books
Sanjida's latest novel is in all good bookshops now.
...startlingly original...piercingly intelligent and very exciting...
The Naked Name of Love is the epic journey of a Jesuit priest who, in 1865, travels across Outer Mongolia in search of a rare white lily but finds he is being followed by a mysterious woman with long black hair on a white horse:
You, he said, and his voice was low yet powerful like the intake of breath a wolf might make before it snarled, will journey far beyond the boundaries of your imagination. You will meet and seize your heart’s desire. It will be the death of your soul.
Other titles:
"This is not simply one of those quirky popular science/history books that takes a commonplace domestic item and builds up a dossier of extraordinary but ultimately useless facts about it. The story of sugar is indeed an extraordinary one, but it is a story of life and death. It is inextricably bound up over the centuries with the development of civilisations, the global spread of slavery, the conduct of brutal wars, the distribution of economic power around the world and the lamentable state of the modern western diet.” Sanjida O'Connell does for sugar what Dava Sobel did for Longitude: make gripping drama out of dry school lessons. Sanjida O'Connell unforlds the complex story of the quest to satisfy our sweet tooth in this absorbing and illuminating history of sugar. Hardcover 256 pages |
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Niall, a zoologist, goes to Northern Ireland under the pretext of studying magpies. What he's researching is nothing less that the science of free will, the genetics of fate and destiny. But as he roams the seashore observing the lives of the magpies, he becomes increasingly troubled by half-remembered events, by apparently familiar faces and by the names of people long dead. Niall is drawn into complex relationships not just with the local villagers, but with two beautiful women, Nadia and Eddie. But as he grows more obsessed with his magpies, his grip on reality starts to weaken and he becomes implicated in a murder charge. Science fiction as it ought to be. New Scientist Some of the most vivid, shocking and moving writing in the book is when, though his scientist's eyes, the natural world is laid bare in its tenderness and wondrous beauty. …An intriguing read. Everything a girl could wish for in a novel: good food, good scenery and kissing in the stables…O'Connell tempers her vivid prose with a sensible helping of well-explained science. This is a successor that recalls William Boyd's Brazzaville Beach in its deployment of images from zoology, its inversion of the author's sex and its taut, dramatic plot. The result is elegant, intelligent and a pleasure to read…Witty and sensuous, O'Connell renders the eccentricity, charm and nastiness of small-town Irish life with a zest that expands her tale as much as the zoology…O'Connell will be formidable. Angel Bird is a powerful meditation on free will, fate and destiny. A stylish second novel. O'Connell has developed a nice line in descriptive prose and cannot be faulted for the originality and credibility of this disturbing tale. ISBN 0-552-97712-9 Black Swan 1998 Click to read Gathering (Angel Bird chapter) |
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BBC Wildlife presenters Chris Packham, Mile Dilger, Sanjida O'Connell and Janet Sumner reveal where you can find the very best wildlife. This practical guide will take you to locations across the British Isles to explore an extraordinary diversity of habitats and species, covering the best wildlife locations, the best times to visit and the wildlife you are likely to see there.
Hardcover 256pp |
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Sandra is caught in the complex web of a relationship with Corin. His energy stimulates her; his passion excites her; his work as a TV producer fascinates her. But does he have real feelings for her, or does he just want to control her?Feelings preoccupy Sandra as she carries out her research into the emotions of chimps. Do they 'care' about other chimps? Do they, in fact, have 'theory of mind'? During her daily visits to the zoo, Sandra meets a strange and isolated child, Paul, son of one of the keepers. What is he doing when he dissappears for hours on end? She also worries about her exotic friend, Kim, a scientist who has built the killing instinct into her preditor robots. Something, or someone, in Kim's past is making her unpredictable and aggressive. As Theory of Mind races to its shocking and terrifying conclusion, much more than Sandra's emotions are at risk. Richly observed, powerfully written, this extraodinary and thought-provoking first novel introduces a compelling new talent. Black Swan 1996 ...compelling and disturbing... |
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Did you know that it is much easier to detect lying in a stranger than with someone you've known for a very long time? That if any animal is staring at you it can only mean one of three things: it either wants to fight, feed, or mate with you? How we react to one another socially is the most important aspect of our lives. Without a Theory of Mind, we could not predict what others are likely to do, feel or believe; we could not love, lie, cheat, communicate or develop mature relationships. Yet there are those who have no understanding of how other people think and feel: young children, autistics, and people with a rare disorder known as Asperger's syndrome. Research indicates that great apes and possibly dolphins may possess an awareness of other beings' minds and be able to adapt accordingly. Hardcover: ISBN 0-385-48402-X William Heinneman 1997. Click to read Chapter 5 (Mindreading) |
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