This enchanting tale of a cursed mythical creature and the lonely fisherman who falls in love with her is "a daring, mesmerizing novel…single-handedly bringing magic realism up-to-date" (Maggie O’Farrell, best-selling author of Hamnet). "Sentence by sensuous sentence, Roffey builds a verdant, complicated world that is a pleasure to live inside.... You might start to believe in the existence of mermaids.” —The New York Times In 1976, David is fishing off the island of Black Conch when he comes upon a creature he doesn’t expect: a mermaid by the name of Aycayia. Once a beautiful young woman, she was cursed by jealous wives to live in this form for the rest of her days. But after the mermaid is caught by American tourists, David rescues and hides her away in his home, finding that, once out of the water, she begins to transform back into a woman. Now David must work to win Aycayia's trust while she relearns what it is to be human, navigating not only her new body but also her relationship with others on the island—a difficult task after centuries of loneliness. As David and Aycayia grow to love each other, they juggle both the joys and the dangers of life on shore. But a lingering question remains: Will the former mermaid be able to escape her curse? Taking on many points of view, this mythical adventure tells the story of one woman’s return to land, her healing, and her survival.

The acclaimed short-story author and poet transports readers from the teeming streets of India to the rolling Himalayas, in this lyrical, exotic, and rich middle-grade fantasy.

Set in contemporary India, as well as several hundred years in the past, thistitle continues the adventures of Anand and his quest to become a full memberof the Brotherhood of the Conch.

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RED WATER What if the forbidden could heal you? “Achingly real, with characters that come off the page and crawl around in your head long after you’ve finished.” - Meghan O’Flynn, bestselling author of the Ash Park series “Beautiful writing and believable, multidimensional characters. I devoured this book in one sitting.” - Jill Smokler, New York Times bestselling author of Scary Mommy When Hazel Duval moves with her husband Oren to the oceanside town of Conch Garden and secures her dream job playing violin with the local orchestra, she thinks she may have finally left her traumatic past behind her. She even makes a new friend—a friend who turns out to be a little more than she bargained for. Beautiful, brilliant, and wild, Claire makes love to the sand with her toes, focuses intensely without wrinkling her forehead, and makes a cello sing like nothing Hazel has ever heard. She also listens to Hazel’s most painful secrets without judgment or expectation. It isn’t long before Hazel finds herself thinking about Claire in ways she has never thought of another woman. Fantasizing. Wanting. Longing. But Hazel is married, and so is Claire. Indulging in this fantasy is not an option. Hazel must bury her lust despite her ever-growing infatuation with Claire and the mountain of shame that comes along with it. Still, there is no denying that her feelings for Claire have awakened something primal in her—for the first time in her life, Hazel feels alive. And now the two women are flying off to Italy to perform at a music festival, where they’ll be sharing an apartment. Alone. As their friendship deepens, Hazel learns from Claire that there is more than one type of love and that salvation comes in many forms. But is Hazel’s relationship with Claire really saving her, or is it only leading to the inevitable destruction of the life she’s worked so hard to build? A haunting story of unexpected love in the aftermath of a brutal trauma, Beyond the Break will take you on a journey that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about friendship, sexuality, and love. If you enjoyed Carol by Patricia Highsmith or The Gravity Between Us by Kristen Zimmer, you’ll love Beyond the Break. More praise for Beyond the Break: “A mature book with depth and complexity.” - Andra Watkins, New York Times bestselling author of Not Without My Father “This book absolutely crushed me. It will change everything you thought you knew about love, sexual attraction, and chemistry.” - Melissa Mowry, One Mother to Another **Look for Objects in Motion, the sequel to Beyond the Break, in early 2018

International bestselling author Fforde invites fans to return to the witty, wizardly world of the Chronicles of Kazam with the fabulous follow-up to "The Last Dragonslayer."

The beautifully written story of shells and their makers, and our relationships with them. Seashells are the sculpted homes of a remarkable group of animals: the molluscs. These are some of the most ancient and successful animals on the planet. But watch out. Some molluscs can kill you if you eat them. Some will kill you if you stand too close. That hasn't stopped people using shells in many ways over thousands of years. They became the first jewelry and oldest currencies; they've been used as potent symbols of sex and death, prestige and war, not to mention a nutritious (and tasty) source of food. Spirals in Time is an exuberant aquatic romp, revealing amazing tales of these undersea marvels. Helen Scales leads us on a journey into their realm, as she goes in search of everything from snails that 'fly' underwater on tiny wings to octopuses accused of stealing shells and giant mussels with golden beards that were supposedly the source of Jason's golden fleece, and learns how shells have been exchanged for human lives, tapped for mind-bending drugs and inspired advances in medical technology. Weaving through these stories are the remarkable animals that build them, creatures with fascinating tales to tell, a myriad of spiralling shells following just a few simple rules of mathematics and evolution. Shells are also bellwethers of our impact on the natural world. Some species have been overfished, others poisoned by polluted seas; perhaps most worryingly of all, molluscs are expected to fall victim to ocean acidification, a side-effect of climate change that may soon cause shells to simply melt away. But rather than dwelling on what we risk losing, Spirals in Time urges you to ponder how seashells can reconnect us with nature, and heal the rift between ourselves and the living world.

This book tells the life story of the most widely recognized seashell, the queen conch, accompanied by many color photos and detailed illustrations. The uses for, and fishery and farming of, this valuable natural resource are also discussed.