Welcome to the Winter issue of the Northern Bookshelf, brought to you by New Writing North and Durham Book Festival.
Each season we round up some of the most exciting new books coming out from writers based in our region, and chat to publishers, producers and bookshops from across the North.
Find perfect gift ideas recommended by our staff, enter our giveaway, discover a special library in the North East, and much more.
Plus, be the first to find out about our brand-new Northern Bookshelf Live programme...
Happy reading,
New Writing North and Durham Book Festival
Hidden Fires by Sairish Hussain
Ramadan, 2017. Yusuf wakes up in the middle of the night to pray. His routine is always the same, but something tells him that tonight is different.
Miles away, Rubi is also awake. On the television, she watches reports of a devastating fire in London.
As Yusuf grapples with the past, Rubi is determined to save him. But the memories that are recovered and spoken of for the first time in years are more painful than she could have imagined. In Hidden Fires, Sairish Hussain (author of Costa shortlisted The Family Tree) explores grief and loss, the power of family ties, and the long arm of history. Published on 18 January 2024 with HQ.
We chatted to author Sairish Hussain for an insight into the process of writing, the inspirations for the novel and the important themes it explores.
We have three copies of Hidden Fires to give away! 📚
For the chance to win, tell us what you're reading on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook using the hashtags #NorthernBookshelf and #HiddenFires. Winners will be drawn on 12 January 2024.
The town was once a hub of industry. A place where men toiled underground in darkness. It was dangerous and back-breaking work but it meant something. Once, the town provided, it was important, it had purpose. But what is it now? Set across three generations of South Yorkshire mining family, Pity is Andrew McMillan's magnificent debut novel. A lament for a lost way of a life as well as a celebration of resilience and the possibility for change.
In Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain, the Mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, share their experiences of modern British politics, from the Hillsborough disaster and their time as MPs in Westminster witnessing its systemic flaws, to leaving to become Mayors up North, and creating a new vision for what Britain could be.
In these 15 dreamlike tales, you'll meet a forgotten composer who enters a nostalgic dream-world while marking time in a Romanian seaport; two Russian brothers, one blind and one deaf, building a model town during a train ride across the steppe; a journalist whose interview with an artist turns into a dizzying roundelay of memory and image. Ghosts of the past mingle with the quiddities of modernity in C.D. Rose’s Walter Benjamin Stares at the Sea.
Meet Me at the Surface by Jodie Matthews follows Merryn, who was raised in the wilds of Bodmin moor. Here, the locals never leave the village, fear for the future of their farms and cling to folkloric tales. Except Merryn, who has escaped to Manchester for university. When Merryn returns home, she finds her childhood home stranger and more secretive than ever. The villagers are hunting on the moors at night, but for what?
Maggie Campbell’s Nurse Kitty: After the War is inspired by the brave nurses and doctors from the first NHS hospital, the Trafford General. It is 1950 and Kitty Longthorne is now a Sister at Manchester's Park Hospital. Outside of the hospital, she is ready to marry her fiancé, Dr James Williams. But with growing Cold War tensions, Kitty and James come under scrutiny because of two people close to their hearts.
In Memory of Us tells of Selina and Zora, joined at birth, then pulled apart, their relationship marked by closeness and separation. Growing up in 50s’ and 60s’ London under the shadow of Enoch Powell, they are dependent on each other, and yet Zora yearns for her own identity. Now in her seventies and living with dementia, Selina is tracing shards of memory. Jacqueline Roy offers an insight into life as a Black Briton after Windrush.
Whilst working as a living canvas for an abusive tattoo artist in the slums of 19th-century New York, Flora meets Minnie, a circus performer who offers her love and refuge in an opulent townhouse that is home to the predatory Mr Chester Merton. Flora earns her keep reading tarot cards for his guests whilst struggling to harness her gift, the Knowing - an ability to summon the dead. The Knowing is a spellbinding tale by Emma Hinds.
When eighteen-year-old Helena is sent to be a governess at Archfall Manor – a beautiful but crumbling manor house, perched at the edge of the North Sea – she feels confident she will know how to deal with the esteemed but eccentric Cauldwell family. But it quickly becomes clear that the Cauldwells are hiding more than Helena could ever have dreamed of. A Cruel Twist of Fate is the second novel from NWA winner HF Askwith.
Stella is enjoying life as an almost student, or at least she is until a man falls from the sky right in front of her, leaving a big old hole in the pavement for Manchester Council to fill. The obvious question of how he ended up in the sky in the first place has no obvious answers, which is where The Stranger Times come in. Relight My Fire is the fourth book in the acclaimed and brilliantly funny Stranger Times series by CK MkDonnell.
Three years ago police officer Georgina Ioannau was murdered, her killers never brought to justice. Now, the prime suspects have been shot dead. Has someone finally taken the law into their own hands? Seeking out the truth will force Kate Daniels to confront her own past mistakes, and put her career, and her team's lives, on the line. The Longest Goodbye is a gripping new thriller from award-winning crime writer Mari Hannah.
For most of human history, we were rural folk. But rural life seems oddly invisible in the records – the daily routine of the farmer and the craftsperson could never compete with the urgency of city life, war and royal drama. Instead, objects provide a direct route into the history of the countryside. Sally Coulthard's A Brief History of the Countryside in 100 Objects is the untold story of rural Britain, revealed through its artefacts.
Something peculiar is going on at The Lloyd Estate. Only Audrey Lloyd – the cantankerous owner and only daughter to the famed movie mogul – knows of the suffocating darkness that has settled on the place. Detective Don Vernon is on the brink of retirement. Instead, he is about to be caught in a web of lies which Audrey has been spinning for decades. Stephanie Sowden weaves a scintillating tale of revenge and cruelty in Directions for Dark Things.
You can view the featured books on our Bookshop affiliate list. All Bookshop links above are affiliate links.
Northern Bookshelf Live 🎤
Northern Bookshelf is coming to life in 2024! We're working with libraries across the north to connect ten brilliant northern authors (who have all previously featured in this newsletter) with readers. Keep an eye on our website to discover upcoming author events at a library near you.
What We're Reading: Under the Christmas Tree 🎄
If each advent calendar chocolate you eat is a reminder of everything you still need to do, and the presents you still need to find, we're here to help!
Our staff and trustees here at NWN have assembled our best book gifting recommendations for 2023, alongside the books we're hoping to find under the tree.
New and Recent Poetry from the North ❄️
What better way to slow down and take a breather during a busy December than by curling up with a poetry collection? Senior Programme Manager Will Mackie offers a round-up of brilliant recent and upcoming collections by northern poets.
Honford Star ⭐
This independent publisher based in Stockport, Greater Manchester publishes exciting literature from East Asia. Taylor and Anthony told us all about Honford Star's mission, and what sets it apart, on our blog – read it, then go and browse the beautiful selection of books!
The Kittiwake Trust Multilingual Library 🌍
This special library recently reopened in a new venue in Gateshead. Hear from Amina and Joe about the history of the library, and the important services it provides for its diverse community.
Young Writers Recommend 🤩
As well as being very talented writers, our Newcastle Young Writers' Group are ferocious readers. We asked them for some book recommendations, and they gave us classics, non-fiction, fantasy, and everything in between!
Book Club: Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford 🥂
Catch up on our Book Club Live podcast! This autumn, Anna Disley and our Newcastle audience quizzed bestselling author Francis about his latest page-turner, Cahokia Jazz: a thrilling tale of murder and mystery in a city where history has run a little differently...
Available on all main podcast platforms.
Cahokia Jazz Book Club Questions
- "If you are going to rearrange the furniture of history it takes a lot of housekeeping," said one reviewer of Cahokia Jazz. Discuss the ways in which Spufford creates a believable counter-factual world.
- How does Spufford use history to illuminate our contemporary situation? Were there any specific contemporary incidents or situations that came to mind when reading this book?
- At the centre of the book is the relationship between two cops who are partners and have been in the WW1 trenches together. What do you think causes Barrow and Drummond to pursue very different directions?
- Is this a political novel?
- What role do you think music plays in the book?
- Is there a particular scene in the novel that really sticks with you?
Northern Bookshelf is published by New Writing North and Durham Book Festival. If you have news about books by northern authors or you would like to recommend books as a bookseller, librarian, book group or reader, please contact carys@newwritingnorth.com. The next issue will be published in March 2024 and will cover March 2024 - May 2024. The deadline for receipt of information for the next newsletter is 2 February 2024.
While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this newsletter is correct at the time of going to press, things do change, frequently at the last minute and very often without our knowledge.
