Mark Haddon

A newborn baby is the sole survivor of a terrifying plane crash. She is raised in wealthy isolation by an overprotective father. She knows nothing of the rumours about a beautiful young woman, hidden from the world. When a suitor visits, he understands far more than he should. Forced to run for his life, he escapes aboard The Porpoise, an assassin on his tail. So begins a wild adventure of a novel, damp with salt spray, blood and tears. A novel that...

After his mother's death, Richard decides to build bridges with his estranged sister, inviting Angela and her family for a week in a rented house on the Welsh border. Seven days of shared meals, log fires, card games and wet walks are in order, but in the quiet and stillness of the valley, ghosts begin to rise up.

'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...

Reading is not an innate human ability. Many people would rather read a newspaper, a magazine, a cereal packet, than a novel. But people have always needed stories. The essays in this book tell us about the experience of reading, why access to books should never be taken for granted, and how literature can save lives.

Weaving together ancient Greek fables with more recent dystopian narratives, Mark Haddon jump starts the heart of these legends told and retold for millennia, and demonstrates their lasting relevance again, in new and unexpected forms.

Rooted in place, slipping between worlds a rich collection of unnerving ghosts and sinister histories. Eight authors were given after hours freedom at their chosen English heritage site. Immersed in the history, atmosphere and rumours of hauntings, they channelled their darker imaginings into a series of extraordinary new ghost stories.