Faye Blakemore is a photojournalist for a major New York newspaper. Faye has been taking photos since she was a small child, taught by her photographer grandfather, after spending hours in the strange blood-red light of his darkroom. Now Faye specializes in what one reviewer calls, “blood-and-guts journalism.” Her first book of photos is as celebrated as it is controversial—and as harrowing. Faye convinces her editor to send her to Afghanistan and the Congo to report on the acid burnings, the machete attacks, and the women survivors. Yet that series of assignments—each darker and more dangerous than the next—brings Faye closer to her both her own demons and to the family secrets that still haunt her and threaten to destroy her and the woman she loves.

Michael Tillington has a confession to make to Elin, his soon to be wife, before they marry, and Peter Shortbody finds himself on the horns of a dilemma regarding his love life. Isabella is invited by Richard to travel with him to Copenhagen, to take part in a chess competition, but he cannot tell her the whole truth of the matter, and events unfold there which she could never have anticipated. Tara returns from her world tour with DMW, and must learn how to become 'Tarragon' again, whilst her sister, Rosie, travels to Java with her Beau, where she is able to demonstrate her extraordinary powers of healing. After a trip to India with Louise, Percival knows that he must somehow find resolution to the constant danger which plagues his life, but to do so he must go somewhere which is a secret known only to the witches, and where he is sure he will not be welcome. Meanwhile Rebecca faces danger of a quite different kind, and of which she is unaware; Sharon is recovering from her injuries, and seeks revenge.

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Wicked Women brings together twenty tales that lay bare the minds and hearts of men, women, and children Victims, liberators, blackmailers, healers, and ghosts—they’re just a few of the fascinating men and women you’ll meet in this stellar, boundary-defying anthology. From a heartless lover to a therapist who’s exposed for being a child hater, Weldon’s characters search for meaning, betray their vows, take pleasure in others’ misfortunes, or get pushed out of the family manse by their grasping offspring. Whether she’s depicting a child’s reaction to the chaotic lives of her parents, or envisioning a terrifying futuristic society, Fay Weldon wields her prolific pen like a sword. In a pre-apocalyptic world where nothing is sacred, Wicked Women reveals the infinite ability of men and women to wound, to grieve, and to love.

Alistair Findlay has written the first ever memoir of a career in Scottish social work. He reflects on the changing landscape of the profession since he entered it in 1970 in a memoir that is thoughtful, progressive, humane – and funny. He conveys how he and his fellow workers shared friendship and banter in work that can be hard and thankless but also hugely rewarding and worthwhile.

Set between London and Harare in the present day, the novel follows a group of quasi-revolutionaries who are fighting against Mugabe’s dictatorship and in favour of Socialist policies. It is a novel about hope, fear, and failure, and how fighting for an all-consuming cause can forge some relationships but ruin others.