Allen & Unwin: Fiction

Allen & Unwin

Fiction

Allen & Unwin publishes quality literary and book-club fiction in the areas of women’s, historical and international with universal appeal, from a mixture of debut authors and established names alike. Our autumn/winter 2021 list includes PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author Joan Silber’s new novel, Secrets of Happiness; the paperback edition of January’s well-received Victoria Park by debut talent Gemma Reeves; and the paperback edition of Kathryn Nicolai’s exquisitely illustrated bedtime-story collection Nothing Much Happens.

Secrets of Happiness

Joan Silber

A tightly plotted, brilliantly executed account of two families whose lives intersect in unexpected ways.

Ethan, a young lawyer in New York, learns that his father has long kept a second family – a Thai wife and two kids living in Queens. Across town, Ethan’s half brothers are caught in their own complicated journeys: one brother’s penchant for minor delinquency has escalated, while the bargains their mother struck about love and money continue to shape all their lives.

As Ethan finds himself caught in a love triangle of his own, the interwoven fates of these two households elegantly unfurl to touch many other figures. With a generous and humane spirit, Secrets of Happiness elucidates the ways people marshal the resources at hand in an effort to find joy.

‘Joan Silber writes with a frankness and freshness that draws the reader closer with every page. It would be impossible to overstate just how good this book is.’ Ann Patchett

Joan Silber is the author of nine books of fiction. Her last book, Improvement, was the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award. She lives in New York.

AUGUST

Modern and Contemporary Fiction

5 August 2021 Hardback • £14.99 216x138 • 288pp 9781911630081 Territories: UK C/Wealth ex Can Rights: AU, E, SL Export Edition • £12.99 Trade Paperback • 288pp 9781911630890 E-book • 9781760637279 • £6.99

Victoria Park

Gemma Reeves

A playful, lyrical novel about otherness, change, and the gap between generations in a London community.

Bookended by the touching exploration of the love between one couple, Victoria Park follows the disparate lives of twelve people over the course of a single year, their carefully interwoven tales creating a rich tapestry of resilience, love and loss.

‘[A] kaleidoscopic debut.’ Mail on Sunday

Gemma Reeves is a writer and teacher who lives and works in London.

Nothing Much Happens

Calming Stories to Soothe Your Mind and Help You Sleep Kathryn Nicolai

A brilliantly conceived collection of original bedtime stories to ease the mind before sleep.

From celebrating nature and revelling in the joy of being home alone to the pleasure of getting lost in the stacks of the library and picking out the best of the end-of-season tomatoes at the farmer’s market, this treasury offers something for everyone.

‘A calming tome to pick up before bed to ensure a restful night’s sleep.’ PureWow

Kathryn Nicolai is a Michigan-based writer and yoga teacher, whose globally successful podcast Nothing Much Happens inspired this book.

OCTOBER AUGUST

Modern and Contemporary Fiction

5 August 2021 • Paperback • £8.99 198x129 • 304pp • 9781911630784 Territories: UK C/Wealth ex Can Rights: E, SL E-book • 9781760874063 • £5.99

OCTOBER

Modern and Contemporary Fiction

7 October 2021 • Paperback • £8.99 198x129 • 288pp • 9781911630739 Territories: UK C/Wealth ex Can, ANZ Rights: AU, E, SL E-book • 9781760873509 • £7.99