It's a rare thing to come across a debut collection as cohesive and accomplished as Rotten Days in Late Summer. Whether writing on love, class, illness, the working life, death or the complex and multi-faceted nature of human desire, Ralf Webb is never less than razor-sharp. With a storyteller's flair, he evokes a world of shifting terrains in which 'anything could be an omen', and where refrains, motifs, stanza shapes and rhymes call to each other across the pages. In his extraordinary 'Treetops' sequence, Webb navigates the labyrinths of mental illness and the ambiguous prize of health . . . It all feels gloriously, anarchically new

This is close-range language, magnifying without prejudice both the beautiful and the hard. Ralf Webb's poetry tells the truth of the push-pull of liberation and obligation . . . To work, to care, to mourn, but also to be a poet and queer and . . . dream of a commune in France - this is poetry in the grand tradition of annihilation by desire. It's what the young are always learning, and the old, if they are wise, never forget

His poems take on grief and young manhood, and are largely set in England's West Country. 'Accept this cheap and ironclad cynicism,' Webb writes. 'We're not famous. I am completely in love.' The voice in this book is direct and heart-breaking. There's no pretension. It's all heart

Webb's collection concerns captivation and captivity, its dignities and its violences, with frank and alert complexity. Be it in remembered school corridors, the careening horizons of grief or longed-for resolutions within and without desire, he presents the strange within the recognisable and the recognisable within the strange. A careful-bold, important voice in British poetry

Ralf Webb is an ethnographer of the present. He is interested in everyday life in the extreme. What we find is that "There is a goodness here, somewhere, there is sense in struggle." Equal parts ode, litany, and menace, Rotten Days in Late Summer opens us up to the agon of the new century

Thoughtful and thought-provoking, this book embodies the rainbow-coloured diversity of the queer community and neatly articulates the struggles ahead. It is an education in why the concept of 'pride' remains not only relevant but critical

Read and be inspired! Global voices with ideas to shape a brighter LGBTQ+ future - a planet without criminalisation, discrimination and hate crime. This book is a reminder that it starts with us and now

Rivers Solomon's Sorrowland (2021) is a powerful and vital work of speculative fiction, one with its roots in the gothic past but with tendrils reaching out beyond the limits of the New Weird... Uncompromising, haunting and unforgettable, Solomon has crafted a modern masterpiece of fantastic fiction.

[T]his twisty adventure, in which the blood-and-guts thrills and breathy sex scenes ultimately act as a delivery mechanism for an urgent affirmation of the necessity of social justice.

A furious utopia. Utterly compelling, brilliant and terrifying. Sorrowland seizes the history of white supremacy, racist medical experimentation, and the dream - and danger - of the commune and gnashes it into something magnificent and truly reparative. An epic fantasy that interweaves righteous, large-scale confrontations with power, extremely sexy and moving erotic gothic horror, and exquisite, meticulous renderings of the daily life of parenting. This is a fairy tale for adults, spangled in the wreckage of the world. A gorgeous, singular, and profound work.

The writing is visceral and soul-clenching. The characters - bold, creative, and memorable. The action, heart-stopping. This is imaginative storytelling at its finest. Once I started, I could not put down Sorrowland until I reached the end. And then I wanted more!

Sorrowland is a raw, powerful, and visceral read. Nature, joy, science, belonging, human metamorphosis, generational oppression, strength, and sheer lust for life: if Toni Morrison, M. Night Shyamalan, and Marge Piercy got together they might, if they were lucky, produce something with the unstoppable exhilaration of this novel. Sorrowland is sui generis.

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon contains so much wisdom and insight, wrapped in an abundance of passion and fury and tenderness. There is so much going on in this book: the spectre of what happens when rebellion is co-opted, our longstanding practice of using Black bodies for cruel and unethical experiments, the audacity of queer love. The arc of this book takes Vern and her babies away from civilization and then back to it - but they return changed, and they change everyone else, and this book restored my faith in our potential to transform just when I needed it most.

Lee Child on An Unkindness of Ghosts: Immediately immersive and sophisticated. This is a phenomenal piece of work.

On An Unkindness of Ghosts: Solomon debuts with a raw distillation of slavery, feudalism, prison, and religion that kicks like rotgut moonshine...Stunning.

Infused with the spirit of Octavia Butler and loaded with meaning for the present day, An Unkindness of Ghosts will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Solomon's impassioned, speculative, literary book is sorely needed on library shelves.

On An Unkindness of Ghosts: What Solomon achieves with this debut - the sharpness, the depth, the precision - puts me in mind of a syringe full of stars. I want to say about this book, its only imperfection is that it ended.

Dark and magical, Sorrowland is a fantastical tale that grapples with America's history of racism and marginalised communities

Solomon captures Vern's journey in a gripping narrative that is equal parts speculative fiction and Gothic tale, all while unravelling a fictional world that is not dissimilar to our own, particularly in its depiction of racism and white supremacy.

Solomon's most powerful work yet.

SORROWLAND is a highly atmospheric, addictive read.

[A]bsurdly well-researched, prescient and pin-sharp [...] so definitely pick it up'

[I]t's thrillingly, DELICIOUSLY fascinating about How We Live Now. She's a MINE of information- philosophy, science, literature, stats, all pulled together in her coolly elegant prose. I could not put it down!

These 242 pages are an (exhaustive, though not depressing) middle-finger to the word 'should'. A word which justifies women feeling the need to constantly scrutinise every decision; in the name of self-improvement, in order to have the Best Life Possible, at a hundred miles an hour.

Energetic and compelling.

Sykes stays true to "High Low" form by using a high-low mix of vocabulary ... We have all had moments of asking ourselves if we are doing "this" - gestures vaguely - right, which makes the book all the more likeable. This is a form of learning how to succeed by failing - as it admits to being human.

Pandora is my personal guru on all things relating to the zeitgeist. How lucky you are that she can now be yours too.

This will spark a thousand conversations and encourage us to find our own path to contentment.

Hailed as a manifesto for modern women ... packed with her trademark wit, wisdom and philosophical references (if you know her, you know), this book is the opposite of doom and gloom. Instead, her judgement free observations are reassuring, comforting and wholeheartedly uplifting.

A moving and captivating tale of survival and hope in a war-torn country, and confirms Mohamed's stature as one of Britain's best young novelists

A heartfelt story, handled so carefully and empathetically

Because Of You is a tale told with warmth by a storyteller who never takes herself too seriously

Heartbreaking but redemptive, and lightened by French's trademark humour, this is a compelling read that will keep you poised between laughter and tears

A tantalising story of motherhood told with Dawn French's signature warmth

As ever, even in the darkest of times, Dawn has found humour to inject into her novel

A brilliant book

The life-affirming and unmissable new novel

A tale told with warmth

While Dawn French's latest novel contains a dash of humour, it's also heart-wrenching

A fabulous emotional tearjerker of a novel

Praise for Dawn French

Hilarious and brilliant

I adored According to YES. It's so different to anything I've read in forever, so charming, wise, brilliantly written. I loved it all

Witty and wise, it'll have you burning the midnight oil. A cracker

Very funny and packs an emotional clout. Brilliant!

An enlightening and feel-good read offering a fresh look at life and how to embrace it. Funny and enjoyable to the end

There is lots of fun to be had reading this book. It's impossible not to warm to Rosie, a funny and open-hearted woman who acts as a salve and comfort blanket for this unhappy, inhibited family. There's something quite joyous about the way she unashamedly romps her way through the novel, changing the lives of those around her for the better

Another hilarious novel!

French can spin a yarn . . . which sets According to YES apart. Think the vicar of Dibley, without the dog collar. YES YES YES indeed

Wise and poignant

Heart-warming