Gerda Baardman Books

It is impossible to look away from it Guardian

It begins on the road to Damascus, in a moment graven on the consciousness of Western civilization. "Saul, Saul", asks the crucified Jesus of Nazareth, "why persecutest thou me?" From this experience, & from the response of the Jewish merchant later known as Paul, springs the Christian Church as we know it today. For as A.N. Wilson makes clear in this gripping narrative, Christianity without Paul is quite literally nothing. Jesus, with the layers of scholarship & ceremony stripped away, is a fastidious & fervent Jew who will lead his followers into a stricter, purer observance of Judaism. It's Paul who will claim divinity for him, who will transform him into the Messiah, center of an entirely new religion. In Wilson's astute narrative, we see Paul negotiating the dangerous political currents of the Roman Empire, making converts, & writing the great epistles that define our understanding of Christ & of the sublime paradoxes of his teaching. What drove Paul? What would he think of what his church has become? The answers lie in this biography, which lays bare the psychological journey of Christianity's true inventor.

The narrative follows Sam and Sadie, childhood friends from contrasting backgrounds—Sam from Koreatown and Sadie from Beverly Hills—who reconnect as adults through their passion for creating video games. As they collaborate, they discover a deeper intimacy in the digital worlds they craft, which is starkly absent in their real lives. This modern love story explores themes of friendship, creativity, and the complexities of human connection, penned by the acclaimed author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The epic novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng who, along with thousands of other children —the so-called Lost Boys—was forced to leave his village in Sudan at the age of seven and trek hundreds of miles by foot, pursued by militias, government bombers, and wild animals, crossing the deserts of three countries to find freedom. When he finally is resettled in the United States, he finds a life full of promise, but also heartache and myriad new challenges. Moving, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny, What Is the What is an astonishing novel that illuminates the lives of millions through one extraordinary man. “A testament to the triumph of hope over experience, human resilience over tragedy and disaster.” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "An absolute classic. . . . Compelling, important, and vital to the understanding of the politics and emotional consequences of oppression." —People

Tense and heartbreaking to its last page, 'The Cellist of Sarajevo' shows how life under seige creates impossible moral choices. When the everyday act of crossing the street can risk lives, the human spirit is revealed in all its fortitude - and frailty.

By the author of The Handmaid's Tale Now a major NETFLIX series Sometimes I whisper it over to myself: Murderess. Murderess. It rustles, like a taffeta skirt along the floor.' Grace Marks. Female fiend? Femme fatale? Or weak and unwilling victim? Around the true story of one of the most enigmatic and notorious women of the 1840s, Margaret Atwood has created an extraordinarily potent tale of sexuality, cruelty and mystery. 'Brilliant... Atwood's prose is searching. So intimate it seems to be written on the skin' Hilary Mantel 'The outstanding novelist of our age' Sunday Times 'A sensuous, perplexing book, at once sinister and dignified, grubby and gorgeous, panoramic yet specific...I don't think I have ever been so thrilled' Julie Myerson, Independent on Sunday

Een ambitieuze oudere zakenman in het Amerikaanse Atlanta wordt geconfronteerd met corruptie, racisme en andere problemen die het hem niet makkelijk maken aan de top.

On the day that Homes was born in 1961, she was given up for adoption. Thirty years later, out of the blue, Homes was contacted by a lawyer on behalf of her birth mother, and they began to correspond; her biological father contacted her soon after. These two individuals and their effect on the adult Homes are strange and unexpected.

Ludo's mother, Sibylla, is obsessed with Kurosawa's famous film, "The Seven Samurai" and it plays as a bizarre running backdrop to his childhood. His search for his real father ends in disappointment but he does find out more than he needs about his mother's shaky past.

Throughout his life Mozart was inspired, fascinated, amused, aroused, hurt, disappointed and betrayed by women; and he appeared equally fascinating to them. But, first and last, Mozart loved and respected women. His mother, his sister, his wife, her sisters, his patrons, his friends, his lovers and his artists all figure prominently in his life. Jane Glover introduces us to Mozart’s mother, Maria Anna and his beloved and talented sister, Nannerl. We meet, too, Mozart’s ‘other family’, the Webers: Constanze, his wife, much maligned by history, and her sisters Aloysia, Sophie and Josepha. This is their story. But it is also the story of the women in his operas, all of whom were – like his sister, his mother, his wife and entire female acquaintance – restrained by the conventions and strictures of eighteenth-century society. Yet through his glorious writing, he identified and released the emotions of his characters. They hold up the mirror to their audiences and offer inestimable insight, together constituting yet further proof of Mozart’s true genius and phenomenal understanding of human nature. Rich, evocative and compellingly readable, Mozart's Women illuminates the music and the man, but above all, the women who inspired him.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies. When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

Winner of the 1990 Booker Prize, this novel describes the romance between two 19th century poets and the parallel relationship of their two biographers and includes passages of 'Victorian verse'

A guy walks into a bar . . . From here the story could take many turns. A guy walks into a bar and meets the love of his life. A guy walks into a bar and finds no one else is there. When this guy is David Sedaris, the possibilities are endless. In Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls, Sedaris delights with twists of humour and intelligence, remembering his father's dinnertime attire (shirtsleeves and underpants) his first colonoscopy (remarkably pleasant) and the time he considered buying the skeleton of a murdered pygmy. By turns hilarious and moving, David Sedaris masterfully looks at life's absurdities as he takes us on adventures that are not to be forgotten.

After the sinking of a crago ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a wounded zebra, and orangutan-and a 450-pound Royal Bengel tiger.

'Immersive, satisfying, tense-and timely' Lee Child 'A knockout of an international thriller' Chris Pavone, author of The Expats 'Whip smart and fraught with tension...Brilliant.' Mary Kubica, author of The Good Girl 'Kept me guessing until the very last page. I couldn't tear myself away' Janelle Brown, author of Watch Me Disappear 'A gripping, twisty thriller that asks how well we really know the people closest to us' Alafair Burke, author of The Wife The only thing worse than finding out that your husband is dead Is discovering the secrets he left behind. Annabel's seemingly perfect ex-patriate life in Geneva is shattered when her banker husband Matthew's plane crashes in the Alps. When Annabel finds clues that his death may not be all it seems, she puts herself in the crosshairs of powerful enemies and questions whether she really knew husband at all. Meanwhile, journalist Marina is investigating Swiss United, the bank where Matthew worked. But when she uncovers evidence of a shocking global financial scandal that implicates someone close to home, she is forced to make an impossible choice.

A cloth bag containing ten copies of the title, that may also include a folder with miscellaneous notes, discussion questions, biographical information, and reading lists to assist book group discussion leaders.

Man Booker Prize for Fiction - 2016 Winner. Born in the 'agrarian ghetto' of Dickens - on the southern outskirts of Los Angeles - the narrator of The Sellout is raised by his single father, a controversial sociologist, and spends his childhood as the subject in racially charged psychological studies.

Kurt Andersen's Millennium novel mirrors Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities," depicting a year in the life of a New York family while offering a satirical glimpse into America's potential future, focusing on media and big business.

Tamil Nadu, 1968. Landlords rule over a feudal system that forces peasants to break their backs in the fields or be punished. As a small spark of defiance begins to spread among communities, the landlords vow to break them; party organizers suffer grisly deaths and the flow of food into the marketplaces dries up. But it only strengthens the villagers' resistance. Finally, the landlords descend on one village to set an example for the others. An exciting new release from this Chennai-based poet, writer and activist.

'A sublime reading experience- delicate, restrained, surpassingly intelligent, uncommonly poised and truly beautiful' Zadie Smith **WINNER OF THE BETTY TRASK AWARD 2020** Midhat Kamal - dreamer, romantic, aesthete - leaves Palestine in 1914 to study medicine in France, under the tutelage of Dr Molineu. He falls deeply in love with Jeannette, the doctor's daughter. But Midhat soon discovers that everything is fragile- love turns to loss, friends become enemies and everyone is looking for a place to belong. Through Midhat's eyes we see the tangled politics and personal tragedies of a turbulent era - the Palestinian struggle for independence, the strife of the early twentieth century, and the looming shadow of the Second World War. Lush and immersive, and devastating in its power, The Parisian is an elegant, richly-imagined debut from a dazzling new voice in fiction. *SHORTLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION 2020* *SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDWARD STANFORD FICTION AWARD 2019*

When Owen Sheers discovers a book in his father's study he stumbles upon the life of an obscure relative: Arthur Cripps, lyric poet and maverick missionary to Rhodesia. Compelled by the description of Cripps' extraordinary life in Africa, Sheers embarks on a journey through contemporary Zimbabwe in an attempt to better understand his ancestor's devotion to the country and its people and the dramatic, often bloody, differences that echo across the years.

Profoundly intelligent and humane, this novel deserves a spot on many prize shortlists. It brilliantly explores friendship, feminism, and thwarted ambition. Hannah, Cate, and Lissa, once inseparable and vibrant, now grapple with unfulfilled dreams a decade later. Living in East London, their youthful world was filled with art, activism, and romance, but as they confront flailing careers and faltering marriages, they question what it takes to lead a meaningful life. This razor-sharp and heartbreaking narrative delves into the complexities of motherhood, ambition, and identity. Celebrated by critics, it is described as thoughtful, beautifully written, and honest—a sensual read that resonates with many women. With comparisons to the works of Sally Rooney and Dolly Alderton, it stands out as a generation-defining exploration of female camaraderie. Reviewers praise its engaging storytelling and relatable themes, capturing the tension of approaching middle age and the realization that life may not unfold as expected. The novel is an observant look at modern female friendships, making it a must-read for those seeking a profound and intimate literary experience.

At school Connell and Marianne pretend not to know each other. He’s popular and well-adjusted, star of the school soccer team while she is lonely, proud, and intensely private. But when Connell comes to pick his mother up from her housekeeping job at Marianne’s house, a strange and indelible connection grows between the two teenagers—one they are determined to conceal. A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other. Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship.

It is 1866, and Walter Moody has come to make his fortune upon the New Zealand goldfields. On arrival, he stumbles across a tense gathering of twelve local men, who have met in secret to discuss a series of unsolved crimes. A wealthy man has vanished, a whore has tried to end her life, and an enormous fortune has been discovered in the home of a luckless drunk. Moody is soon drawn into the mystery: a network of fates and fortunes that is as complex and exquisitely patterned as the night sky.

This is Don DeLillo's first collection of short stories, written between 1979 and 2011; in it he represents the wide range of human experience in contemporary America - and forces us to confront the uncomfortable shadows lurking in the background. His characters are plagued by their own deep, often unconscious, longings; they are subjected to shocking violations, exposed to unexpected acts of terror. No matter whether he is focused upon the slums of New York or astronauts in orbit around the Earth, DeLillo chooses never to turn away from the unsettling manner in which humans are brought together. These nine stories describe the extraordinary journey of a great American writer who changed the literary landscape. 'Don DeLillo's richly compressed short stories are the work of a true master . . . In these stories or lucid dreams - sometimes drily shocking or mournfully funny, always masterfully designed - DeLillo himself isolates that stray thought, and makes of it great art.' Guardian

Includes supplement: "P.S. insights, interviews & more ..."--Cover.

Bored with their lives and tired of their marriage, Paul and Elaine turn a family barbecue into a bonfire and watch their dreams go up in smoke. But will burning down their house solve all their problems?

The self-disciplined and glacially poised Bridget is back with another year's worth of unflinching self-analysis, as she lurches through self-help books, struggles with mad advice from her best friends, and deals with a boyfriend-nabbing ex-friend with thighs like a baby giraffe.

When the world's largest search engine / social media company merges with the planet's dominant e-commerce site, it creates the richest and most dangerous-and, oddly enough, most beloved-monopoly ever known- The Every. Delaney Wells is an unlikely new hire. A former forest ranger and unwavering tech skeptic, she charms her way into an entry-level job with one goal in mind- to take down the company from within. With her compatriot, the not-at-all-ambitious Wes Kavakian, they look for the company's weaknesses, hoping to free humanity from all-encompassing surveillance and the emoji-driven infantilization of the species. But does anyone want what Delaney is fighting to save? Does humanity truly want to be free? Studded with unforgettable characters and lacerating set-pieces, The Every blends satire and terror, while keeping the reader in breathless suspense about the fate of the company - and the human animal.

Feeling overshadowed by his more-successful younger brother, Harold is shocked by his brother's violent act that irrevocably changes their lives, placing Harold in the role of father figure to his brother's adolescent children and caregiver to his aging parents.

The debut novel from the bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love On two remote islands off the coast of Maine, the local lobstermen have fought savagely for generations over the fishing rights to the ocean waters between them. Young Ruth Thomas is born into this feud, the daughter of one of the greediest lobstermen in Maine. Eighteen years old, as smart as a whip, and irredeemably unromantic, Ruth returns home from boarding school determined to throw her education overboard and join the ‘stern-men’. As the feud escalates, she helps work the lobster boats, brushes up on her profanity, and eventually falls for a handsome young lobsterman. A funny, sparkling novel of unlikely friendships and family ties, Stern Men captures a feisty American spirit through this unforgettable heroine who is destined for greatness despite herself. Stern Men was a New York Times Notable Book.

Roadnovel over een 18-jarige jongen die samen met een vriend en een vriendin in een auto Amerika doorkruist, op zoek naar zijn onbekende vader.

Julian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the City for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julian's evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish emigre living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian's family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise. When a letter turns up at the door of a spy chief in London warning him of a dangerous leak, the investigations lead him to this quiet town by the sea . . . Silverview is the mesmerising story of an encounter between innocence and experience and between public duty and private morals. In this last complete masterwork from the greatest chronicler of our age, John le Carre asks what you owe to your country when you no longer recognise it.

Short listed for the Richard & Judy Book Club 2007. An uplifting story set in Los Angeles about one man's effort to bring himself back to life. Richard is a modern day everyman; a middle-aged divorcee trading stocks out of his home. He has done such a good job getting his life under control that he needs no one. His life has slowed almost to a standstill, until two incidents conspire to hurl him back into the world. One day he wakes up with a knotty cramp in his back, which rapidly develops into an all-consuming pain. At the same time a wide sinkhole appears outside his living room window, threatening the foundations of his house. A vivid novel about compassion and transformation, "This Book Will Save Your Life" reveals what can happen if you are willing to open up to the world around you. Since her debut in 1989, A.M. Homes has been among the boldest and most original voices of her generation, acclaimed for the psychological accuracy and unnerving emotional intensity of her storytelling. Her keen ability to explore how extraordinary the ordinary can be is at the heart of her touching and funny new novel, her first in six years.

Startlingly radical, dazzlingly witty, unlike anything that has come before - this is the most exciting novel you will read this year. `Nell Zink is a writer of extraordinary talent and range. Her work insistently raises the possibility that the world is larger and stranger than the world you think you know.' Jonathan Franzen

A stunning new collection of short stories from the winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction.

A woman embarks on a transformative journey to reshape her life in this irreverently sexy and tender novel. Blending humor with literary flair, the story explores themes of self-discovery and personal reinvention, showcasing the protagonist's bold choices and the comedic chaos that ensues. Through a mix of laughter and heartfelt moments, the narrative captures the complexities of modern life and relationships, making it a captivating read for those seeking both entertainment and depth.

In the spring of her final year, Madeleine Hanna has enrolled in a semiotics course 'to see what all the fuss is about'. She falls in love with Leonard Bankhead - charismatic loner and college Darwinist - who introduces her to the ecstasies of immediate experience. Then Mitchell Grammaticus resurfaces, and wants her to be his wife.

The Circle ist das weltweit größte Internet Unternehmen – Google, Facebook, Apple und Twitter, alles in einem – und auf dem Weg, ein alles überwachendes Netz zu erschaffen. In dieses Unternehmen steigt die 24jährige Mae ein und lernt nach und nach die Machenschaften ihres Arbeitgebers kennen.

As the summer of 2004 draws to a close, Archy Stallings and Nat Jaffe are still hanging in there--longtime friends, bandmates, and co-regents of Brokeland Records, a kingdom of used vinyl located in the borderlands of Berkeley and Oakland. Their wives, Gwen Shanks and Aviva Roth-Jaffe, are the Berkeley Birth Partners, a pair of semi-legendary midwives who have welcomed more than a thousand newly minted citizens into the dented utopia at whose heart--half tavern, half temple--stands Brokeland. When ex-NFL quarterback Gibson Goode, the fifth-richest black man in America, announces plans to build his latest Dogpile megastore on a nearby stretch of Telegraph Avenue, Nat and Archy fear it means certain doom for their vulnerable little enterprise. Meanwhile, Aviva and Gwen also find themselves caught up in a battle for their professional existence, one that tests the limits of their friendship. Adding another layer of complications to the couples' already tangled lives is the surprise appearance of Titus Joyner, the teenage son Archy has never acknowledged and the love of fifteen-year-old Julius Jaffe's life.

The first nine months of Donald Trump's term were stormy, outrageous - and absolutely mesmerising. Now, thanks to his deep access to the West Wing, bestselling author Michael Wolff tells the riveting story of how Trump launched a tenure as volatile and fiery as the man himself. In this explosive book, Wolff provides a wealth of new details about the chaos in the Oval Office. Among the revelations: - What President Trump's staff really thinks of him - What inspired Trump to claim he was wire-tapped by President Obama - Why FBI director James Comey was really fired - Why chief strategist Steve Bannon and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner couldn't be in the same room - Who is really directing the Trump administration's strategy in the wake of Bannon's firing - What the secret to communicating with Trump is - What the Trump administration has in common with the movie The Producers Never before has a presidency so divided the American people. Brilliantly reported and astoundingly fresh, Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury shows us how and why Donald Trump has become the king of discord and disunion.

The White Rock stands, ancient and sacred, off the Pacific coast of Mexico. Four people, across four centuries, each navigating ruptures to the world they know, are irresistibly drawn to it. 2020: A British writer travels with her husband to give thanks for the birth of their child. 1969: An American rock star runs from the law in the final act of his self-destruction.1907: A Yoeme girl is torn from her homeland and taken by force to the coast.1775: A Spanish naval officer prepares to set sail to continue the conquest of the Pacific coast.

From the author of 'The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing', this is a tale of growing up, finding love, and following your path. Join Sophie Applebaum and discover 'the wonder spot'.

In a West Virginia girls' camp in July 1963, a group of children experience an unexpected rite of passage. "Shelter is an astonishing portrayal of an American loss of innocence as witnessed by a drifter named Parson, two young sisters, Lenny and Alma, and a feral boy. Like Buddy, the wide-eyed boy so at home in the natural bower of the forest, Lenny and Alma are forever transformed by violence, by family secrets, by surprising turns of love. What they choose to remember, what they meet within and around the boundaries of the camp, will determine the rest of their lives. In a leafy wilderness undiminished by societal rules and dilemmas, Lenny and Alma confront a terrible darkness and find in themselves a knowledge never lent to them by the adult world.

'Like Lorna Sage's Bad Blood ... A masterpiece.' Rachel Cusk Giving Up the Ghost is the shocking and beautiful memoir, from the author of Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies and The Mirror & the Light 'Giving up the Ghost' is award-winning novelist Hilary Mantel's uniquely unusual five-part autobiography. Opening in 1995 with 'A Second Home', Mantel describes the death of her stepfather which leaves her deeply troubled by the unresolved events of her childhood. In 'Now Geoffrey Don't Torment Her' Mantel takes the reader into the muffled consciousness of her early childhood, culminating in the birth of a younger brother and the strange candlelight ceremony of her mother's 'churching'. In 'Smile', an account of teenage perplexity, Mantel describes a household where the keeping of secrets has become a way of life. Finally, at the memoir's conclusion, Mantel explains how through a series of medical misunderstandings and neglect she came to be childless and how the ghosts of the unborn like chances missed or pages unturned, have come to haunt her life as a writer.