“Stark white walls. No furniture. A collection of girls slumped on the floor. I pause at the entrance of the holding room, absorbing the scene of silent figures before finding a

“You ask me how I found myself mixed up between these weavers? In a house in Rossendale, I lived the war of weavers: In the manor of the handloom lord,

“During those first days alone with my mother, I felt cocooned. We would take our coffee at Chez Schumann, the little terrace across the street, even when it rained, which

“Even when we crossed the tree line, I did not release his hand, nor did I slow my steps. I kept going, sometimes glimpsing the face of a villager or

“Four fully loaded, don’t give a damn camels obstruct our onward passage down the dark-maroon dirt track. They stare at us with total indifference. A young mother with her baby

“Yara Sweeney sat on a Southern Rail train facing her six-year old daughter Mali, as the packed station platform at Clapham Junction slid into view. The unseasonably warm Sunday morning had flushed people into

“When I was called urgently to the ward, I knew who was in trouble. The patient was sitting upright, staring at his family repeating the phrase, ‘Something’s happening – I’m

“It all changed when Alan came along. Well, not immediately. I didn’t notice him at first. There was always a big turnover. Those who couldn’t hack it—they’d turn up late,

“Excuse me, I think she might be needing this”, said the kind man handing me Esther’s boarding card that she had dropped on the floor whilst queuing at departures security

“Let me piece this together, scattered as it is across the lifespan of my memory. As if little by little, I can make it into something complete. Even though, quite

“Journeys of Hope is essentially the love story of two young migrants, set in the context of my own explorations through the past and present of eastern Europe. The themes

“My name is Roger Whiteley, and I’m going to tell you about a couple of murders I got embroiled in recently.” From ‘The Time Capsule Murders’ – included in the

“George Crawford is the most perfect man on the planet. He’s insanely attractive, but not in a way that makes anyone feel inadequate about their own looks. He has a

“Skull. Ribcage. Collarbone. Leigh folds her arms and leans back on the hard chair, peering at the post-mortem images through a blockade of male shoulders. The sun isn’t even up

“1. your own diseased heart—final outcome guaranteed 2. beating transplant—the longest wait, outcome uncertain 3. non-beating ‘heart in a box’—journey time (donor to recipient) up to 8 hours (This last

“It’s too late. I know it, but I try anyway. I have the same feeling as when you already know you’ve overslept without even checking your alarm. Except this is

“If every day is like eating cake with unknown layers, the day I met John Oliver had such a surprising and unexpected flavour that the memory of it has stayed

“‘Augustine didn’t know where they were going to sleep tonight. She couldn’t go back home with Justice. His father not knowing their whereabouts was the only advantage she had. The

“Saira turned to Joe, open-mouthed. She’d already de-coded the first paragraph and couldn’t believe it. ‘What’s up?’ ‘Wait till you hear this,’ she said, her voice trembling. Dear Saira, First

“Even a stone has a soft spot  a worn through hole after years  of attrition, a heart  whose emptiness is its strength,  as in how a mill grinds wheat  and