Best Selling Books by Maggie O

WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION FINALIST • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de'' Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court. “I could not stop reading this incredible true story.” —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club Pick) "O’Farrell pulls out little threads of historical detail to weave this story of a precocious girl sensitive to the contradictions of her station...You may know the history, and you may think you know what’s coming, but don’t be so sure." —The Washington Post Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble? As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court’s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess’s future hangs entirely in the balance. Full of the beauty and emotion with which she illuminated the Shakespearean canvas of Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell turns her talents to Renaissance Italy in an extraordinary portrait of a resilient young woman’s battle for her very survival.

An irresistible love story, an unforgettable family. The New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait and Hamnet captures an extraordinary marriage with insight and laugh-out-loud humor in what Richard Russo calls “her breakout book.” Daniel Sullivan leads a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California, a father he loathes in Brooklyn, and his wife, Claudette, is a reclusive ex–film star given to pulling a gun on anyone who ventures up their driveway. Together, they have made an idyllic life in the country, but a secret from Daniel’s past threatens to destroy their meticulously constructed and fiercely protected home. Shot through with humor and wisdom, This Must Be the Place is an irresistible love story that crisscrosses continents and time zones as it captures an extraordinary marriage, and an unforgettable family, with wit and deep affection.

The "actually unputdownable" (Ali Smith) fourth novel from the award-winning author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait: the shocking, breathtaking story of a woman’s life stolen, and reclaimed. Edinburgh in the 1930s. The Lennox family is having trouble with its youngest daughter. Esme is outspoken, unconventional, and repeatedly embarrasses them in polite society. Something will have to be done. Years later, a young woman named Iris Lockhart receives a letter informing her that she has a great-aunt in a psychiatric unit who is about to be released. Iris has never heard of Esme Lennox and the one person who should know more, her grandmother Kitty, seems unable to answer Iris’s questions. What could Esme have done to warrant a lifetime in an institution? And how is it possible for a person to be so completely erased from a family’s history?

An unforgettable narrative—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait and Hamnet—of a family falling apart and coming together with hard-won, life-changing truths about who they really are. “Strange weather brings out strange behavior.” London, 1976. In the thick of a record-breaking heatwave, Gretta Riordan’s newly retired husband has cleaned out his bank account and vanished. Now, for the first time in years, Gretta calls her children home: Michael Francis, a history teacher whose marriage is failing; Monica, whose blighted past has driven a wedge between her and her younger sister; and Aoife, the youngest, whose new life in Manhattan is elaborately arranged to conceal a devastating secret. In a story that stretches from the Upper West Side to a village on the coast of Ireland, Maggie O’Farrell explores the mysteries that inhere within families, and reveals the fault lines over which we build our lives.

The stunning, groundbreaking debut novel of wrenching love and grief from the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait and National Book Circle Award Winner Hamnet Alice Raikes takes a train from London to Scotland to visit her family, but when she gets there she witnesses something so shocking that she insists on returning to London immediately. A few hours later, Alice is lying in a coma after an accident that may or may not have been a suicide attempt. Alice''s family gathers at her bedside and as they wait, argue, and remember, long-buried tensions emerge. The more they talk, the more they seem to conceal. Alice, meanwhile, slides between varying levels of consciousness, recalling her past and a love affair that recently ended. A riveting story that skips through time and interweaves multiple points of view, After You''d Gone is a novel of stunning psychological depth, marking the debut of a major literary talent.

On seventeen occasions, award-winning novelist Maggie O’Farrell has stared death in the face—and lived to tell the tale. In this astonishing memoir, the New York Times bestselling author of Hamnet shares the near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her life. The childhood illness that left her bedridden for a year, which she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. An encounter with a disturbed man on a remote path. And, most terrifying of all, an ongoing, daily struggle to protect her daughter from a condition that leaves her unimaginably vulnerable to life’s myriad dangers. Here, O’Farrell stiches together these discrete encounters to tell the story of her entire life. In taut prose that vibrates with electricity and restrained emotion, she captures the perils running just beneath the surface, and illuminates the preciousness, beauty, and mysteries of life itself. Don’t miss Maggie O’Farrell’s new novel, The Marriage Portrait, coming in September!

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait and Hamnet comes an intense, unnerving and passionate story of betrayal, loss and love, with all the frisson and psychological intensity of Rebecca. When Lily moves into new boyfriend Marcus''s apartment and plunges headlong into their relationship, she must contend with an intangible, hostile presence—Marcus’s ex-girlfriend, Sinead. As Lily and Marcus become more deeply involved, Lily becomes obsessed with Sinead''s fate and thinks she sees her everywhere. She must question not only her sanity, but whether the man she loves is someone she can, or should, be with at all.

''She''s like no one I''ve ever met... She''s like fire and water all at once.'' Warwickshire, 1582. Agnes Hathaway, a natural healer, meets the Latin tutor, William Shakespeare. Drawn together by powerful but hidden impulses, they create a life together and make a family. As William moves to London to discover his place in the world of theatre, Agnes stays at home to raise their three children but she is the constant presence and purpose of his life. When the plague steals 11-year-old Hamnet from his loving parents, they must each confront their loss alone. And yet, out of the greatest suffering, something of extraordinary wonder is born. This new play based on Maggie O''Farrell''s best-selling novel and adapted by award-winning playwright Lolita Chakrabarti (Life of Pi, Red Velvet, Hymn), pulls back a curtain on the imagined family life of the greatest writer in the English language. Hamnet is a love letter to passion, birth, grief and the magic of nature. This updated and revised edition was published to coincide with the West End transfer of the original RSC production in October 2023.

Winner of the 2004 Somerset Maugham Award: Gripping, insightful, and deft—a haunting story about the ways our families shape our lives, from the award-winning author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait. On a cold February afternoon, Stella catches sight of a man she hasn''t seen for many years, but instantly recognises. Or thinks she does. At the same moment on the other side of the globe, in the middle of a crowd of Chinese New Year revellers, Jake realises that things are becoming dangerous. They know nothing of one another''s existence, but both Stella and Jake flee their lives: Jake in search of a place so remote it doesn''t appear on any map, and Stella for a destination in Scotland, the significance of which only her sister, Nina, will understand.

Șaptesprezece atingeri ale morţii. Memorii Exist, exist, exist descrie șaptesprezece experiențe ultimative care i-au marcat viața lui Maggie O’Farrell: boala din copilărie care a țintuit-o la pat timp de un an, aproape fără speranța de a supraviețui; nevoia de evadare a adolescentei rebele într-o aventură care risca să ducă la o nenorocire; întâlnirea pe o cărare izolată cu un criminal și, mai impresionant decât orice altceva, lupta cotidiană de a-și proteja fiica de o boală care o expune nenumăratelor pericole ale vieții. Șaptesprezece întâlniri discrete cu un om la vârste diferite, în locuri diferite, definesc viața autoarei printr-o înlănțuire de instantanee tensionate, viscerale. Într-o proză care vibrează de emotivitate reținută, Maggie O’Farrell surprinde precaritatea fiecărui moment al vieții și dă strălucire frumuseții și misterelor ei. „O lectură pur și simplu paralizantă." Tracy Chevalier „ Acolo unde alți scriitori își joacă frazele pe hârtie, Maggie O’Farrell ia arcul și săgeata și țintește inima omului." The Times „Aceste amintiri intense, sincere, urmăresc nu atât ideea de moarte, cât riscurile pe care ni le asumăm pentru a primi darul fiecărei zile de viață." People Magazine

On the precipice of a serious illness, Sylvie wakes up to find a snow angel who tells her he will protect her, and when she finally recovers, she purposefully puts herself in precarious situations to try and meet him again.

Feminists have long differed in their view of prostitution. While some regard it as a classic form of exploitation and degradation, others offer a more sympathetic interpretation of women''s involvement in the sex industry. In this important new book, Maggie O''Neill seeks to explore the theoretical debates on prostitution and the relevance of these to the everyday lived experiences of women working on the streets. Based upon her own ethnographic research - defined as ethno-mimesis - the author seeks to undermine and demystify stereotypical images of prostitutes. She explores the narratives offered by prostitutes themselves, as well as other forms of their representation in film, art and photography, and shows how these various mediums may be used to shed light on the socio-economic processes and structures which lead women into prostitution. These personal accounts produce what O''Neill refers to as ''a politics of feeling'', which, she argues, may be used to transform attitudes, policy and practice in relation to female prostitution. By relating these individual experiences to critical feminist theory, the book deepens our understanding of the phenomenon of prostitution in contemporary society. The book will be of particular interest to students and scholars in gender studies, feminist theory and sociology.

International bestseller and winner of the 2010 Costa Novel—a gorgeously written story of love and motherhood from the author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait. When the sophisticated Innes Kent turns up on her doorstep, Lexie Sinclair realizes she cannot wait any longer for her life to begin, and leaves for London. There, at the heart of the 1950s Soho art scene, she carves out a new life. In the present day, Elina and Ted are reeling from the difficult birth of their first child. Elina struggles to reconcile the demands of motherhood with her sense of herself as an artist, and Ted is disturbed by memories of his own childhood that don’t tally with his parents’ version of events. As Ted begins to search for answers, an extraordinary portrait of two women is revealed, separated by fifty years, but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected.

The award-winning author of Hamnet rejoins the illustrator of Where Snow Angels Go for a mischievous tale of ancient magic and modern-day moodiness. Someone here was sad but pretending not to be. . . . Someone—and this thought made a smile curl up on its face—needed some nouka-mischief. When Jem and his family first move to a small town, he struggles with his new life. The unhappier he grows, the stranger things become—mischief and chaos seem to bloom everywhere. His sister Verity is sure it is the work of a “nouka,” an ancient creature that lives deep down inside the hill above the town—a creature forged from the sparks of a long-extinct volcano. Jem is adamant that there is no such thing. But it is through the magic and mayhem of this small mystical creature that Jem finally finds a sense of belonging, a sense of home—and once again discovers a spark of magic.

School-to-work transition data are an important component of labor market information systems (LMIS). Policy makers, researchers, and education providers benefit from knowing how long it takes work-seekers to find employment, how and where they search for employment, the quality of employment obtained, and how steady it is over time. In less-developed countries, these data are poorly collected, or not collected at all, a situation the International Labor Organization and other donors have attempted to change. However, LMIS reform efforts typically miss a critical part of the picture—the geospatial aspects of these transitions. Few LMIS systems fully consider or integrate geospatial school-to-work transition information, ignoring data critical to understanding and supporting successful and sustainable employment: employer locations; transportation infrastructure; commute time, distance, and cost; location of employment services; and other geographic barriers to employment. We provide recently collected geospatial school-to-work transition data from South Africa and Kenya to demonstrate the importance of these data and their implications for labor market and urban development policy.

Criminology: theory and context, third edition, expands upon the ideas presented in previous editions, while introducing new material on critical theory, feminism, masculinities, cultural criminology and postmodernism. The text has been thoroughly updated throughout to reflect key perspectives in contemporary criminological theory. Relevant updates include discussions on New Labour’s criminal justice and penal policies in its third term in office, and the latest developments in criminal justice and the politics of law and order in the UK and US. This edition revisits societal and cultural influences that have shaped the discipline and invites the reader to re-examine the phenomena of crime and deviance. Criminology: theory and context, third edition, is presented in a logical structure and adopts an accessible framework. The text is essential reading for students of criminology, criminological theory and criminal justice and will also be of key interest to those studying sociology, law and the wider social sciences.

“Storytelling at its best. O’Brien continues her down-to-earth exploration of other realms to shed light on dark corners of the human condition. She weaves many colourful threads into a beguiling yarn, seeking to solve an abiding, historical conundrum. Well researched. Thoroughly enjoyable.” Stephen Warrilow- Archaeologist

Everybody knows about Bigfoot, even your great-aunt Agnes! But what most people dont know is that Bigfoot isnt very big. Hes actually quite small, so small that youre probably taller than him! This is why most people never see him, because he can quickly duck into small shrubbery without being noticed. Most people think he has glowing red eyes. This is also not true. Bigfoots eyes are chocolate-brown. However, the legends did get one thing right: his feet are very, very big. So big that theyre twice as long as he is tall! Deep in the woods, where all the Foots live, there was one Bigfoot whose feet were not very big. They were only half as long as he was tall. His name was Toby. Every morning, before school, Toby would take his dads big shoes and stuff them with pillows so that his feet would look bigger. But his mom always caught him before he could get out the door. Poor Toby always got made fun of because of his small feet. The other Foots never let him sit by them or play with them. They teased him and called him little foot, which hurt his feelings.

Six novels in one volume by today’s most outstanding female writers—includes The Magician’s Assistant, Those Who Save Us, and more. From the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Commonwealth and Bel Canto, to the multiple award-winning author of This Must Be the Place, this collection gathers a half-dozen top-notch literary talents in a treasure trove for fiction lovers. Included: Almost by Elizabeth Benedict chronicles the attempt of writer Sophy Chase to come to terms with the death of her almost ex-husband—who may have committed suicide on the New England resort island where she left him just months before. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum follows Trudy, a professor of German history, as she investigates her mother’s past in WWII Germany, combining a passionate, doomed love story; a vivid evocation of life during the war; and a poignant mother/daughter drama. The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss is a heartwarming story of a young woman with the rare talent of “gentling” wild horses, and the unexpected and profound connections between people and animals. The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones takes readers inside the hidden world of elite cuisine in modern China, through the story of an American food writer in Beijing who discovers that her late husband may have been leading a double life. The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O’Farrell is a gothic, intricate tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the freedom brought by truth. The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett tells the story of the death of a secretive magician—and how it sets in motion his partner’s journey of self-discovery.

This distinctive and engaging book proposes an imaginative criminology, focusing on how spaces of transgression are lived, portrayed and imagined. These include spaces of control or confinement, including prison and borders, and spaces of resistance. Examples range from camps where asylum seekers and migrants are confined, to the exploration of deviant identities and the imagined spaces of surveillance and control in young adult fiction. Drawing on oral history, fictive portrayals, walking methodologies, and ethnographic and arts-based research, the book pays attention to issues of gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, mobility and nationality as they intersect with lived and imagined space.

Poetry. PALACE OF REPTILES is a dance and a ritual conducted in language, a plumbing and sounding-out of buried histories and vocabularies. Ranging from the brief and beautiful "Ellen''s Lament" to the central long poem "Doubtless," the eight poems of this book touch on multiple genres (elegy, celebration, performance art, poetics talk) in order to transform them. Maggie O''Sullivan''s other books include RED SHIFTS, also available from SPD.

Defining the principles and practices of walking as critical pedagogy, this book engages with social questions and challenges related to understandings of the Anthropocene. Through a series of chapters that operationalize walking as a form of participatory pedagogy, it explores issues including migration and borders, sustainability and climate change, gender and feminist thought, the labour market, crime and rehabilitation, and urban life and regeneration. Showing how walking enables us to learn creatively, convivially and critically on the move in city spaces, while thinking relationally, the authors demonstrate the importance of space, time and place: the layers of history embedded in the present, and the importance of active, embodied, participatory, collaborative, creative and place based learning. A pioneering approach to walking as a form of engagement and learning, Walking as Critical Pedagogy will appeal to researchers and students across the social sciences interested in new methods and research methodologies, and creative ways of teaching and learning about – and engaging with – major global issues in society.

The Sunday Times No. 1 bestselling memoir from the author of HAMNET and THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT With an introduction by Ann Patchett ⭐AS FEATURED ON: DESERT ISLAND DISCS, BIG SCOTTISH BOOK CLUB, THE ZOE BALL BOOKCLUB ⭐ A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, IRISH TIMES, OBSERVER, RED and THE TELEGRAPH ⭐ SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE FOR MEMOIR AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY 2018 ''O''Farrell takes up a bow and arrow and aims right at the human heart'' The Times ______ I Am, I Am, I Am is novelist Maggie O''Farrell''s unputdownable story of a life told in near-death experiences. A childhood illness she was not expected to survive. A terrifying encounter on a remote path. A mismanaged labour in an understaffed hospital. An ongoing struggle to protect a child from a condition that leaves her daily vulnerable. Insightful, inspirational, gorgeously written, it is a book to devour at a sitting - a story you finish newly conscious of life''s fragility, determined to make every heartbeat count. ______ ''Leaves the reader feeling breathless, grateful and fully alive'' Ann Patchett ''A rare talent to enthral... It will leave you bereft and wanting more'' Sunday Times ''It is absolutely, in every possible sense of the word, brilliant'' Max Porter ''I have never read a book about death that has made me feel so alive'' Tracy Chevalier

This book introduces and critically explores walking as an innovative method for doing social research, showing how its sensate and kinaesthetic attributes facilitate connections with lived experiences, journeys and memories, communities and identities. The book situates walking methods historically, sociologically, and in relation to biographical and arts-based research, as well as new work on mobilities, the digital, spatial, and the sensory. The book is organised into three sections: theorising; experiencing; and imagining walking as a new method for doing biographical research. There is a key focus upon the Walking Interview as a Biographical Method (WIBM) on the move to usefully explore migration, memory, and urban landscapes, as part of participatory, visual, and ethnographic research with marginalised communities and artists and as re-formative and transgressive. The book concludes with autobiographical walks taken by the authors and a discussion about the future of the walking interview as biographical method. Walking Methods combines theory with a series of original ethnographic and participatory research examples. Practical exercises and a guide to using walking as a method help to make this a rich resource for social science researchers, students, walking artists, and biographical researchers.