Book division successes 1998

The Tulip by Anna Pavord

Far from being a manual on growing tulips, this is a history of a flower that has inspired the most extraordinary obsessions. Tulipomania first struck Western Europe in 1637, when ninety-nine lots of tulip bulbs were auctioned in Holland for around £6 million in today’s money. Emperor Sûleyman was so besotted with the tulip that the flower appears as a motif on everything from tiles and rugs to the illuminated manuscripts of the late Ottoman Empire. Even today there is a society in Wakefield devoted solely to the cultivation of the tulip. What is it about this flower that provokes such passion? Perhaps one answer is its gloriously vivid and varied colours apparently produced by a tiny parasitic aphid. Pavord follows the history of the tulip along its many fascinating and sometimes bizarre byways, clearly in the grips of her own obsession and happily exploring those of others.

Withnail & I by Bruce Robinson

This volume contains the screenplay of Withnail and I, written by Bruce Robinson who was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay of The Killing Fields. Robinson also directed the film.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K.Rowling

Winner 1998 Smarties Book Prize 9-11 Category; Shortlisted 1998 Whitbread Book of the Year Award Children's Book Category. The author's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was Gold-winner of the Smarties Book Prize (7-11yrs) in 1997, the British Book Awards' Children's Book of the Year 1997, the Young Telegraph Book Award and the Birmingham Cable Book Award.

Harry Potter is a wizard. He is in his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Little does he know that this year will be just as eventful as the last - even getting there is an adventure in itself!

The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman by Bruce Robinson

From the author of Withnail and I, this is the story of a dysfunctional family. It is about a boy and his grandpa, life and death, sex and hate, dog's meat and cancer. It is also about pornography, enemas, morse codes, puberty, secrets, God and loathing. It is also about love.

The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

This book tells the story of a drunken young journalist in the tropics. It is an early work by Hunter S. Thompson, combining exuberance, madness and comedy.

Model Behaviour by Jay McInerney

Philomena had told Connor that she wanted a simple life. Now she has run off to California, and he doesn't know whether she is ever coming back. But Connor has a lot more to worry about than just losing his girlfriend in this novel about celebrity, romance and twentieth century literature.

The Underpainter by Jane Urquhart

The author's novel The Whirlpool won the Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger in 1992. She also won the Trillium Award in 1993 and was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for Away.

Austin Fraser's painting teacher had indoctrinated him with the view that unless something could be turned into art, it wasn't worth his time. So when Austin visited Sara Pengelly each year, he was her lover but he never dreamed of loving her. Art did not demand it.

Tough Tough Toys for Tough Tough Boys by Will Self

This collection of short stories explores the 'muddy foreshore and abysmal depths' of the human psyche. 'Caring, Sharing' envisages a realm where adults can be the children they really are, while 'The Nonce Prize' presents a chilling portrait of a man who has been framed as a child abuser.

A Widow for One Year by John Irving

Ruth Cole is a complex, often self-contradictory character - a 'difficult' woman. By no means is she conventionally 'nice', but she will never be forgotten. Her story is told in three parts, each focusing on a critical time in her life.

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

Winner 1997 Orange Prize for Fiction. Anne Michaels' two collections of poetry are The Weight of Oranges, which won the Commonwealth Prize for the Americas and Miner's Pond, which won the Canadian Authors' Association Award and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award and the Trillium Award.

The stories of two men from different generations whose lives have been transformed by war. A young boy, Jakob Beer, is rescued from the mud of a buried Polish city during World War II and taken to an island in Greece by an unlikely saviour, the scientist/humanist Athos Roussos.

The Ventriloquist's Tale by Pauline Melville

Winner 1997 Whitbread Book of the Year; Shortlisted 1998 Orange Prize for Fiction.

'The whole purpose of magic is the fulfilment and intensification of desire,' claims the ventriloquist-narrator as he tells his stories of love and catastrophe. The novel is a parable of miscegenation and racial exclusiveness, of nature defying culture and of the rebellious nature of love.

Other People's Children by Joanna Trollope

This work gives an insight into one of the modern day dilemmas - divorce, and how it affects our children.

Adventures of Dougal by Eric Thompson

Follow Dougal, Dylan, Brian, Ermintrude and other characters on their adventures. These stories are freely adapted from the originals, written by Serge Danot.

Adventures of Dylan by Eric Thompson

Follow Dougal, Dylan, Brian, Ermintrude and other characters on their adventures. These stories are freely adapted from the originals, written by Serge Danot.

Adventures of Ermintrude by Eric Thompson

Follow Dougal, Dylan, Brian, Ermintrude and other characters on their adventures. These stories are freely adapted from the originals, written by Serge Danot.