Kirjahaku

A powerful novel of the era of young free love and its problems in a conflicted society. It's the winter of 1970 and Northern Ireland is smouldering with the unresolved hostilities of its ancient sectarian tribes, with Belfast a hotbed for trouble. In the heart of the city, Lee and her partner and friends ignore sectarian labels, and Lee still trusts in her hippy mantra 'all you need is love' - but the streets are increasingly dangerous, especially with two young children and more immediate challenges like how to beat the cold and the rising price of bread. When threats are scrawled on their back wall, and as sandbags and barricades block the streets, 'love' is becoming a precious and elusive commodity...

This book is about being human and resilient and transgressive, and how you don't need to have a personality lobotomy when you pass 60. I think it is the book GB Shaw had in mind when he wrote "Life does not stop being funny when people die any more than it stops being serious when people laugh."

This collection of 37 stories, on themes ranging through love and loss, betrayal, passion and the complexity of human relationships between lovers and family members, has been selected from the author's long career of writing short stories. Most have been previously published in magazines or edited collections, or been presented on radio or as live readings. The author is a Frome based poet, novelist, dramatist and critic.

It's the end of the 20th century and Blair's England is thriving - especially in the affluent south. And where could be a more delightful place to settle than the South-West, with the mellow elegance of Bath and the rural vista of its rivers, woods, and fields? People have owned and worked this land throughout centuries, before planes or pesticides, but to the migrant 'blow-ins' it's a peaceful backwater: internet entrepreneurs, ex-hippy wanderers, nature-loving city-dwellers, they've blown here like tumbleweed to follow their dreams in this painterly paradise. But life is not like art...

This collection blossomed like a hot-house flower as poet and novelist Crysse Morrison, during her final illness, collaborated with Hazel Stewart to create thematic groupings of the best of her published and unpublished work. Many of these poems were competition winners, many are familiar from Crysse's performances over the last decades - not least her awesome stint on the plinth at Trafalgar Square - and many are undiscovered gems.This collection is testament to Crysse's multi-faceted talent.