Books by Ian Williams

Ian Williams examines the extraordinary rise of the Chinese surveillance state, how information is controlled and how it affects the population. The book also considers the wider implications for all of us, and how we are all tracked, monitored and followed with every click, view and search we make.

WINNER OF THE 2019 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE An internationally bestselling debut novel: an energetically told, funny and moving book about how strangers become family.Reproduction tells a crooked love story which takes strange, winding paths shaped by community, family and fleeting interactions that leave an inedible imprint. Felicia, a nineteen-year-old West Indian student, and Edgar, an impetuous heir of a wealthy German family, meet when their ailing mothers are assigned the same hospital room. An odd-couple relationship blooms between Edgar and Felicia, ripe with miscommunications and reprisals for perceived and real offences that have some unexpected results. Fast-forward, their son Armistice is a teenager fixated on a variety of get-rich-quick schemes that are as comic as they are indicative of the immigrant son's fear of falling through the cracks. When Edgar re-enters Felicia's life at a typically inopportune moment, the book's exhilarating final act is set in the motion and Reproduction is revealed.

Great Stories Written Badly includes:A Letter to Santa: For those who believe in the spirit of Christmas year-round, this is Susan's story. How a desperately ill child can suffuse her family with all the strength, they will need to go on without her. There is Lapland, snow, northern lights and magical animals but at the heart of it is her mother's wish for one last very special holiday.Driftwood: An escape-from-it-all holiday cottage on the shores of an island off Western Scotland is the setting for this tale of love and intrigue. A dive onto the wreck of a Second World War plane has Tom and Elly wondering quite what they have found. Is the cottage haunted, what do the locals know and can the owner help in any way?With Molly, their lively and adorable springer spaniel, Tom and Elly resolve a long-standing mystery and ease the burden of an old lady as she lays dying. This tale of love, ghosts, and history is beautifully wrapped up!Creek Falls: Tom and Elly James are heading for the Scottish Highlands with their young dog, Cosmo, son of Molly who starred in their earlier adventure, Driftwood. Their camping trip takes a ghostly turn when Elly finds a beautiful earring near a famous waterfall. A strange dog attaches himself to them, and they meet Meena who seems to take hold of them. Why has Tom heard a scream at the Falls and what is it about the smell of smoke from a steam train?This is the second in a series of stories following the couple and their springer spaniels, Molly and Cosmo.Draw Yourself a Picture and Step in: Ruby is a successful painter much in demand for her seascapes. Henry is a successful businessman, philanthropist and collector of Ruby's work. When Henry visits Ruby's studio to look over her latest work he disappears leaving only a cheque in advance payment for the piece. This is no murder mystery - not a corpse or a copper in sight!Locked In: John and Alex are happily married and love walking and climbing in the Isle of Skye. Alex has a good job and feels less free to take to the hills so John likes to take off alone on the good days. But a good day can easily become a bad one - a very bad one indeed. John's accident leaves him in a coma and Alex in a limbo place of love and loss. They are both on a journey but will they ever be together again? Is John forever locked in and Alex locked out? Locked In is a passionate tale of love for another and love for the mountains woven with the dedication of a medical team and the unknown world of the unconscious mind.

With a trademark lightness of touch, Ian Williams provides another gentle look at the sufferings of humanity in this long-awaited follow-up to his much-acclaimed debut, The Bad Doctor.

A lively history of tequila, an unusual liquor that can only be produced in Mexico. This book relates the beginnings of tequila and how it was introduced into the global market, and contains many recipes for tequila-based cocktails, as well as advice on buying, storing, tasting and serving tequila.

Dorking and the Mole Valley past and present

In the vein of Salt and Cod comes Rum , the definitive history of how Rum helped to shape the modern world