The story of a woman struggling to reclaim her dignity after a violent, abusive marriage and a worsening drink problem. Paula Spencer recalls her contented childhood, the audacity she learned as a teenager, the exhilaration of her romance with Charlo, and the marriage to him that left her powerless.

Includes stories about Dublin life.

A historical tale marking a new turn in Doyle's writing. Born in the slums of Dublin in 1902, his father a one-legged whorehouse bouncer, Henry Smart has to grow up fast. He eventually becomes a Fenian, a rebel, a republican legend - one of Michael Collins's boys, an assassin on a stolen bike.

Together in one volume, this book contains Roddy Doyle's trilogy about the Rabbitte family of Barrytown, north Dublin. The Commitments , The Snapper and The Van , which was shortlisted for the 1991 Booker Prize.

The winner of the Whitbread Best First Novel 1990, this is the story of Karim Amir, an Englishman born and bred - almost , who lives with his English mother and Indian father in the South London suburbs. It is written by the author of My Beautiful Launderette and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid .