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Tree Thieves

Josh Weil

‘The jungle was all stillness, time kept only by the markings of his breath.’

In the Country

Tessa Hadley

‘She wondered if she would have the audacity, when the time came, to let herself go like that.’

Wheels of Progress

Gemini Wahhaj

‘Now Bangladesh survives only on aid, on other people feeding its people.’

On Monday Last Week

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

‘Kamara had always resented the glamour of half-castes.’

Scan

Helen Simpson

‘Since last week's diagnosis she had herself fallen out of time.’

The Last of The Smokers

Jackie Kay

‘Smoking is my first erotic memory.’

Agamemnon’s Truth

Javier Cercas

‘My name is Javier Cercas, just like you.’

Hunter’s Moon

Thomas Lynch

‘She had left him for a woman.’

The King is Always Above the People

Daniel Alarcón

‘It was the year I left my parents, a few useless friends, and a girl who liked to tell everyone we were married, and moved two hundred kilometres downstream to the capital.’

Parakeets

Kevin Brockmeier

‘The birds studied the mute as though he were a puzzle.’

The Complaint

Judy Budnitz

‘The first few apartments Claude inspects have the air of people who haven't budged in years.’

That First Time

Christopher Coake

‘Everything, even the ground under his feet, felt impermanent.’

Procreate, Generate

Anthony Doerr

‘Nothingness is the rule. Life is the exception.’

Room After Room

Jonathan Safran Foer

‘Her heart is kept in a room with a very expensive security system.’