked the Countryside, and How the Public Can Restore it","description":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eEmily says about The Lie of the Land: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"A timely and thought provoking look at land ownership in the UK and what it means for the countryside and the environment as a whole. I found the chapter on historic destruction of The Fens particularly eye opening!\"\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA WATERSTONES AND GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF 2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE WESTMINSTER BOOK AWARDS\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe lie of the land: that Britain’s landowners care for the countryside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur landowning elite are paid billions of taxpayer pounds to be good stewards. But these same landowners have carelessly trampled over our best-loved landscapes, leaving the rivers polluted, fenlands drained, and moorlands burned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGuy Shrubsole has travelled across Britain to expose the lie and meet the communities fighting back to restore our lost landscapes. This is a bold, shared vision for our nation’s wild places, and how we can treat them with the awe and care they deserve.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-olk-copy-source=\"MailCompose\"\u003eAuthor: Shrubsole, Guy\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eUnited Kingdom, Great Britain\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003ePublished on 12 September 2024 by HarperCollins Publishers (William Collins) in the United Kingdom.\u003cbr\u003eHardback | 320 pages\u003cbr\u003e242 x 163 x 31 | 544g\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Shrubsole, Guy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56068496458102,"sku":"9780008651817","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0362\/8423\/5908\/files\/9780008651817.jpg?v=1754730923"},{"product_id":"9780063450325","title":"Toward Eternity UK : A Novel","description":"\u003cblockquote\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCharlotte says about Toward Eternity:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"A story that starts as a small droplet and spans into something that just tickles on the edge of our comprehension, Toward Eternity is an incredible story that tackles the possibilities of our future. Anchored on the power of poetry and technology, and told to us through just one notebook and its entries over millennia, this was my best sci-fi of 2024 - I devoured it within 2 evenings!\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003c\/blockquote\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNegotiating the terrain of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun and Emily St. John Mandel’s Sea of Tranquility, a brilliant, haunting speculative novel from a #1 New York Times bestselling translator that sets out to answer the question: What does it mean to be human in a world where technology is quickly catching up to biology?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn a near-future world, a new technological therapy is quickly eradicating cancer. The body’s cells are entirely replaced with nanites—robot or android cells which not only cure those afflicted but leaves them virtually immortal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLiterary researcher Yonghun teaches an AI how to understand poetry and creates a living, thinking machine he names Panit, meaning Beloved, in honor of his husband. When Yonghun—himself a recipient of nanotherapy—mysteriously vanishes into thin air and then just as suddenly reappears, the event raises disturbing questions. What happened to Yonghun, and though he’s returned, is he really himself anymore? When Dr. Beeko, the scientist who holds the patent to the nanotherapy technology, learns of Panit, he transfers its consciousness from the machine into an android body, giving it freedom and life. As Yonghun, Panit, and other nano humans thrive—and begin to replicate—their development will lead them to a crossroads and a choice with existential consequences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExploring the nature of intelligence and the unexpected consequences of progress, the meaning of personhood and life, and what we really have to fear from technology and the future, Toward Eternity is a gorgeous, thought-provoking novel that challenges the notion of what makes us human—and how love survives even the end of that humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-olk-copy-source=\"MailCompose\"\u003eAuthor: Hur, Anton\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eOf specific Gay \u0026amp; Lesbian interest\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003ePublished on 18 July 2024 by HarperCollins Publishers Inc (HarperVia) in the United States.\u003cbr\u003eHardback | 256 pages\u003cbr\u003e143 x 224 x 28 | 366g\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hur, Anton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56068496523638,"sku":"9780063450325","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0362\/8423\/5908\/files\/9780063450325.jpg?v=1754730924"}],"url":"https:\/\/haslemerebookshop.co.uk\/collections\/9-8-25.oembed","provider":"The Haslemere Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}