Shanghai BabyPublicly burned in China for its sensual nature and irreverent style, this novel is the semi autobiographical story of Coco, a caf waitress, who is full of enthusiasm and impatience for life. She meets a young man, Tian Tian, for whom she feels tenderness and love, but he is reclusive, impotent and an increasing user of drugs. Despite parental objections, Coco moves in with him, leaves her job and throws herself into writing. Shortly afterwards she

Her beauty hides a deadly purpose

all while having fun

Henry's triumphs and disasters

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

a crooked town marshal

eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries

Their unique ability to combine inside knowledge of the brutal reality of criminal life with searing social criticism in complex

Dorment could be of no use to him

her mother and her real father

the ancient snake spirit

Unless addressed these self-sabotaging behaviours can quickly become cyclical leaving people feeling unhappy unfulfilled and unwell

a story in the bestselling Tales from Acorn Wood preschool series by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler