Author:Sharon Olds

Arguably America's greatest living poet, Sharon Olds enters her eightieth year with a book for our times: a book of fear, fragility and love of life
***NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST***
***AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023***
'Sharon Olds is a force of nature... She proves triumphantly evergreen'
OBSERVER
'At the time of have-not, I look at myself in this mirror,' writes Olds in this self-scouring, exhilarating collection, which opens with a section of quarantine poems, followed by her 'Amherst Balladz', honouring Emily Dickinson - 'she was our Girl - our Woman - / Man enough - for me' - and leads to celebrations of lost friends and lovers: her childhood, young womanhood, and old age all mixed up together. She examines her white privilege, sees her mother 'flushed and exalted at punishment time', celebrates the human body, even in ageing, and looks with wonder at the natural world and how we've spoiled it.
Renowned for her poetry of searing honesty, sexual frankness and brave originality, Sharon Olds' new book emerges 'at the eleventh hour of the end of the world', from the time of plague, this time of loss, where she can look at the world and her life and tell us plainly 'love is the love of who we are, it is a form of knowing.'
In Balladz, Sharon Olds proves triumphantly evergreen: a woman who still steps across prudishly conventional lines as playfully as a child absorbed in French skipping... Remarkable.
—— Observer, *Poetry Book of the Month*Perhaps the most accessible poet of her generation.
—— TelegraphHer voice is easy and intimate, almost alarmingly charming, and so you will follow wherever she leads... Olds's artistic signature - what really makes Sharon Olds Sharon Olds - is a kind of aggressive intimacy: a willingness to write.
—— New York TimesSharon Olds is a force of nature. It seems phenomenal that, at 81, she produced this collection about sex, love and the landscape of the body that seems to have been written with the fearlessness of youth.
—— Observer, *Books of the Year*A brilliant and fearless poet.
—— Joyce Carol Oates, author of Black WaterAlways fearlessly focused on the body and sensual experience, Olds getting older just finds new worlds of taboo to conquer... Astonishing.
—— Sunday TimesOlds is a supreme poet of the body; I'll be reading her till I die.
—— Fiona Benson, author of EphemeronDrawing on an unflinching interrogation of the self, these poems pulse with energy.
—— GuardianBalladz showcases the range of Sharon Olds... The whole collection follows the fragility of life, the acceptance of aging, and the reckoning of America.
—— Electric Lit, *Favourite Poetry Collections of 2022*A warm, witty and uplifting novel and it's a joy to spend time with Jojo Moyes' flawed, likeable characters. Another winner from a fabulous author
—— Sunday ExpressOne of our absolute fave authors . . . This brilliant story is a sure-fire hit
—— SunSomeone Else's Shoes is a fantastic novel about the power of female friendships that hugely resonates with me; I'm such a big fan of Jojo's work and of her brilliant, joyful writing. It was an honour to be asked to narrate the story and I hope listeners enjoy the audiobook as much as I enjoyed recording it
—— Daisy RidleyHer advice is invaluable
—— iA compelling, full-of-heart novel about the power of female friendship
—— KirkusHard-hitting and laugh-aloud . . . Two women's lives intertwine and change profoundly in this story full of richly imagined characters
—— The TimesIt's a hit
—— Sunday TimesFreaky Friday is all grown up in this heartfelt and heartwarming tale of two women in very different circumstances.... From the storyteller behind Me Before You comes a story of reinvention that just might inspire you to make a change yourself-just buy your own shoes
—— Good HousekeepingEmpathy and an extravagant plot collide in Moyes's big hug of a novel. Its real heart is the burgeoning friendship between two brilliantly realised but very different fortysomething women
—— Mail on SundayCharming ... Moyes is never short on her trademark clever observations ...[her] fans will have a ball
—— Publishers WeeklySomehow heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time
—— YoursExplores themes of female friendship, motherhood, ageing, love and disillusionment. Moyes brings her main characters - a unlikely group of women thrown together - to life, each as flawed as they are brilliant, and stronger together
—— GraziaSomething to get excited about . . . [The] most compelling and readable of novels, which will make you wonder what it's really like to walk in someone else's shoes
—— Glamour UKShowcases Moyes' ability to portray emotion and female friendship with themes of love, betrayal, family, and hope. It is action packed and will have readers rooting for Nisha and Sam
—— Booklist, Starred ReviewFull of fun, unlikely friendships . . . and female empowerment, it's a welcome escape. A funny romp
—— WomanA love letter to the strength of female friendship and how women can really be there for each other
—— Good HousekeepingA stirring tale of sisterhood, survival and being seen
—— RedA heartfelt story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances
—— PlatinumPraise for Jojo Moyes
—— -Moyes is on dazzling form in this big-hearted story
—— Daily MirrorRaw, funny, real and sad, this is storytelling at its best
—— Marie ClaireBlisteringly good
—— SunThis truly beautiful story made us laugh, smile and sob like a baby - you simply have to read it
—— CloserEntertaining, immersive and moving
—— Sunday TimesDazzling
—— Sunday ExpressMoyes somehow manages to break your heart before restoring your faith in love
—— Sunday ExpressA genuinely entertaining book, a really cracking story
—— StylistMagnificent
—— Jewish ChronicleVictory City can, in many ways, be read as an entertaining jaunt through Indian history, though it is history through the kaleidoscopic and sweeping lens of a fairy tale... this brilliantly magical tale.
—— Irish IndependentThis sweeping, intricately crafted fairy tale is underscored by very human characters and Rushdie's signature wit.
—— Culture Whisper, *Books to Look Out For 2023*A grand entertainment, in a tale with many strands, by an ascended master of modern legends.
—— Kirkus ReviewRushdie's magical style unfurls wonders.
—— Washington PostRushdie's Victory City is another fabulous novel set in his native India... He's a master who never forgets that the main goal of a storyteller is to entertain rather than educate or pontificate.
—— New York Journal of BooksRushdie is, above all else...one of the most powerful defenders of story we have... Victory City is a victory for Rushdie - and for every reader who enters its gates.
—— Harper's BazaarRushdie succeeds in creating a kind of incantatory prose that befits the fabulist nature of the story... he can enchant readers like few other writers.
—— Literary ReviewThis is a man at his full-strength, high-tar best - with his deeply humane worldview, his brilliance at set-pieces and, above all, the thrilling wildness of his imagination on irresistible display.
—— Reader's DigestWith its carousel of shifting politics and history, Victory City is Rushdie's most textured and triumphant wonder tale yet.
—— HinduUtterly enchanting.
—— Eastern EyeRushdie's return to magic, myth, and India's ancient stories is dazzling. With mercurial prose and vivid renderings, Rushdie never loses us in Victory City's convolutions, but instead builds our trust to travail the many grand events of Pampa's imagined empire.
—— EsquireA rich, dramatic saga... The many moments of comedy...show Salman Rushdie's storytelling skills and his endearing sense of playfulness... the main feeling the reader gets is of a storyteller enjoying himself.
—— Tablet, *Novel of the Week*Rushdie is an expert at mixology; he's the DJ Shadow of text with references and allusions to high and low culture from Finnegans Wake to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon... a well-told tale that gets bums on seats.
—— NationalThere's a magical thread of storytelling running through the veins of each character we meet in this book... a joy to read.
—— UK Press SyndicationA work of great imagination... In Victory City the power of the written word and of the storyteller remain triumphant.
—— NBRushdie’s sheer love of fiction is irrepressible.
—— Daily Telegraph, *Books of the Year*A wonderfully entertaining literary hybrid
—— The Times, *Books of the Year*Victory City is Salman Rushdie at his imaginative best… sweeping the reader on a journey that feels epic in a mere 320 pages
—— i, *Books of the Year*From start to finish, the reader or listener can only be impressed by the literary flair of Rushdie's compelling storytelling... Victory City is a joy to listen to.
—— Entertainment Focus






