Books published by Barbican Press

- Richard reclaims the Jewishness and the humanity of many biblical characters in this novel.- It's an excellent historical fiction that captures an especially turbulent time in Jerusalem, under Roman rule and heavily influenced by Greek culture.- The Lost Gospel of Lazarus poses thoughtful philosophical questions on the nature of amnesia, love, friendship, faith and destiny.

Science Fiction Book of the Month - The Times: 'Weaves a gloomy, gripping, spiritual spell all of its own.''A subtle and provocative meditation on the nature of faith and hope in the face of despair and chaos.' - AurealisIt's 2096. Scientists work to protect a baking planet. What a drought-stricken Europe needs is rain. What it gets is a messiah.Eli is born in a suburb of Prague. A rainstorm heralds the birth. Perhaps this messiah is for real. Eli's father abandons the family to become the dictator's right-hand man. Eli's elder brother Marek guides Eli through his short and powerful life.Can tales of a messiah be enough to heal a ravaged planet in which few babies are born? Marek works with the zeal of a prophet. Aged 72, he's still going strong. A new follower joins Marek's community, young Natalia. She awakens the old man to the joys of the body. But what's the worth of a human love when the environment is collapsing? Marek sets out to find his answer.My Brother the Messiah is a story about daring to seed the future of our planet.

A dystopian novel set around London's disused Heathrow Airport. For sixteen years the Earth has baked and no girls have been born. Karen's the last girl. Steven's her gay twin. Dad turns their home into a fortress as women take their chance to rule the world. Their eyes are on Steven. Perhaps, with a little medical interference, he could be the saviour of the world. The boys of teensquad run the streets, insects clog the skies, and scientists are cooking up a brand new Eden. Ectopia takes themes of gender, feminism, climate change, cloning, psychedelics, racism, and genetic modification and mixes them into a 21st century BRAVE NEW WORLD. 'If you are a connoisseur of dystopias, this will be one for you' - Henry Gee, Occam's Typewriter

A self-help memoir that takes an unflinching look at a young man's undiagnosed anxiety disorder and OCD."e;'THIS IS WRITING AT ITS MOST FEARLESS.' Matt Bright, Everybody's Reviewing'WESTOBY GIVES A VOICE TO TEENAGERS UNABLE TO COPE WITH EVERYDAY LIFE... THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL READ.' Paul Taylor-Mcartney, Writers in EducationChris Westoby takes us inside his past self, a teenager from a small English town. He's trying to be a good friend, student, son and boyfriend, but he struggles to be in company without wanting to hide. And things only get worse: it's nearly impossible to take the bus to college without catching the next bus home. His obsessive germaphobia begins to destroy his life. How can one boy overcome all this? Chris offers am unflinching, raw account of his troubles and offers what he's learnt.This book an outstretched hand to those fighting these same battles, or to anyone who's watching someone else go through the same. The Fear Talking does not promise to solve your problems, but it shows you that you're not alone. That's all Chris ever wanted, really; to unflinchingly capture the warmth and darkness of the teenage years.Some Expert Reactions'Read this book, and you will never forget it. As a narrative it's fascinating. As the memoir of a life lived with anxiety, it's incomparable.' Peter Draper, Emeritus Professor of Nursing Education, UNIVERSITY OF HULL'Anxiety is the most common form of mental distress and of course overlaps with normal human emotion. Yet it can be overwhelming and disabling and a gateway to other mental ill health notably depression and self-medication with alcohol and other substances. This engaging account throws a spotlight on how anxiety impacts on everyday life and relationships.' Patrick McGorry, Professor of Youth Mental Health, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE'In The Fear Talking, Chris Westoby achieves the well-nigh impossible, giving us a fully immersive account of adolescent anxiety, allowing the reader to feel and experience with the narrator. If one of the main aims of the memoir form is to induce empathy in readers, Westoby's memoir succeeds brilliantly. The reader comes away with a new and profound understanding of what mental illness feels like from within.' Jonathan Taylor, Associate Professor Creative Writing, UNIVERSITY OF LECEISTER

MORNING STAR BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020A genre-busting, gender-bending Vatican thriller. What happens when everything you know is thrown into doubt?And you're the Pope?The recently elected Irish Pope Patrick has plans for his future Church. Then he is attacked in St Peter's Square. Cardinals turn against him. Shocking revelations threaten his traditional status and his faith. In this novel where nothing is as it seems, Catholicism and modern morality are held in tension. Pope Patrick has to face challenges and make choices he could never have imagined.'This is a strange and strangely touching novel and it is also written with great elegance and authority. It tackles head on some of the most challenging issues for the Roman Catholic Church around gender and sexuality and at the same time has some of the loveliest, most persuasive, writing about personal prayer that I have ever encountered in fiction.' - Sara Maitland'Virgin and Child cleverly merges crime with Catholicism and piety with a dangerous love. Pope Patrick, the Irish Pope, is famed for his humanity but unaware of the subversive forces plotting his destruction. The novel is wonderfully original and absorbing, from the halls of the Vatican to its explosive conclusion.' - Mary Flanagan

A graphic novel in rhymed couplets, in which a boy combats homophobia in schools by planting flowers at the scene of attacks.

A contemporary classic from the Czech Republic. To support his family, a man submits himself to a solo science experiment in the High Andes. A cosmic adventure story of big ideas and murder. 'I loved it: simple as that. I started reading thinking I'd start with a few chapters and pace it over a week or two, but I found I couldn't stop. A potent and haunting novel of black holes, solitude and the sublime, it is never less than immensely readable and absorbing.' - Adam Roberts, winner of the BSFA Award for Best Novel and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award. Your business is dead. It seems like a deal - leave your family behind in Prague for a year, isolate yourself in a research station in the Andes, and come home with a fortune. With a treatise on black holes for company, Jakob settles in at altitude. The air is thin. Strangers pass by on dangerous pilgrimage while his young wife and kids take life in his mind. In mountain starkness, the big questions take shape - like what happens to love inside a black hole?

Winter 1968. Three Hull trawlers sink. One fishwife vows to change the law. A powerful story of death and survival. In the harsh Arctic seas of 1968, three trawlers from Hull's fleet sank in just three weeks. 58 men died. Lillian Bilocca put down her filleting knife, wrote a petition, and stormed into action. With her army of fishwives she took her battle to the docks and led a raid on Parliament. They changed the shipping laws, 'Big Lil' became an international celebrity. The lone survivor of the tragedies made headlines too. In a tight fishing community, it's dangerous to stand out.