HarperCollins Independent Thinking Spring 2012

Recommended new books for independent booksellers

Spring 2012

HarperCollins

Independent Thinking See inside for independent exclusive offers, signed books and author events

Contents Fiction............................................................. 4 Non-Fiction................................................. 14

Including Food & Drink, Biography, Nature, History, Travel & Adventure

Paperback Round-up................................22 Children’s Books........................................24 Book orders: To order any of the books featured in this brochure or to take advantage of our independent exclusive offers, please contact your local HarperCollins sales representative, email us at independentthinking@harpercollins.co.uk or call HarperCollins customer service on 0844 576 8120.

@HCindythinking To receive our monthly newsletter and advance reading copies email ‘JOIN’ to independentthinking@harpercollins.co.uk

Visit our blog HCindythinking.co.uk

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The spring issue of HarperCollins Independent Thinking has a particular focus on fiction, including a wealth of debut novels publishing in early 2012.

There’s genuinely something for everyone and proof copies are widely available to independent booksellers.

To request proofs or to take advantage of any of the special offers included in this brochure, contact your HarperCollins sales representative or email us at independentthinking@harpercollins.co.uk .

Look out for the icons throughout which highlight specific information and special offers, including signed books and author events.

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Fiction, New Talent | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

Fiction New Talent

Our Independent Book of the Month for

‘Novels this good come along so rarely’.

The Art of Fielding Chad Harbach

19th January 2012 978-0-00-737444-1

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It is hard to believe that The Art of Fielding is Chad Harbach’s first book. Novels this good come along so rarely, and it is no surprise that it has taken the American literary community by storm and found its way onto the bestseller list there. Of course we all want something different from a novel; our needs and expectations of literature vary. But for me, while I’m in the universe of a novel, I want to be totally absorbed in characters I can completely believe in and whose lives somehow shed light on one’s own. This is Chad Harbach’s great achievement, and you read on in The Art of Fielding because you simply yearn to know how the complex spiral of the relationships between his five protagonists – all of them vulnerable in ways we recognize – will be resolved. The action is set over a college baseball season but, as I read somewhere, this book is as much about baseball as Moby Dick is about the whale: the baseball becomes the frame through which we experience these characters’ lives. Hardbach is the real deal: the most significant new voice in American literature to arrive in a long while.

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Fiction, New Talent | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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Q: A Love Story Evan Mandery

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In Q, Evan Mandery has fashioned an epic lovestory. This unusual and picturesque story begins at the cinema when our hero – an unacclaimed writer, unorthodox professor and unmistakeable New Yorker reminiscent of Woody Allen – first meets Q, his one everlasting love. They are destined to be together, or so it seems. But when our hero receives an unhappy forecast from a man claiming to be his future self, he is faced with an agonizing decision: should he evade future misery or pursue present joy?

Evan Mandery brings the poise of an essayist to this fabulous romance, in exuberant, direct, witty prose.

Q is a potent mixture of science fiction and love story. Neither nerdy or soppy, it takes romance to new frontiers. And it has an ending that will melt even the darkest heart.

Clare Reihill, Editorial Director, Fourth Estate

£16.99 HB

‘A word to the tear prone: don’t attempt to read the ending in public’.

2nd February 2012 978-0-00-744760-2

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Fiction, New Talent | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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The Fine Colour of Rust P. A. O’Reilly

‘Big-hearted, funny, warm and brave’.

I love this novel not only for its exquisite writing, but also for its characterisation, its humour and its generosity of spirit. P.A. O’Reilly has an extraordinary gift for bringing to life both people and places. Loretta Boskovic, the central character, is a masterly creation, someone you feel you’d like as your best friend: big-hearted, funny, warm and brave. The story of her battle against injustice and corruption in a small Australian country town will have you cheering from the sidelines while reaching for the Kleenex at the same time. If you enjoyed A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian or Mr Rosenblum’s List, you’ll love The Fine Colour of Rust.

£12.99 HB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-745639-0

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Patrick Janson-Smith, Publisher, Blue Door

Fiction, New Talent | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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Care of Wooden Floors Will Wiles Will Wiles introduces his new novel, Care of Wooden Floors.

Ikea, the colossal flatpack furniture company, has a new slogan: ‘Happy Inside’. The message is pretty clear: you can fix your life by fixing up your home. But it’s twaddle.

Care of Wooden Floors is a 300-page revenge on that idea, in which the perfect home steadily ruins a number of lives. There will be blood. Which is murder to get out of a wooden floor. i le

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The home is an apartment in an unnamed eastern European city owned by Oskar, a minimalist composer.

Oskar is a success and his apartment is a triumph of minimalist interior design. In this perfect environment he has planned a perfect life. But something has gone wrong. Oskar is offstage for most of the novel, having his marriage dismantled by lawyers and while he’s away, he has given his apartment to an old university friend to look after. Oskar’s friend edits leaflets about flytipping for a living. But he feels that if he just had the right environment, he could be something more – he could be a success, he could be happy. And housesitting for Oskar might just give him that opportunity, to break out of the squalor of his basement flat in Clapham and soar.

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My original intention had been to write a book about procrastination, in which someone who wants to write something is endlessly distracted, but I never quite got round to it. I found that the best way to distract my protagonist was to give him little things to do around the house. After all, I know that if I’m on a deadline, suddenly tidying my desk or doing the washing up seems like a much higher priority than whatever it is I’m meant to be doing. Very soon, this delusion that the perfect environment can make you a better person came to dominate the story. The flatsitter is given something to do – a tiny mishap has led to an imperfection in the flat, a blemish on the wooden floor. And this draws him into a swirling vortex of catastrophe.

£12.99 HB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-742443-6

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Will Wiles

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Fiction, New Talent | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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Sorry Zoran Drvenkar

‘The best thriller I have read since Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon’.

I’ll come straight to the point: Sorry is quite simply the best thriller I have read since Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon. That sets the bar extremely high, but I stand firmly by the assertion. I am happy to report there are already quite a number of people who agree with me, none more emphatically so than the author, Olen Steinhauer. Writing in The New York Times Book Review, he had this to say: ‘Sorry thrills, and it thrills immaculately. It’s that oft-cited but very rare species of novel we call a page-turner, and it brilliantly achieves this because Drvenkar knows how to use all the tools at his disposal, to excellent effect’. We are publishing Sorry in hardcover and in two colours – black and white – with a bold and distinctive design that really stands out on the shelves. It’s not a novel for the faint-hearted, but as I have been saying to anyone who crosses my path: ‘read Sorry. You won’t be!’

£12.99 HB 1st March 2012 978-0-00-743925-6

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Patrick Janson-Smith, Publisher, Blue Door

Fiction, New Talent | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

After the Lockout Darran McCann This ambitious and compelling first novel is an ideal read for fans of Roddy Doyle’s A Star Called Henry.

After the Lockout explores a key moment in 20thcentury Irish history, tackling the conflicts of titanic and opposing institutions. To the population of his rural Irish village, Victor Lennon is a returning hero, the local boy whose progress they have followed on the front page of the papers. To his father, he is the only one of his children stupid enough to respond to the unwanted letters. To Stanislaus Benedict, the parish priest, the return of Victor Lennon the leftwing Easter Rising gunman, is a dangerous and disconcerting prospect.

£12.99 TPB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-742947-9

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Widespread media coverage is expected in the UK and Ireland.

I Married You For Happiness Lily Tuck

£12.99 HB 19th January 2012 978-0-00-744914-9

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Although not a debut author, Lily Tuck is new to Fourth Estate and we’re thrilled to welcome her to the list along with our other new writers. From a first meeting in Paris, I Married You for Happiness details the dark secrets and overwhelming joys of a long marriage, showing how chance can affect both a life and love. Through select memories and remembrances of distant places and emotions, Nina recalls the defining moments of her marriage at the bedside of Philip, whose sudden and unexpected death has prompted her reminiscences. Written in crisp, lean language, Lily Tuck’s powerful and utterly engaging novel forsakes common sentimentality.

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Fiction, New Talent | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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The Testimony James Smythe

‘A brilliantly constructed thriller, leaving the reader asking more questions than there are answers’.

The Testimony opens in a post-Obama world brought to its knees by the deafening sound of static and the words, ‘My children, do not be afraid’. Who or what caused the static? God? Terrorists? The US government? It is a brilliantly constructed thriller, leaving the reader asking more questions than there are answers. James is a perfect fit for the Granta under35 list with the cult appeal of Iain Banks or Scarlett Thomas whilst retaining wide commercial appeal.

Think Generation A crossed with White Noise following a dose of the FlashForward box set and Orson Welles’s broadcast of The War of the Worlds.

£12.99 HB 26th April 2012 978-0-00-742790-1

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Laura Deacon, Editor, Blue Door

Fiction | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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Scenes from Early Life Philip Hensher Philip Hensher introduces his new novel, Scenes from Early Life.

Scenes from Early Life is the story of my husband’s childhood. Born just before the outbreak of the Bangladesh War of Independence, I wanted to create a novel in which he would tell his family’s story through that gruelling time, as if in his own words. He is one of the best storytellers I know, and the tale of his large extended family closing the gates against the terror and violence breaking out in the streets just demanded to be written down. It’s a novel of family love and devotion, and what it means to come out of the other end of a great dark tunnel into sunlight.

£18.99 HB 12th April 2012 978-0-00-743370-4

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Philip Hensher

A Perfectly Good Man Patrick Gale Patrick Gale introduces his new novel, A Perfectly Good Man.

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As Penzance celebrates midsummer, a scandal erupts when Barnaby Johnson, charismatic village priest, turns himself in to the police for assisting the suicide of a young rugby player. As his stoical wife, adult children and shocked parishioners come to terms with the dead boy’s inquest and its aftermath, the reader is allowed to probe deeply into their intertwined stories not only to lay bare their motives, sorrows, fears and loves, but to discover what can still drive someone to put faith before family. A Perfectly Good Man brings back two characters from Notes From An Exhibition. Just as Notes showed the damage done to a family by a woman’s creative madness, I set out here to explore the fallout, within a parallel Cornish family, of a man’s religious faith. So it’s an echo chamber to that earlier book, rather than a sequel, but I couldn’t resist bringing back Morwenna, if only to reassure myself that she’s okay!

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£16.99 HB 15th March 2012 978-0-00-731347-1

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Patrick Gale

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Fiction | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

Pantheon Sam Bourne

£12.99 HB 16th February 2012 978-0-00-741363-8 HarperFiction

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Pantheon is a novel - but it is firmly rooted in the most extraordinary facts. It’s not just that a ship full of Oxford children and their mothers did indeed leave Britain for Yale University in July 1940. Rather the mystery eventually uncovered by James Zennor, the novel’s hero, is a genuine part of British and American history – albeit one that both countries would doubtless rather forget. Today we pride ourselves on the belief that the Second World War was fought out of moral revulsion at the ideas embodied by the Nazis.

The awkward truth, however, is that intellectuals on both sides of the Atlantic were deeply in thrall to a set of principles we would now regard as horribly close to Nazism. Pantheon exposes one of the great secrets of the AngloOur Independent American elite. A secret that has Book of the Month for EVENTS POS laid buried for more than seventy February RRP£12.99 years, yet still has the power to Offer Price shock today. £9.99

Sacrilege S J Parris Sacrilege is the third instalment of S.J. Parris’s major series of historical thrillers featuring Giordano Bruno, charismatic, enigmatic ex-monk and radical philosopher – a hero perfect for fans of Shardlake. It’s summer 1584 and fear grips the streets of London as rumours of a plague ship docked on the Thames sweep through the city.

The Protestant Prince William of Orange has just been assassinated by a fanatical Catholic and there are whispers Queen Elizabeth will be next. Bruno must pit himself against a powerful conspiracy, whilst also wrestling with a newly awakened conflict in his own heart…

£12.99 HB 26th April 2012 978-0-00-731776-9

‘It has everything – intrigue, mystery and excellent history’.

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Praise from Kate Mosse for the Giordano Bruno series.

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Fiction | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

Our Independent Book of the Month for

January RRP£14.99 Offer Price £11.99

£14.99 HB 5th January 2012

Birthdays for the Dead Stuart MacBride The tabloids call him The Birthday Boy. He’s been snatching girls for twelve years, always in the run-up to their thirteenth birthday. This gritty, stand-alone crime novel will be supported by a national author tour and major marketing campaign.

978-0-00-734417-8 HarperFiction

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The House on Willow Street Cathy Kelly Can Tess, Suki, Danae and Mara lay their pasts to rest or do they need to look back before they can begin to live for the future? The wonderful new novel from the natural heir to Maeve Binchy.

£14.99 HB 1st March 2012 978-0-00-737361-1 HarperFiction C at

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The Key Simon Toyne £12.99 HB 12th April 2012 978-0-00-739159-2 Si

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Conspiracy thrillers don’t come any bigger or better than this! Featuring a profound conspiracy, an ancient order, underground opposition and constant jaw-dropping action this book PROOF has everything you want in a thriller.

A Foreign Country Charles Cumming In this top-class thriller from one of the most engaging British novelists writing today, the first female head of MI6 vanishes without a trace six months before she is due to take up her position. The investigation leads to an extraordinary secret buried EXTRA EXTRA PROOF DISCOUNT SIGNED PROOF DISCOUNT EVENTS deep in her past.

£12.99 HB 29th March 2012 978-0-00-733786-6 HarperFiction

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Non-Fiction, Food & Drink | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

NonFiction ‘One of the great writers of our day’.

Marco Pierre White

£20 HB 15th March 2012 978-0-00-741199-3

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A History of Food in 100 Recipes William Sitwell William Sitwell is the editor of Waitrose Kitchen and is widely respected in the food world, having won many awards for the magazine’s writing, stories, design and photography. A History of Food in 100 Recipes is a thoroughly researched, yet easy to read commentary on how modern cuisine was shaped over the past 3000 years. Unearthing all its passion, colour and smells, William Sitwell provides the reader with a unique and exhilarating view of the evolution of mankind’s desire for the best recipes. The 100 pieces, each approximately 1000 words long, share the history of ingredients, techniques and people that have shaped our food in the 21st century. This book is a wonderful celebration of the great dishes and indeed, the great chefs who have innovated over the centuries.

‘Both bon vivant and connoisseur, William Sitwell is the one person I would trust to tell the ultimate story of the history of food’.

Raymond Blanc, OBE

Non-Fiction, Food & Drink | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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The Intolerant Gourmet Pippa Kendrick

£20 HB 16th February 2012 978-0-00-744864-7

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Around 45% of the population is likely to suffer food intolerance at some point in their lives, and Pippa Kendrick’s accessible recipes, all entirely free from wheat, yeast, egg and dairy and almost all entirely free from gluten, mean no one need leave the table feeling unsatisfied. The Intolerant Gourmet is the long-awaited answer to the problems of hosting and having to cater to everyone’s individual needs. Pippa’s collection of allergy-friendly recipes is an indispensable aid to anyone who likes to make, share and enjoy food with others. Drawing on her experience as a food writer and cook, Pippa has gathered together delicious recipes from simple soups and snacks to satisfying main courses and indulgent desserts and cakes. She also includes tried-and-tested basic recipes for breads, pastry and biscuits. All beautifully illustrated with stunning photographs, all do-able, all delicious and all suitable for sharing with everyone, no matter what they can and cannot eat.

What’s For Dinner?

Fay Ripley

£20 HB 1st March 2012 978-0-00-744532-5

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Mumsnet Best Cookbook winner, Fay Ripley, is back with a no-fuss collection of simple, tasty recipes to take you from Monday to Sunday with ease. Fay is an actress, mum of two and passionate home cook, and in What’s For Dinner? she shares 100 of her favourite tried-and-tested dishes. Whether it’s midweek and you need good food fast or are looking for tasty weekend meals that don’t require hours in the kitchen, Fay’s recipes will hit the spot time and time again. Packed with flavour, down-to-earth advice and wit, What’s For Dinner? shows how easy it can be to enjoy delicious home-cooked food every day.

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Non-Fiction, Biography | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

‘An astonishing work of meticulous research’.

Julian Fellowes, writer of Downton Abbey

Titanic Lives Richard Davenport-Hines I’ve always been a Titanic obsessive and the approaching centenary provided too good an opportunity to miss to commission a book on the disaster. The challenge was to come up with a fresh angle on such a familiar event, and in this Richard Davenport-Hines has succeeded triumphantly. He is a supremely gifted biographer with a wonderful knack of uncovering telling details. In Titanic Lives he brings alive long-forgotten or never-known stories about the men who built and owned the Titanic, the passengers of all classes who sailed on her, and the officers and crew who serviced her. It is a sprawling epic filled with an incredible cast of characters – everyone from poor Armenian migrants hoping for a better life in the New World, to American captains of industry such as John Jacob Astor IV, who was pulled from the Atlantic with $4,000 in sodden notes in his pockets. We are introduced to this fascinating group of personalities, and follow their lives on board the ship through to the dramatic climax of the sinking.

£20 HB 19th January 2012 978-0-00-732164-3

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Martin Redfern, Editorial Director, Harper Press

‘Of all the books published to mark the centenary, this is the one to read’.

Non-Fiction, Biography | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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Charles Dickens and the Great Theatre of the World Simon Callow

£16.99 HB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-744530-1

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2012 is the bicentenary of Dickens’s birth and an extensive programme of events will be taking place across TV, radio and stage. Simon Callow will be the face of Dickens during the bicentenary year, appearing in both London’s West End and the Edinburgh Festival. In this entertaining short biography he offers a fresh perspective on one of the greatest novelists in the English language, bringing to life Dickens the man. Though most famous for his great novels of the industrial age, Dickens was one of the first ‘celebrity’ authors, attracting thousands of fans to his readings both in Britain and across the Atlantic. Callow reveals an original genius, and offers a compelling insight into a life that was driven as much by performance and showmanship as by literary endeavour. Rather than a dry academic study, here is an accessible introduction to an exuberant and irrepressible talent, whose extraordinary wit and personality crackle off the page.

Hitler A. N. Wilson

£12.99 HB 15th March 2012 978-0-00-741349-2

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In this brilliant short biography of Adolf Hitler, acclaimed historian A. N. Wilson offers a fresh interpretation of the life of the ‘ultimate demontyrant of history’. In 1923, aged thirty -four, Hitler was languishing in prison after leading an unsuccessful putsch to overthrow the German government. Within a decade he was German Chancellor, one of the most powerful men in Europe. In a field dense with lengthy tomes, this brief, penetrating portrait provides a compelling introduction to a man whose evil continues to fascinate and appal.

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Non-Fiction, Biography | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

All Cheeses Great and Small Alex James Alex James introduces his new memoir, All Cheeses Great and Small.

Claire and I fell in love one weekend in the Cotswolds and got married nine months after we met. We bought the farm on our honeymoon, at which point Blur promptly disintegrated.

So I arrived in the country with a woman I didn’t really know. Well kind of with her. She was at work.

I, on the other hand didn’t currently have a job.

My friends were disgusted I’d stopped drinking for a bit to get married and now I’d appalled them further by walking out on them altogether. People said things like ‘How can you be a farmer? You don’t know anything about farms?’ ‘How can you be a husband?

You’re an arsehole’.

‘How can you be a farmer?

You don’t know anything about farms?’

The main reason for going to the country was to be with her. I didn’t know anybody in the Cotswolds.

I didn’t really know anything. Living the quiet life would have driven me utterly mad until I met her.

It wasn’t until I wanted to get married that the countryside started to attract me other than as a hangover cure. I’d spent my entire adult life living in the West End, the most metropolitan part of the largest city in Europe, but only when I wasn’t tearing around other large cities on tour with the band and gradually I’d found that I’d become addicted to big cities, their glamour, drama and possibilities.

Now, though, I was definitely ready for a change.

£18.99 HB 1st March 2012 978-0-00-745312-2

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Alex James

Non-Fiction, Nature | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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Food For Free Richard Mabey First published in 1972 and still in print today, Food for Free is a guide to over 200 types of food that can be gathered, foraged and picked in the wild.

Organised by season, Mabey’s fully-revised text is accompanied by stunning photographs, new recipes and a wealth of practical information on identifying, collecting, cooking and preparing, history and folklore. Informatively illustrated, beautifully written and produced in a new, larger format, Food for Free inspires us to be more self-sufficient and make use of the natural resources around us to enhance our lives. £25 HB 29th March 2012 978-0-00-743847-1

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New Gem edition available, launched as part of a reissue of the whole range of Collins Gems in an exciting new look. £4.99 Paperback 29th March 2012 978-0-00-744087-0

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Crystal Wood Chris Yates

£14.99 HB 29th March 2012 978-0-00-741554-0

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Chris Yates, one of Britain’s most insightful and lyrical writers, raises his gaze from his beloved rivers and ponds to take us on a mesmerising tour of the British countryside. Using his knowledge and unique perception of the natural world, he sees every rustle of a leaf or call of a bird in this magical journey into the very heart of the natural world around us. Chris is lauded as one of the great writers on the countryside and his first book on the overall natural world places him amongst the luminaries of nature writing such as Robert Macfarlane, Roger Deakin and Richard Mabey.

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Non-Fiction, Travel, History & Adventure | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

Ramble On Sinclair McKay Ramble On, published to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Ramblers Association, tells the story of how country walks and rambling were transformed from a small and often illegal pastime to the most popular recreational activity in the country. Above all, this tale is about the exhilaration of a gusty hill-top path, the curious unease that a labyrinthine dark forest floor can induce, the feel of different soil, peat and rock, the sight of alternating sunlight and shadow sweeping across vast valleys. Both a biography of Britain’s favourite outdoor pursuit and a celebration of our wonderful countryside, Ramble On is for anyone who has ever pulled on a pair of walking boots or is partial to the taste of Kendal mint cake.

£12.99 TPB 12th April 2012 978-0-00-742864-9

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The Ice Balloon Alec Wilkinson

£12.99 HB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-744588-2

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In 1897, after two years of planning, S. A. Andre became the first to ascend in a hydrogen balloon in a bid to discover the North Pole – one of the last unmapped continents on earth. Andre, a contemporary of Scott and Shackleton, was hailed as rivalling Columbus for novelty and daring but an hour into his adventure his balloon disappeared from view and was not seen again. Alec Wilkinson tells the story, including how, thirty years later, Andre’s frozen body was found on a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean with a collection of photographs of the expedition.

Non-Fiction, Travel, History & Adventure | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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Target Tirpitz Patrick Bishop

£20 HB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-731923-7

From the bestselling author of Bomber Boys, Target Tirpitz is an exhilarating account of the epic hunt for Hitler’s most terrifying battleship – the legendary Tirpitz – and the brave men who risked their lives to attack and destroy this most potent symbol of the Nazi’s fearsome war machine. Like Operation Mincemeat, this is gripping WW2 EXTRA EXTRA PROOF DISCOUNT PROOF SIGNED DISCOUNT EVENTS SIGNED storytelling at its best.

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New TV Series

£20 HB 19th January 2012 978-0-00-745706-9

Great Victorian Railway Journeys Karen Farrington Great Victorian Railway Journeys offers a glorious insight into Britain over the last 150 years – its history, landscape and people – from the window of Britain’s many and magnificent railway journeys. This book accompanies Michael Portillo’s Great British Train Journeys – a hugely successful TV programme which goes into a third series on BBC2 next spring. Much as Michael Palin built up a dedicated fan base for travel around the globe, so Michael Portillo has done likewise for lovers of trains.

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New TV Series

£25 HB 12th April 2012 978-0-00-745558-4

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Castles Dan Snow This sumptuous, action-packed tie-in book to Dan Snow’s new TV series on castles brings the Middle Ages back to life. Using the latest CGI imaging to show how castles were constructed, and how the weapons used to defend and defeat them were made, Dan Snow gets to the very heart of the greatest fortresses of the time. These include Richard I’s fortress in Normandy, which only had one chink in its armaments, through the latrines, and Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, which only EXTRA fell by PROOF DISCOUNT SIGNED EVENTS the subterfuge of a forged letter.

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Paperback Round-up | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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The Marriage Plot Jeffrey Eugenides

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My Dear I Wanted to Tell You Louisa Young

‘Immensely readable, funny and heartfelt with instantly beguiling writing that springs effortlessly back and forth over the years’s events’.

Daily Telegraph £8.99 PB 29th March 2012 978-0-00-744130-3

Our Independent Book of the Month for

February RRP£7.99 Offer Price £5.99

The Homecoming of Samuel Lake Jenny Wingfield Heartbreaking and heartstopping, this is a locomotive read with a deep emotional heart.

1st March 2012 £7.99 PB 978-0-00-735257-9

HarperPress

A future classic in the making, My Dear I Wanted to Tell You is a deeply affecting, moving and brilliant novel of love and war, and how they affect those left behind. £7.99 PB 16th February 2012 978-0-00-736144-1 HarperFiction

The Levelling Sea Philip Marsden ‘A microcosm of British history…this portrait of a port and its people sails deep into the reader’s imagination’.

Sunday Telegraph 29th March 2012

Unbroken Laura Hillenbrand

£9.99 PB 978-0-00-717454-6

HarperPress

‘An extraordinarily compelling read – a match for any thriller’.

Evening Standard 2nd February 2012 £8.99 PB 978-0-00-737803-6

Paperback

Our pick o paperback

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Aleph marks a return to Paulo Coelho’s beginnings. In a frank and surprising personal story, one of the world’s most beloved authors embarks on a remarkable and transformative journey of self-discovery. This spring also sees a new format and package to re-ignite the magic of The Alchemist for a new generation of readers. A high-profile global ‘Alchemist Day’ PR event and campaign will achieve blanket news coverage for Paulo Coelho in 2012.

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Aleph Paulo Coelho

Aleph

The Alchemist

1st March 2012

29th March

£7.99 PB

£7.99 PB

978-0-00-743552-4

978-0-7225-3293-5

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The Kashmir Shawl Rosie Thomas

The Marrowbone Marble Company Glenn Taylor

An unforgettable novel, spanning generations and moving from the stark beauty of the Welsh landscape to the Himalayas and Kashmir.

‘Taylor really is in that long American tradition that starts with Mark Twain’.

Time Out 2nd February 2012

1st March 2012

£7.99 PB

£7.99 PB

978-0-00-735908-0

978-0-00-728597-6

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The Stranger Camilla Lackberg

Round-up

of the season’s best ks

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‘Lackberg is an expert at mixing scenes of domestic cosiness with blood-curdling horror… a must for white-knuckle junkies’.

Guardian 15th March 2012 £7.99 PB 978-0-00-725399-9 HarperFiction

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Children’s Books | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

Love Monster Rachel Bright Rachel Bright introduces her new picture book, Love Monster.

Children’s

Our Independent Children’s Book of the Month for

January RRP£6.99 Offer Price £4.99

Love Monster is a story that arrived in my brain unannounced. These ideas are my favourite kind.

They usually come knocking when a pencil and paper are the last thing I have to hand – you know – like in the bath or halfway up a mountain or, in this case, when I was fast asleep in bed. I awoke wide-eyed *ping* at 5am (this isn’t common, believe me) and got up as fast as my slippers would carry me. To the dulcet tones of our dog, Elvis, snoring in his bed, I sat at the kitchen table and sketched furiously until the sun came up. As Herman, our cockerel, crowed to signal the arrival of the day, so Love Monster had arrived too.

A few months and many hours of magical printmaking later (I did all the illustrations using an amazing technique called solar etching which involves special printing plates, lots of messy ink and big, old printing presses), I had the book in its finished form. What’s even lovelier about it now is that the drawings are made of light: Love Monster is quite literally made of sunshine.

The story? Well, it’s about an epic search. Perhaps the biggest one any of us will ever make. The search for love. We’re all looking for something in life – from friendship, to success, to romance, to happiness and everything in-between. But sometimes it can feel like the harder you look, the more elusive your goal gets.

Well, Love Monster is about how often the thing you search for is actually out there looking for you too (as was the case with this book itself – the story found me).

This book is for the Love Monster within us all, that part of us which is searching for something. I think it’s a universal feeling – in the very young or very old, the rather tall or super short, the cute and fluffy or the slightly hairy, I suppose-a-bit-googly-eyed. Love Monster is about how sometimes, when you least expect it, love finds you.

£6.99 PB 5th January 2012 978-0-00-744546-2

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Rachel Bright

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The Frank Show David Mackintosh

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Children’s Books | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

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The Frank Show is a fantastic new picture book from David Mackintosh, the amazingly talented creator of the highly praised Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School. It’s hilarious, wise and heart-warming and shows that this awesome new picture book talent is here to stay! Frank is your typical grandad, but no one has a grandad like him… If you had to stand up and talk, for one whole minute, about a member of your family, who would you pick? Everyone else chooses really cool people, like Tom’s Uncle Marlon who plays drums in a band, or Hannah’s mum with her company car. But there’s nothing cool about grandad Frank… or is there? This quirky, witty and utterly brilliant new picture book carries a strong message about how we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover and David Mackintosh shows with a supreme lightness of touch just how much the older generation has to teach us, and how much fun learning from them can be.

978-0-00-736400-8

‘Utterly unpredictable from one page to the next, this is a seriously funny book’.

HarperCollins Children’s Books

Praise from the Independent On Sunday for Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School

£10.99 HB 1st March 2012

26

Children’s Books | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

Wagtail Town: Lulu and the Best Cake Ever Emma Chichester Clark

£10.99 HB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-742514-3

HarperCollins Children’s Books

Wagtail Town is a brilliant new series for young children from Emma Chichester Clark, the highlyregarded, award-winning creator of Blue Kangaroo.

Lulu is a little dog with BIG ideas, so when the New Tricks School cake competition is announced she is sure she can make the best cake ever and WIN! But when her cake doesn’t look quite like it should, it’s up to her best friend, Alfie, to remind her that there are more important things than winning. In Wagtail Town, Emma has created the most captivating world full of exactly the kind of detail that young readers will love.

Martha and the Bunny Brothers: I Heart School Clara Vulliamy

£10.99 HB 29th March 2012 978-0-00-741916-6

HarperCollins Children’s Books

The first in an exuberant, feel-good new series from Clara Vulliamy, I Heart School is pure sunshine in picture book format. Every page will make you smile! It’s Martha’s first day of school and it’s all so exciting! Starting school has never been so much fun.

She needs to choose the perfect first-day-at-school outfit and decide what to pack in her new school bag, which is proving quite tricky… Young readers will adore helping Martha choose what to wear and what to take to school in these sunshine-filled pages that weave together all the little details of Martha’s life, with a charming story about sibling relationships and starting school.

Children’s Books | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

27

Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress Sarwat Chadda There’s a new hero in town. Forget Hercules, forget Thor, forget Achilles. It’s time for an Indian hero. Ash is a typical teenage boy. Slightly gawky, slightly geeky, and mainly grumpy every time his dad tries to teach him about his heritage. He’s British, not Indian, so why should he have to travel to a hot, sticky country to see his relatives in the summer holidays? But soon Ash is embroiled in an ancient battle straight out of folklore, between the good forces and the demon-King Ravana.

Ash Mistry is a rip-roaring epic, perfect for fans of Indiana Jones and Percy Jackson. Boys (and adventureloving girls, I’ve no doubt) are gonna love it.

£6.99 PB 1st March 2012 978-0-00-744732-9

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The Peppers and the International Magic Guys Siân Pattenden Ready to meet human cannonballs, escapologists and animal tamers? Well, take a peek into the fantastic world of The Peppers. The Pepper twins Esme and Monty are spending the summer with their Uncle Potty. He is a professional conjuror and an enthusiastic member of the International Magic Guys club (in reality he’s a shambolic, B-grade David Copperfield but you can be sure you’ll love him!).

When Nigella Spoon, the Pan-Continental Magic Corporation boss, is threatening to close the club, the twins, Uncle Potty and his magician friends have to use every trick in the book to save it. The book includes real magic tricks and tips which readers can try at home!

£5.99 PB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-743001-7

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Children’s Books | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

Dancing Jax 2: Freax and Rejex Robin Jarvis Freax and Rejex is the second novel in the extraordinary, ground-breaking, genre-busting new trilogy from master of fantasy Robin Jarvis. Five months have passed since the publication of the devilish book discovered in Dancing Jax. It is on its ninth reprint and tens of millions of copies have been sold in the UK. The entire country is now under its evil spell yet a tiny percentage of the population have proven to be immune to the words of Austerly Fellows.

There are only 49 unaffected children between the ages of 7 and 15 and the Ismus decides to send them for an intensive holiday camp, where they will study the sacred text and learn to embrace it. Soon it becomes apparent that the place is not a camp and the children are not guests. They are prisoners of war.

£12.99 HB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-744802-9

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Stormswept Helen Dunmore Helen Dunmore has sold a phenomenal half a million books in the UK. Stormswept is an atmospheric and beautifully written adventure that will appeal primarily to girls who loved Secret Unicorn but are now looking for a more engaging character-driven story.

Morveren lives with her parents and twin sister Jenna on an island off the coast of Cornwall and as Morveren and Jenna’s relationship shifts and changes, Morveren finds a beautiful teenage boy in a rock pool after a storm. Going to his rescue, she is shocked to see that he is not human but a Mer boy. With Jenna refusing to face the truth, Morveren finds herself alone at the worst possible time. Because when the worlds of Air and Mer meet, the consequences can be terrible.

£12.99 HB 5th January 2012 978-0-00-742492-4

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‘Helen Dunmore is an exceptional and versatile writer’.

Observer

Children’s Books | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

29

The 13th Horseman Barry Hutchison Pratchett meets Python in this dark comic fantasy with plenty of action, perfect for 11+ boys. Barry Hutchison’s exciting new novel is a stand-out combination of page-turning writing , rich fantasy and a hilarious cast of characters. Drake is surprised to find three Horsemen of the Apocalypse playing snakes and ladders in his garden shed. He’s even more surprised when they insist that he is one of them.

They’re missing a Horseman and think Drake is the boy for job. Does being in charge of Armageddon have to spell the end of the world? The 13th Horseman is an apocalyptic blend of riotous comedy, heart-stopping action and a richly imagined fantasy adventure.

£6.99 PB 1st March 2012 978-0-00-744089-4

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Nicky Singer’s highly regarded debut Feather Boy has sold over 150,000 copies and won the Blue Peter book award. The Flask is an unforgettable stand-alone novel - a stunningly original literary masterpiece teeming with big ideas. Twelve-year-old Jess is grieving for her beloved Aunt Edie and anxiously awaiting the birth of her twin brothers when she finds a mysterious glass flask hidden in a desk. The flask is beautiful to Jess and soon she starts to believe that it contains a magical lifeforce. Through Jess’s stunning narration, Nicky Singer explores the meaning of life, and the interconnected nature of all things in a way which is entirely accessible to young readers.

£12.99 HB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-743876-1

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Children’s Books | HarperCollins Independent Thinking | Spring 2012

Bliss Kathryn Littlewood

£6.99 PB 29th March 2012

When eleven-year-old Rose Bliss and her three siblings are left in charge of the family bakery, one magical mishap follows another until the town is in utter chaos! This appetising first book in the Bliss Bakery trilogy is full of charm, humour, magic and adventure.

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Wither Lauren DeStefano

£7.99 PB

A brilliant and original young adult version of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian sci-fi classic The Handmaid’s Tale, perfect for the legions of fans who devour YA dystopian fiction.

16th February 2012 978-0-00-738698-7

Department 19: The Rising Will Hill

£12.99 HB 29th March 2012

The blockbusting sequel to Department 19, the biggest teen boy launch of 2011 with over 25,000 copies sold in hardback and a devoted legion of Facebook fans.

After the terrifying attack on Lindisfarne at the end of the first book, Jamie, Larissa and Kate are recovering at Department 19 headquarters, waiting for news of Dracula’s stolen ashes. They won’t be waiting for long…

978-0-00-735448-1

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31

Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer Derek Landy

Hardback cover.

Death Bringer is the sixth instalment in the historic, hysterical and horrific Skulduggery Pleasant series.

600,000 copies of the award-winning books have been sold to date in the UK and Derek’s fanbase continues to grow with each new title. In this latest instalment, the Necromancers no longer need Valkyrie to be their Death Bringer, and that’s a good thing, but there’s just one catch. There’s a reason the Necromancers don’t need her any more – they’ve found their Death Bringer already, the person who will dissolve the doors between life and death. And that’s a very, very bad thing…

£6.99 PB 29th March 2012 978-0-00-732603-7

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A Midsummer Tights Dream Louise Rennison Boys, snogging and bad acting are guaranteed in the next Misadventures of Tallulah Casey! It’s the hotly anticipated sequel to the winner of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, Withering Tights. Laugh your tights off as Tallulah Casey and her bonkers mates return for a new term at Dother Hall performing arts college.

Tallulah’s triumphant Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights the comedy musical was enough to secure her place at Dother Hall for another term and she can’t wait to see her pals again. But when an international visitor comes to stay could the bright lights of Broadway be calling?

Our Independent Children’s Book of And for who?

£10.99 HB 2nd February 2012 978-0-00-715684-9

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