<p>"Maria, Just Maria" is a poignant and powerful exploration of womanhood, family, and identity. Sandhya Mary's masterful storytelling, beautifully translated by Jayasree Kalathil, has resonated with readers and critics alike.&nbsp;</p><div><br></div>

<p>Since she published her sensational debut novel, Paro: <b>Dreams of Passion</b>, in <b>1984</b>, <b>Namita Gokhale </b>has produced fiction that follows no easy rules, unafraid to look life in the eye and speak with equal honesty about its seductions and sorrows, its grace and absurdity.</p><p>Two lonely people connect briefly during the Covid pandemic. A woman finds companionship with an unusual young man the same age as her absent sons. A one-night stand in Rishikesh ends in a surprise not once, but twice. Kunti and Gandhari, queens in the evening of their lives, try to cope with their private griefs after the slaughters of the Kurukshetra war.</p><p> A swan relates the story of the doomed lovers Nala and Damayanti. After one man drowns and another is saved, a stone reflects on the inner lives of men and stones. Rewarding and often startling, these are memorable stories by one of India’s most daring and talented writers.</p>

<p><b>Madhulika Liddle is a novelist and award-winning short story writer. She is best-known as the author of the Muzaffar Jang series, about a seventeenthcentury Mughal detective.</b></p><p>Her latest novel, An Unholy Drought is part of a four-novel series—The Delhi Quartet—that will span eight hundred years of Delhi’s history, beginning with the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate and ending with Partition. The first novel in the series, The Garden of Heaven, was published in 2021.</p>

<div>Unforgettable tales of perseverance and grit come together in this beautiful box set with stories about mighty tuskers.</div><div><b>This epic set includes:&nbsp;&nbsp;</b></div><div><b>•</b> Tipu, Sultan of the Siwaliks by Amirtharaj Christy Williams: An exciting and heart-warming story of a group of elephants in a forest in north India, and a group of dedicated wildlife researchers who worked among them.</div><div>• The Adventures of Sirdar by Dhan Gopal Mukherji: The classic story of an elephant, his herd, and their adventures in the forests of India—by a writer whom many rate higher than Rudyard Kipling.</div><div>• The Life of an Elephant by S. Eardley-Wilmot: A charming tale of life and friendship about a mighty elephant of the Indian jungle, who is captured but then becomes an indispensable friend to his mahout.</div>

<p>In the wild jungles of India, a tusker is born. Maula Bux—as he is later named—grows up loved and adored amongst his herd, learning all that a young calf must to become a majestic elephant. However, an unfortunate encounter with humans leads to his capture and he is sold.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">His mahout, Kareem, instantly takes a liking to the tusker and considers him almost to be a brother. Maula Bux is courageous, agile, and magnificent, and he and Kareem have many adventures together—from hauling timber deep in the forest to adrenaline-charged tiger chases. At his advancing age, Maula Bux is even appointed to carry an Indian Prince in procession!</span></p>

<p>WINNER OF WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2024&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">A BBC 'BETWEEN THE COVERS' BOOK CLUB PICK&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">'Compelling delightfully weird often uncomfortable' PANDORA SYKES&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">'Unputdownable breathtakingly original' ERIN KELLY&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">'I have been glued to Asako Yuzuki's new novel Butter’ NIGEL SLATER&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">‘A fullfat Michelinstarred treat’ THE SUNDAY TIMES&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">intent on cracking her case inspired by a true story and translated by Polly Barton.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">businessmen who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press entertaining no visitors.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">That is until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">resist writing back.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Rika the only woman in her news office works late each night rarely cooking more than ramen. As&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii they are closer to a masterclass in food than&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats something is awakening in her body might&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer "The Konkatsu Killer" Asako&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid unsettling exploration of misogyny obsession romance and the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.</span></p>

<p>Experience Agatha Christie’s puzzling masterpiece as you've never seen it before with this&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">official graphic novel adaptations!&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Just after midnight a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">surprisingly full for the time of the year but by the morning it is one passenger fewer. An American&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">tycoon lies dead in his compartment stabbed a dozen times his door locked from the inside.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Isolated and with a killer in their midst detective Hercule Poirot must identify the murderer – in case&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">he or she decides to strike again.</span></p>

<p>An explosive love triangle a formidable matriarch and a house party of enemies. All drawn&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">inexorably ... Towards Zero. Now Anjelica Huston and a star-studded cast feature in a brand&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">new BBC adaptation of Agatha Christie's tense ingenious novel. Read it before you see it!&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">a scandalous celebrity divorce British tennis star Nevile Strange and his ex-wife Audrey make&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">the unthinkable decision to spend a summer together at Gull’s Point their childhood home and the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">coastal estate of Nevile's aunt Lady Tressilian.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">With unfinished business between the former childhood sweethearts plus the presence of Nevile’s&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">new wife Kay tensions are running high. Add to this a long-suffering lady’s companion a mysterious&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">gentleman’s valet an exiled cousin with a grudge a venerable family lawyer an inquisitive orphan&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">and a French con man and soon there will be murder. A troubled detective must rediscover his&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">purpose to untangle a toxic web of jealousy deceit and dysfunction. Can he solve the crime before&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">another victim meets their death?&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Now you can read Agatha Christie's original novel on which this new TV sensation is based in this&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">gorgeous Special Edition hardback.</span></p>

<p>Threevolume deluxe slipcased hardback set of The Lord of the Rings illustrated&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 1rem;">throughout by acclaimed Tolkien artist Alan Lee. Features exclusive new paintings&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">and dozens of drawings appearing for the very first time together with three&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">removable art cards and two foldout maps.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Since it was first published The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness this work of sweeping fantasy has touched the hearts of&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">young and old alike. Across its many editions in the region of 100 million copies have been sold&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">around the world. And no edition has proved more popular than the Centenary edition illustrated by&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">awardwinning artist Alan Lee.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Now for the first time since its publication in 1992 this illustrated edition has been revised and&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">expanded with a number of brandnew paintings and more than 50 illustrations added by the artist.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Readers will be able to follow the complete story of the Hobbits and their part in the quest of the Ring&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">– beginning with Bilbo’s Longexpected Party and culminating in the dramatic climax between Frodo&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">and Gollum atop Mount Doom – while also enjoying more than fifty fullpage colour paintings and&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">numerous illustrations which accompany this epic tale.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">This new hardback set of this beautifully illustrated work features brandnew cover designs by the&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">artist. The three volumes have additionally been enhanced for the first time with sprayed edges and&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">are housed in a custombuilt illustrated slipcase stamped in silver foil with designs created&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">exclusively by Alan Lee. They are accompanied by three removable art cards and two foldout maps&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 1rem;">of Middleearth drawn by Christopher Tolkien.</span></p>

<p>Step back into Westeros with this brand new colouring book featuring over 75 illustrations of</p><p>your favorite scenes characters and show logos from the hit series House of the Dragon.</p><p>Long before the Wall fell the Targaryens reigned with fire and blood.</p><p>From the conflict between Rhaenyra and Alicent to Daemon burning the Crabfeeder army explore the</p><p>reign of the Targaryen Empire in Westeros with the official House of the Dragon colouring book.</p><p>Featuring over 75 original illustrations and thick paper this coloring book offers you a way to relive the</p><p>most dramatic moments from the hugely popular show.</p>