The Unseen – a detective novel, by Valerio Varesi

The Unseen – a detective novel

Valerio Varesi

Commissario Soneri from Parma is investigating an unsolved case of a dead body found in the Po River three years before. His investigation leads him to river life, where he tries to break the wall of silence, typical of small communities harbouring poachers, petty criminals and big time profiteers. Soneri realises that the fog surrounding the Po makes things invisible and people unseen; it changes their identities; it deceives. And sometimes it kills.

Singing in the Dark Times, by Margaret Corvid

Singing in the Dark Times

Margaret Corvid

Margaret Corvid has been writing for many years, but this is her first published poetry collection. Her poems are accomplished and interesting. She shows confidence, innovation and intelligibility and the poems have a confident and easy structure. Above all, there is a variety and exuberance in the collection and verve in the subject matter.

Now This – Reflections on our Arts and Cultures, by Patricia Borlenghi, Editor

Now This – Reflections on our Arts and Cultures

Patricia Borlenghi, Editor

This collection of essays by visual artists explores current political and health issues adversely affecting our arts and cultures. With the dreadful tragedy of Covid-19, our shared suffering and loss confirm our place in Europe more firmly than ever, regardless of those attempting to cut our ties.

Rebel Alliance – Short Story Anthology, by Anna Johnson, Editor

Rebel Alliance – Short Story Anthology

Anna Johnson, Editor

Human existence is all about the grey areas — and it is those that this anthology of short stories explores — providing a space for stories to be told and voices to be heard. Some stories are based on true experiences, or speculative fiction and political parables to reflect on our present day problems.

Chaos – Poetry Anthology, by Anna Johnson, Editor

Chaos – Poetry Anthology

Anna Johnson, Editor

We are all looking for truth in these chaotic times. Hopefully, as well as truth, this poetry anthology restores some humanity, some significance and some love. Contributors to ‘Chaos’ include George Szirtes, Christine De Luca, Catherine Coldstream and MW Bewick.

Never Knowingly Understood, by Anthony Roberts, Dr

Never Knowingly Understood

Anthony Roberts, Dr

A collection of reflections, ideas and commentary from Dr Robert’s regular local Essex newspaper column. He steps through the frustrations and idiosyncrasies of everyday life with a comic eye and a candid approach to family life. Mixed in with these irreverent musings are some caustic attacks on homophobia and some beautiful and moving words on the commonality of young male suicide.

Colchester WriteNight Short Prose Collection, by Sue Dawes and Emma Kittle-Pey, Editors

Colchester WriteNight Short Prose Collection

Sue Dawes and Emma Kittle-Pey, Editors

This is a selection of short prose from Colchester Writenight, a community writing group, formed in 2011. The theme of the collection is ‘Open Book’, representing the diversity of creative writing they produce. It will intrigue and inspire you.

Refugees and Peacekeepers – A Patrician Press Anthology, by Anna Johnson, Editor

Refugees and Peacekeepers – A Patrician Press Anthology

Anna Johnson, Editor

This anthology of poems and short stories is the result of a writing competition Patrician Press ran in 2016. The short-listed works including that of the winner, Penny Simpson, are now published in the anthology as well as contributions by Patrician Press authors and others.

My Europe – An Anthology, by Anna Johnson, Editor

My Europe – An Anthology

Anna Johnson, Editor

This diverse and varied anthology of poems, short stories and essays includes contributions by Canon Giles Fraser, Helena Kennedy QC, Lemn Sissay, George Szirtes and Stephen Timms MP. For any reader interested in knowing more about our ties with Europe, the EU and Brexit.

Tempest – An Anthology, by Anna Vaught and Anna Johnson, Editors

Tempest – An Anthology

Anna Vaught and Anna Johnson, Editors

This diverse and varied anthology of short fiction, essays and poems includes contributions by Sam Jordison, Steven O’Brien, Justine Sless, Patrick Wright and poet M W Bewick. The anthology concerns our present political ‘tempestuous’ times and some of the works have a science-fiction flavour to include dystopian, authoritarian and imagined worlds.

Northern alchemy – Shetlandic poems with versions  in English, by Christine De Luca

Northern alchemy – Shetlandic poems with versions in English

Christine De Luca

A bi-lingual collection of 40 poems, each in the original Shetlandic, along with a version in English. Shetlandic is a unique ‘dialect’ or language, a blend of Old Scots with strong Norse vocabulary and sound; the most distinctive within Scotland. Nordic poets, when they hear it, describe it as a ‘cousin language’.

Arcobaleno Rainbow, by Sara Elena Rossetti

Arcobaleno Rainbow

Sara Elena Rossetti

This is delicately written poetry by a young Italian writer. The poems are divided into sections based on the colours of the rainbow. The English translation appears alongside each Italian poem. Readers will be able to appreciate the original cadence; rhythm and rhyme of each poem in the Italian language whilst at the same time better understand the meaning of the words.

Stance, by Mark Brayley

Stance

Mark Brayley

Working within the constraint of the lipogram, Stance is a poetry collection completely constructed without the use of the letter i. Moving beyond the personal pronoun to be more objective, this collection delves through characters and narratives, as well as taking, at times, an imperative stance.

Disarming the Porcupine, by Mark Brayley

Disarming the Porcupine

Mark Brayley

Blurring the boundaries between poetic catharsis, dramatic exploration of character, and challenging the reader, Disarming the Porcupine is a daring collection of poetry, spanning nearly ten years of writing. As a document of the mind of a man in the early twenty-first century, this is not poetry for the faint hearted.

The Unfettered Cube, by Mark Brayley

The Unfettered Cube

Mark Brayley

The beauty of OULIPO (Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle) with the use of a mathematical formula is evocatively expressed in this imaginative, erudite and clever poem. Reading the cantos and interpreting the structure of the poem make it an entertainingly visual and interesting experience.

Robert Macfarlane’s Orphans, by Martin Johnson

Robert Macfarlane’s Orphans

Martin Johnson

Martin Johnson, inspired by Robert Macfarlane’s The Old Ways, has extracted poems from Macfarlane’s very poetical prose in much the same way that Edward Thomas, a poet loved by both writers, was inspired by Robert Frost to do the same with his own prose writings.

Letters to the Cultural Rehabilitation of the Unemployed, by Andrea Inglese

Letters to the Cultural Rehabilitation of the Unemployed

Andrea Inglese

The book is composed of 17 ‘love’ letters written by an unemployed man and addressed to a vague entity – the Cultural Rehabilitation. This Cultural Rehabilitation sometimes assumes the abstract and anonymous form of an institution, at others, a female public official with whom the man establishes an erotic understanding. The second part is entitled Circumstances of the Sentence and includes 15 prose passages representing unpredictable small worlds.

War Changes Everything, by Melanie Hughes

War Changes Everything

Melanie Hughes

This is Nita’s Story. Born during the First World War, she is illegitimate. When her mother marries, she doesn’t get on with her stepfather. At grammar school she meets Yolanda who introduces her to the vibrant Italian community. The two young women become involved in the left-wing intellectual life of London in the 1930s. She meets Rikh, an activist in the India League. When war is declared, Rikh is seconded to bomber command and they marry in haste.

La Guerra Cambia Tutto, by Melanie Hughes

La Guerra Cambia Tutto

Melanie Hughes

Il romanzo è il vero racconto di due donne eccezionali. Nita, nata durante la prima guerra mondiale è illegittima. Al liceo, incontra la vivace Yolanda, della comunità italiana londinese. Le due giovani diventano amiche del cuore e, negli anni trenta, partecipano alla vita intellettuale della sinistra.

Midnight Legacy, by Melanie Hughes

Midnight Legacy

Melanie Hughes

Nita’s story continues. She and Rikh arrive in Madras. Rikh’s squadron is based in Ambala, one of India’s oldest military bases and head of operations for the Combined Allied Forces. Rikh takes part in bombing raids on Burma. Bored and miserable, Nita has an affair with a young pilot. She leaves Rikh and goes to Lahore, ‘the Paris of the East.’ She discovers she is pregnant when the Second World War ends and communal violence is building up all over India.

The ground is full of holes, by Suzy Norman

The ground is full of holes

Suzy Norman

Marcus, an Irish-born consultant anaesthetist in London, makes a disastrous error. In a moment of panic he tries to cover his tracks. During the subsequent inquiry, his half-truths are exposed by Asabi, his assistant, who is smarting from his withdrawn attention.

Duff, by Suzy Norman

Duff

Suzy Norman

Recovering from a near-fatal bout of pneumonia, Duff Boyd plans to win back his estranged wife, Nerys. He suggests a road trip. Their destination is Aberdeen, the city where they fell in love. As they rattle along from Wales to Scotland, Duff’s romantic mission is challenged by the strange characters they encounter. There is also the curious reappearance of a battered white Citroen. Who is driving it and what do they want from Duff?

Once upon a time in Chinatown, by Robert Ronsson

Once upon a time in Chinatown

Robert Ronsson

Once Upon a Time in Chinatown is the second novel by Robert Ronsson to be inspired by film. It starts with the narrator embarking on a search for the father he never knew. This leads to a ruined stately home in Malaysia and the Chinese family that owns it. The ‘castle’ and its romantic story become the focus of the novel and its fate impels the narrative.

Out of Such Darkness, by Robert Ronsson

Out of Such Darkness

Robert Ronsson

Cameron Mortimer follows fellow-writer Christopher Isherwood to 1930s Berlin. In a separate narrative, Jay Halprin, an Englishman working in Manhattan, survives 9/11. When Jay’s second-chance life collides with the repercussions of Cameron’s travels, the outcome, though always inevitable, is both surprising and shocking.

Gold Adornments and other stories, by Emma Kittle-Pey

Gold Adornments and other stories

Emma Kittle-Pey

This collection contains humorous stories and vignettes of the false honesties and small-world stereotyping that the various characters encounter on their individual journeys. For instance, whilst they shop for bras or visit charity shops or find themselves involved in domestic ‘confrontations’ with estate agents and others.

Fat Maggie and other stories, by Emma Kittle-Pey

Fat Maggie and other stories

Emma Kittle-Pey

This quirky and subtly witty collection of short stories tackles women’s daily life interaction at home, in the workplace, on holiday or at social events. The animal-related tales contain an interactive element and readers are invited to suggest their own moral at the end of each story, thus contributing to the dead-pan humour they evoke.

Faded Letters, by Maurizio Ascari

Faded Letters

Maurizio Ascari

1944, Northern Italy. Antonio’s life is shattered when he is deported to Germany as a forced labourer. Thereafter, his joys consist of small things: being able to breathe, to feel the plaster of a wall with his fingers, and the hope that perhaps, one day, he will return to his world. The book, partly in the form of letters and postcards, reconstructs that former world and is itself an act of commemoration…

La Pagina Cancellata, by Maurizio Ascari

La Pagina Cancellata

Maurizio Ascari

La Pagina Cancellata racconta l’esperienza di Antonio Ascari, deportato in Germania come lavoratore coatto nel 1944. Attraverso la scrittura creativa, questo libro dà voce a documenti e memorie, colmandone i vuoti con l’immaginazione e perseguendo una verità in primo luogo affettiva, un rituale di commemorazione che abbraccia insieme ad Antonio la sua intera famiglia. 

Coma – La vita in un altro tempo, by Arturo Croci

Coma – La vita in un altro tempo

Arturo Croci

COMA – Life in another time – embraces a world beyond time, beyond reality. We can ask ourselves whether it’s possible to experience two realities: to live in a world where time cannot be fixed or measured and the answer is yes.

Coma – Life in another time, by Arturo Croci

Coma – Life in another time

Arturo Croci

This is the English edition of ‘Coma – La vita in un altro tempo’.

Four Quartets – T S Eliot and Spirituality, by Richard Brock

Four Quartets – T S Eliot and Spirituality

Richard Brock

The book explores the spiritual themes underpinning one of the twentieth century’s most celebrated literary masterpieces. The author unpacks and elucidates for the modern reader the complex religious and philosophical ideas which influenced T. S. Eliot’s poem.

As Fit as a Fish – the English and Italians Revealed!, by Laura Tosi and Peter Hunt

As Fit as a Fish – the English and Italians Revealed!

Laura Tosi and Peter Hunt

Did you know that the Italians invented the fork, and the English named the Dolomites? That you can’t drink cappuccino after noon or buy coloured pasta in Italy without being instantly recognised as English? This original guide to English-Italian stereotypes and prejudices – sometimes funny, sometimes serious – is an essential part of every European traveller’s luggage!

Three Wishes, by Philip Terry

Three Wishes

Philip Terry

Between 1970 and 1982, Georges Perec sent his friends small pamphlets with his best wishes for the New Year. These were collections of short texts based on homophonic variations. The three pieces are neither translations of this material (which is, by its very nature, untranslatable), nor entirely original pieces of work, rather a sort of homage to Perec.

Zaira	– a girl before her time, by Patricia Borlenghi

Zaira – a girl before her time

Patricia Borlenghi

This is an historical novel set in Northern Italy at the turn of the 20th century. Zaira is a young, determined girl, seeking a new life away from her restricting peasant farming background. However things do not go according to plan when she meets Leonardo, a rich landowner and becomes companion to his delicate wife, Livietta. When Zaira gives birth to twins their lives are changed forever.

Zaira – Italian edition, by Borlenghi, Patricia

Zaira – Italian edition

Borlenghi, Patricia

The new, revised Italian edition of Zaira is now out in paperback and can be ordered direct from this site.

Clarisse – an honest woman, by Patricia Borlenghi

Clarisse – an honest woman

Patricia Borlenghi

A London-born woman’s life changes drastically after her husband dies suddenly and she develops breast cancer. The novel recounts her life in France and move to East Anglia; the people she meets; her reactions to death and illness and her refusal of conventional treatment. The novel ends with her journey of discovery to New Zealand.

Dorek – deaf and unheard, by Patricia Borlenghi

Dorek – deaf and unheard

Patricia Borlenghi

Dorek has no sense of achievement in life. As a boy, he was obsessed with a girl who lived opposite him and finds it difficult to relate to other people. This is a result of his deafness and his uncertain sexuality. He relies on his best friend, Mungo, for companionship. Then unexpectedly his fortunes change and through learning about his family history and the surprising connections he uncovers, Dorek finally finds fulfilment and an inner peace.

The Wallowbang Tree, by Danielle Wrayton

The Wallowbang Tree

Danielle Wrayton

One fatal night young Rosie Sparks’ world is turned upside down after listening to her granny’s strange but true tale of a magical tree, the Wallowbang Tree. In her subsequent adventure she encounters fiendish characters but new and old friends are there to help her on her quest to find her missing dad.

Darkling Park, by Elisa Marcella Webb

Darkling Park

Elisa Marcella Webb

This is a children’s adventure story set in a graveyard. When Fin and her embarrassing family move to Darkling Park, Fin worries about why their new home is called Blind Twin House and will she ever live it down at school? And there’s something lurking about in the bushes.

Godfrey and the Stars, by Mike Fryer

Godfrey and the Stars

Mike Fryer

Godfrey is a gargoyle living at the top of the cathedral. One day, a passing scatter-brained Pigeon who has lost his way, lands on Godfrey’s head. Surprisingly, Godfrey and the Pigeon become friends. They spend an evening stargazing at various sky wonders such as the Moon, the Pole Star, the Great and Little Bears, comets, the Milky Way and the Northern Lights.

Godfrey’s Flying Adventure, by Mike Fryer

Godfrey’s Flying Adventure

Mike Fryer

Godfrey can’t fly even though he has ‘wings’ so he builds a flying machine. After a bumpy start he and the Pigeon take off for an adventure in the sky and encounter different kinds of weather.

Godfrey’s Clever Inventions, by Mike Fryer

Godfrey’s Clever Inventions

Mike Fryer

Godfrey the Gargoyle invents many things such as a Rain Machine and a Lightning Machine. In the process he answers various questions about science posed by his friend, the Pigeon.

A to Z – an animal alphabet in five languages, by Patricia Borlenghi and illustrated by Piers Harper

A to Z – an animal alphabet in five languages

Patricia Borlenghi and illustrated by Piers Harper

This is an ingenious and unique alphabet in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. In this book, the names of the animals all start with the same letter in each language. The five different languages always appear in the same order on the page and each language has its own design style.

The Necklace, by Patricia Borlenghi

The Necklace

Patricia Borlenghi

This is a modern fairy tale about a princess with a difference. Princess Lucy is the most beautiful girl in the world but she isn’t interested in finding her prince charming. She prefers to dabble in magic and witchcraft with her beloved friend, a witch called Willow.

Gli Animali Pellegrini, by Patricia Borlenghi

Gli Animali Pellegrini

Patricia Borlenghi

A group of animal pilgrims are making the long journey to visit the shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi, and Chaucer the cat suggests that they tell each other stories to make the trip more enjoyable.

The Birmingham Collection, by Wersha Bharadwa

The Birmingham Collection

Wersha Bharadwa

Wersha Bharadwa’s ‘Sunny the Indian Datsun’, ‘Living History’ and ‘This is Earth’ – three funny short stories for our unsettling times.

The New York Collection, by Robert Ronsson

The New York Collection

Robert Ronsson

PDF edition of Robert Ronsson’s five bittersweet short stories for our unsettling times.

Food Fetish – a life of eating and drinking, by Patricia Borlenghi

Food Fetish – a life of eating and drinking

Patricia Borlenghi

The everyday life and diary of a food lover describing the enjoyment of simple meals and wine.  It is mainly set in Emilia Romagna in Italy but there is some background information about the author’s food-dominated childhood in London and other events. The book contains recipes and illustrations.

The Book of Coincidences, by Patricia Borlenghi

The Book of Coincidences

Patricia Borlenghi

This book is an autobiography; recounted as a collection of the coincidences in the author’s life. The author describes how many of her friends and members of her family link up, often with more than two connections between them. Interspersed with these anecdotes are further biographical details about her life and work, both as a publisher and a writer.

Il Tempo del Disgelo – The Thawing, by Ilaria Locati

Il Tempo del Disgelo – The Thawing

Ilaria Locati

A book of photographs and poems about the tundra. In 2015 Ilaria Locati returned to the most northern part of Europe to experience first-hand the moment when the Arctic starts to thaw. She turned her feelings and reflections about the harsh nature of the tundra and northern forests into poems, some of which are collected in this book, together with the stunning photographs of the same places taken by the artist.

Dolores – a book of poems, by Marianne Francis

Dolores – a book of poems

Marianne Francis

An eclectic poetry collection about women, places, philosophy and feelings.