The first collection of stories from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Porpoise.'Terrifically compelling' GuardianA seaside pier collapses.An expedition to Mars goes terribly wrong.A thirty-stone man is confined to his living room.One woman is abandoned on a tiny island in the middle of the ocean.Another woman is saved from drowning.Two boys ...

Brought to you by Penguin.Simultaneously heart-breaking and darkly hilarious, Leaving Home is a portrait of the artist both as a child and as an adult.Mark Haddon's parents were not really cut out for the job of having children. They were cut out, respectively, for the jobs of designing abattoirs and keeping a pathologically clean and tidy house. At least Mark had the consolations of The Weetabix Solar System Wallchart, wa...

Winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year'Outstanding...a stunningly good read' Observer'Mark Haddon's portrayal of an emotionally dissociated mind is a superb achievement... Wise and bleakly funny' Ian McEwanThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's Syndrome. He knows a very great deal about maths and very li...

‘A painful funny humane novel: beautifully written, addictively readable and so confident’ The TimesDiscover this brilliantly comic and moving bestselling novel by the award-winning author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Porpoise.At fifty-seven, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden, reading historical novels, listening to a bit of light jaz...

The bestselling author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time weaves ancient fables into fresh, unexpected forms and forges new unforgettable legends.'A marvel of a collection' Kaliane Bradley, author of The Ministry of Time‘A consummate storyteller’ New York TimesThe myth of the Minotaur in his labyrinth is turned into a wrenching parable of maternal love – and of the monstrosities of patriar...

Fifteen year old Christopher is about to embark on an investigation...Lots of things are mysteries. But that doesn't mean there isn't an answer to them.It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears' house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running ...

Family, that slippery word, a star to every wandering bark, and everyone sailing under a different sky.After his mother's death, Richard, a newly remarried hospital consultant, decides to build bridges with his estranged sister, inviting Angela and her family for a week in a rented house on the Welsh border. Four adults and four children, a single family and all of them strangers. Seven days of shared meals, log fires, card games and wet walks.But in the quiet and ...

‘Just downright brilliant... a transcendent, transporting experience’ ObserverA motherless girl grows up in isolated luxury, hidden from the world by her wealthy father. She believes their life together is normal – but as time passes, she has a growing sense that something between them is very wrong.She cannot escape, so she seeks solace in her books. Her favourite tales are those that conjure ancient worlds – of angry gods and heroic mortals, one ...

Boom! Is a roller-coaster read with spaceships, spies and mortal danger!Jim and his best friend Charlie weren't looking for adventure, when they decided to bug the staffroom . . . But then they overhear their teachers speaking in a secret language and it's too late to turn back. And now they have to explain to the police, the headmistress and their parents where they've been for a whole week - without mentioning the aliens.

In any 24 hours there might be sleeping, eating, kids, parents, friends, lovers, work, school, travel, deadlines, emails, phone calls, Facebook, Twitter, the news, the TV, Playstation, music, movies, sport, responsibilities, passions, desires, dreams.Why should you stop what you're doing and read a book?Reading is not an innate human ability. Many people can't read. Many people would rather read a newspaper, a magazine, a blog, a cereal packet, than a novel.But peop...

'Tender, transporting, creative and beautifully written ... Simply glorious, from start to finish' Rachel Clarke, author of Dear LifeSimultaneously heart-breaking and darkly hilarious, Leaving Home is a portrait of the artist both as a child and as an adult.Mark Haddon's parents were not really cut out for the job of having children. They were cut out, respectively, for the jobs of designing abattoirs and ...

'The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs Shears' house. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog.'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a murder mystery novel like no other. The detective, and narrator, is Christopher Boone. Christopher is fifteen and has Asperger's, a ...