Bath and North East Somerset Libraries

Lyricist, novelist, poet and playwright Kate Tempest makes her National Theatre debut with ‘Paradise’, a potent and dynamic reimagining of the Greek classic ‘Philoctetes’ by Sophocles. Once comrades, now enemies after Odysseus abandoned Philoctetes to suffer a terrible wound alone, Odysseus is prepared to use any means necessary to get the shell-shocked Philoctetes back to the front and win the Trojan war.

To find yourself, sometimes you must lose everything. A privileged elder son, and stammeringly shy, Harry Cane has followed convention at every step. Even the beginnings of an illicit, dangerous affair do little to shake the foundations of his muted existence – until the shock of discovery and the threat of arrest cost him everything.

Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah may have come back wrong. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home.

To have the woman she loves back should mean a return to normal life, but Miri can feel Leah slipping from her grasp. Memories of what they had before – the jokes they shared, the films they watched, all the small things that made Leah hers – only remind Miri of what she stands to lose. Living in the same space but suddenly separate, Miri comes to realise that the life that they had might be gone.

A naive young secretary, fresh out of Cleveland, tumbles headlong into a brave new world of laundromat Lotharios, pot-growing landladies, cut throat debutantes, and Jockey Shorts dance contests. The saga that ensues is manic, romantic, tawdry, touching, and outrageous.

‘Rainbow Milk’ is a coming-of-age story told from the point of view of a young black man from a religious background, who identifies several major contradictions between himself, his family life, and his beliefs. Upon rejecting the doctrine, he is shown the need to form a new centre of gravity, and uses his sexuality to explore new notions of love, fatherhood and spirituality.

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty plain, a seer shows two children their fates. For a family’s eighth-born son, there’s greatness. For the second daughter, nothing. In 1345, China lies restless under harsh Mongol rule. And when a bandit raid wipes out their home, the two children must somehow survive.

Zhu Chongba despairs and gives in. But the girl resolves to overcome her destiny. So she takes her dead brother’s identity and begins her journey. Can Zhu escape what’s written in the stars, as rebellion sweeps the land? Or can she claim her brother’s greatness – and rise as high as she can dream?

A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens. The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages.

Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine.

Soon after, she becomes Kitty’s dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins.

First masculine, then feminine, Orlando begins life as a young sixteenth-century nobleman, then gallops through the centuries to end up as a woman writer. This is a mock ‘biography’ of a chameleon-like historical figure who changes sex and identity at will.

From the frozen Russia of Napoleon’s campaign, to the canals of Venice, this novel journeys through curious waterways of war and chance, where destiny and the heart cannot be forgotten – nor passion, which is to be found somewhere between fear and sex, somewhere between God and the Devil.

Brokeback Mountain is set in the beautiful, wild landscape of Wyoming where cowboys live as they have done for generations. Hard, lonely lives in unforgiving country. Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar are two ranch hands – ‘drop-out country boys with no prospects, brought up to hard work and privation, both rough-mannered, tough spoken’ – glad to have found each other’s company where none had been expected.

But companionship becomes something else on Brokeback Mountain, something not looked for, something deadly. In twenty years they grab just a few desperate meetings, grace only in the memory of ‘that old, cold time on the mountain when they owned the world and nothing seemed wrong.’

There came the splash of water and the rub of heels as Mrs Barber stepped into the tub. After that there was a silence, broken only by the occasional echoey plink of drips from the tap. Frances had been picturing her lodgers in purely mercenary terms – as something like two great waddling shillings.

But this, she thought, was what it really meant to have paying guests: this odd, unintimate proximity, this rather peeled-back moment, where the only thing between herself and a naked Mrs Barber was a few feet of kitchen and a thin scullery door. An image sprang into her head: that round flesh, crimsoning in the heat.

Tells the story of Jeanette, adopted and brought up by her mother as one of God’s elect. Zealous and passionate, she seems destined for life as a missionary, but then she falls for one of her converts. This book takes you on a few days ride into the bizarre outposts of religious excess and human obsession.

Ba dies in the night, Ma is already gone. Lucy and Sam, twelve and eleven, are suddenly alone and on the run. With their father’s body on their backs, they roam an unforgiving landscape dotted with giant buffalo bones and tiger paw prints, searching for a place to give him a proper burial.

This is the inspiring and moving memoir of a couple in search of a normal family life. And in many ways that have found that: married, doing jobs they love and expecting their second child. But their journey there has been an extraordinary one. Jake was born a woman and Hannah a man. 

In December 1935, Zdenek Koubek, one of the most famous sprinters in European women’s sports, declared he was now living as a man. Around the same time, the celebrated British field athlete Mark Weston, also assigned female at birth, announced that he, too, was a man. Periodicals and radio programs across the world carried the news; both became global celebrities.

In the summer of 2020 sportswriter David Walsh asked Pippa York if she’d be interested to be his travelling companion for the Tour de France. The deal was that he would sort out the logistics beforehand, the hotels, the transport details and she would do the day to day tasks of getting them about and adding her insight occasionally. It would also mean she would return to the race she had ridden eleven times as Robert Millar. 

A little black girl opens her eyes in 1930s Harlem. Around her, a heady swirl of passers-by, car horns, kerosene lamps, the stock market falling, fried bananas, tales of her parents’ native Grenada. She trudges to public school along snowy sidewalks, and finds she is tongue-tied, legally blind, left behind by her older sisters.

On she stumbles through teenage hardships – suicide, abortion, hunger, a Christmas spent alone – until she emerges into happiness: an oasis of friendship in Washington Heights, an affair in a dirty factory in Connecticut, and, finally, a journey down to the heat of Mexico, discovering sex, tenderness, and suppers of hot tamales and cold milk. 

Well-known as the third-series winner of ‘The Great British Bake Off’ and runner up of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ in 2021 with his same-sex dancing partner Johannes Radebe, John Whaite’s personal story is a complicated narrative that embraces coming out, his ongoing body dysmorphia and bulimia as well as mental health challenges and a changing relationship with his mother, particularly after the break-up of his parents’ marriage.

The story of the second half of Nigel’s career as one of the most famous referees in World Rugby and one of only two Welsh refs ever to officiate at a Rugby World Cup Final, including the full story of his last Rugby World Cup in 2019.

A story of a man with a secret that was slowly killing him. Something that might devastate not only his own life but the lives of his wife, family, friends and teammates. The only place where he could find any refuge from the pain and guilt of the lie he was living was on the pitch, playing the sport he loved.

The autobiography of former Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas, who represented Wales in both rugby union and rugby league.

An inspiring and intimate self-portrait of the champion of equality that encompasses her brilliant tennis career, unwavering activism, and an ongoing commitment to fairness and social justice. In this spirited account, Billie Jean King details her life’s journey to find her true self.

She recounts her groundbreaking tennis career – six years as the top-ranked woman in the world, twenty Wimbledon championships, thirty-nine grand-slam titles, and her watershed defeat of Bobby Riggs in the famous ‘Battle of the Sexes’.

Carrie and David Grant have an extraordinary story to tell: three of their four children are trans or non-binary, they are also gay or queer, all four are neurodivergent, one is adopted, and they are a mixed-race family, too.

In ‘A Very Modern Family’, Carrie and David share their challenges and discoveries of growing and shapeshifting to create an incredible, diverse family and community. With their multi-intersectional family, they share their own mindset changes and insights into how to construct a new, accepting and unified space, while providing you with a deep dive into real life, frequently encountered situations and pertinent, applicable advice. Society is changing faster than most of us can keep up with.

15-year-old Mack is a hopeless romantic – he blames the films he’s grown up watching. He has liked Karim for as long as he can remember, and is ecstatic when Karim becomes his boyfriend – it feels like love. But when Mack’s dad gets a job on a film in Scotland, Mack has to move, and soon he discovers how painful love can be.

It’s horrible being so far away from Karim, but the worst part is that Karim doesn’t make the effort to visit. Love shouldn’t be only on the weekends. Then, when Mack meets actor Finlay on a film set, he experiences something powerful, a feeling like love at first sight. How long until he tells Karim – and when will his old life and new life collide?

Freddie is unremarkable – too unremarkable. He doesn’t stand out in any way, and in fact teachers and fellow students keep forgetting who he is. Even his mum thinks he’s a disappointment, and spends almost all her time at work, producing a TV show. After a particularly awful night when he embarrasses himself in front of Jasper Perry (the gorgeous teen star of his mum’s new show), Freddie decides to follow a new, proactive philosophy designed to transform his social and romantic life: saying ‘yes’ to every opportunity. It works!

Freddie finds himself auditioning for the school musical (Grease), actually going to parties, and flirting with hot new boy Zach! He’s becoming a whole new Freddie – maybe even one that his mum might be proud of. But the path to love is never smooth, and sometimes getting things very wrong is an important part of figuring out what – and who – you really want.

Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they’ve never met – until one day when they’re made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised.

Yami prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, rich Catholic school – or for being gay. So after being outed by her ex-best friend, before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami decides to lie low, make her mum proud and definitely NOT fall in love. The thing is, it’s hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And cute. So cute.

In ‘Any Way the Wind Blows’, Simon and Baz and Penelope and Agatha have to decide how to move forward. For Simon, that means deciding whether he still wants to be part of the World of Mages – and if he doesn’t, what does that mean for his relationship with Baz? Meanwhile Baz is bouncing between two family crises and not finding any time to talk to anyone about his newfound vampire knowledge. Penelope would love to help, but she’s smuggled an American Normal into London, and now she isn’t sure what to do with him. And Agatha? Well, Agatha Wellbelove has had enough.

When the Superflu wipes out most of the population, Jamie finds himself completely alone in a cabin in the woods – until an injured stranger crosses his path. Life is dangerous now and, armed with a gun, Jamie goes to pull the trigger. But there’s something about Andrew – something that stops Jamie in his tracks.

Jamie takes him in, and as Andrew heals and they eventually step out into the strange new world, their relationship starts to feel like more than just friendship. But trouble isn’t far behind, and it’s not long before they come face-to-face with a world torn apart and society in ruins.

Chloe loves, loves, LOVES her special uncle Bobby. So when she learns that Uncle Bobby is going to be getting married to his boyfriend Jamie she’s not at all pleased. What if Uncle Bobby doesn’t have time to play with Chloe anymore? But after spending a fun-filled day with Bobby and Jamie, she soon realises she’s not losing an uncle, but gaining a whole new one!

Every Christmas Eve, a lonely woodcutter named Kai carves statues for anyone who might pass by. But one magical night his loneliness is soothed by a visit from the Snow Prince. Feared by many, Kai sees hope in the prince’s eyes, but as the prince freezes once more, imprisoned in his ice-palace, can Kai break the curse?

Izzy’s family is under the spotlight when her dad comes out as Danielle, a trans woman. Izzy is terrified her family will be torn apart. Will she lose her dad? Will her parents break up? And what will people at school say? Izzy’s always been shy, but now all eyes are on her. Can she face her fears, find her voice and stand up for what’s right?

Norman had always been perfectly normal. That was until the day he grew a pair of wings! Norman is very surprised to have wings suddenly – and he has the most fun ever trying them out high in the sky.

But then he has to go in for dinner. What will his parents think? What will everyone else think? Norman feels the safest plan is to cover his wings with a big coat. But hiding the thing that makes you different proves tricky and upsetting. Can Norman ever truly be himself?

James loves dancing, poetry, and Mariah Carey (not in that order, though, because Mariah would obviously be first!). His teacher, Mr Hamilton, is getting married to his boyfriend and it seems that James will be part of a surprise choir performance at the wedding. But James’s father seems uncomfortable about the plan, and a lot of other things – like any mention of Mr Hamilton, and James’s dancing, and how James talks about his new friend Joel.

Meanwhile, a different boy has been harassing James at school and calling him gay, and it’s getting worse every day. James can find relief with his beloved Nan, she’s been having worrying falls, and James can’t tell anyone, or she might be sent to a faraway care home. The secrets are building up, and James is starting to lose his characteristic spark. Can he find the strength to let the truth out?