Picador

"In the beginning was the Word,"says the Gospel of John. This sentence and the words of all four gospels is central to the teachings of the Christian church and has shaped Western art, literature and language, and the Western mind. Yet in the years after the death of Christ there was not merely one word, nor any consensus as to who Jesus was or why he had mattered.

From a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan, to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua via an oil town in Texas, to the heart of the Maria Mountains in Colombia, O'Sullivan hears remarkable stories from a fascinating array of people, and attempts to unravel their complex meaning while asking the question: who gets to define what is and what isn't an illness?Reminiscent of the work of Oliver Sacks, Stephen Grosz and Henry Marsh, The Sleeping Beauties is a moving and unforgettable scientific investigation with a very human face.

He Who Drowned the World is the sequel to the Sunday Times bestseller She Who Became the Sun. What would you give to win the world?

The case is unexceptional, that is what I know. A house full of stuff left behind by a dead woman, abandoned at the last . . .

Brood by Jackie Polzin is a darkly funny, deeply moving and startling original debut novel of motherhood and grief, full of sorrow, joy and unrelenting hope. Perfect for fans of Jenny Offill and Elizabeth Strout.

Fortune favours the brave in Lizzie Pook's mesmerising debut novel, Moonlight and the Pearler's Daughter.

London, 1850. Constance Horton has disappeared.

MORE CONFESSIONS OF A FORTY-SOMETHING F##K UP: The laugh-out-loud sequel to the runaway bestseller of 2022 and funniest WTF AM I DOING NOW novel of the year.