JBFN Archives - Duckworth Books

Becoming a Matriarch

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER IN CANADA
A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
A CBC BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
CO-WINNER OF THE 2024 GEORGE RYGA AWARD FOR SOCIAL AWARENESS IN LITERATURE
WINNER OF THE 2024 JIM DEVA PRIZE FOR WRITING THAT PROVOKES
FINALIST FOR THE 2024 GOVERNOR GENERAL’S LITERARY AWARD FOR NONFICTION

All her life, Helen Knott has been surrounded by strong women. She has looked to the women in her family and the larger Indigenous community for guidance, absorbed their stories and admired their independence. But Helen’s path hasn’t been easy and when her mother and grandmother died within six months of each other, she drew upon lessons from her ancestors and the land to discover her inner power and refashion her future.

Exploring their struggles and her own with young motherhood, daughterhood, grief and sobriety, Knott offers an inspiring meditation on how we repair ourselves in the face of tragedy, trauma and injustice; on what it is to be a woman – and become a matriarch.

In Ordinary Time

in ordinary time carmel mc mahon

In 1993, aged twenty, Carmel Mc Mahon left Ireland for New York, carrying two suitcases and a ton of unseen baggage. It took years, and a bitter struggle with alcohol addiction, to unpick the intricate traumas of her past and present.

Candid yet lyrical, In Ordinary Time mines the ways that trauma reverberates through time and through individual lives, drawing connections to the events and rhythms of Ireland’s long Celtic, early Christian and Catholic history. From tragically lost siblings to the broader social scars of the Famine and the Magdalene Laundries, Mc Mahon sketches the evolution of a consciousness – from her conservative 1970s upbringing to 1990s New York, and back to the much-changed Ireland of today.

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How fabulous was last night’s @indies_alliance spring showcase? Oodles of talented authors mingling with the great and the good of UK bookselling.

Copies of I’ll be the Monster were on display and went fast, snapped up on the promise of a sensational new voice and a lavish quote from @lucyrose (cannot thank her enough!).

We’re grateful to be part of the Alliance where like minded publishers can closely collaborate to do the hard work of championing literary voices that might otherwise never get their shot at publishing.

Events like these show how much joy and opportunity still exists for indie publishers and bookshops in an increasingly challenging economic landscape.

Remember to support your local indie booksellers - they need us now more than ever! 📚

Special mentions to the lovely people with whom we chatted the night away:

@bookishcrickhowell
@bookspacecardiff
@bookhausbristol
@bookcellarbristol

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How fabulous was last night’s @indies_alliance spring showcase? Oodles of talented authors mingling with the great and the good of UK bookselling.

Copies of I’ll be the Monster were on display and went fast, snapped up on the promise of a sensational new voice and a lavish quote from @lucyrose (cannot thank her enough!).

We’re grateful to be part of the Alliance where like minded publishers can closely collaborate to do the hard work of championing literary voices that might otherwise never get their shot at publishing.

Events like these show how much joy and opportunity still exists for indie publishers and bookshops in an increasingly challenging economic landscape.

Remember to support your local indie booksellers - they need us now more than ever! 📚

Special mentions to the lovely people with whom we chatted the night away:

@bookishcrickhowell
@bookspacecardiff
@bookhausbristol
@bookcellarbristol

We’re well into LBF2026 and have already:

💼 handed out 75 tote bags for The Republic Of Parenthood by @rhiannonlucycosslett

📕 📘 shared reading copies of Chopsy by @maya_jordan_writes and Underwing by @thegreenwitchwriter

🖼️ Glued one poster back to the wall (sorry The Wild Road Home!) @simonwiparker

Discover our new autumn list and if you’re at LBF, pop in to say hello!

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We’re well into LBF2026 and have already:

💼 handed out 75 tote bags for The Republic Of Parenthood by @rhiannonlucycosslett

📕 📘 shared reading copies of Chopsy by @maya_jordan_writes and Underwing by @thegreenwitchwriter

🖼️ Glued one poster back to the wall (sorry The Wild Road Home!) @simonwiparker

Discover our new autumn list and if you’re at LBF, pop in to say hello!

Delighted by @dwaynefields’ recommendation of ‘The Untold Railway Stories’ on @bbcsounds - edited by globetrotting, train travel expert @monisha_rajesh

There’s a portion of the interview in which Dwayne talks about living through homelessness and having to sleep on the Central Line. Trains represent so much to so many of us, whether that’s taking us on an exciting new adventure or to the office on our daily commute, or as shelter when you have nowhere else to go.

If you enjoy stories of train travel and history, explore our book: The Untold Railway Stories.

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Delighted by @dwaynefields’ recommendation of ‘The Untold Railway Stories’ on @bbcsounds - edited by globetrotting, train travel expert @monisha_rajesh

There’s a portion of the interview in which Dwayne talks about living through homelessness and having to sleep on the Central Line. Trains represent so much to so many of us, whether that’s taking us on an exciting new adventure or to the office on our daily commute, or as shelter when you have nowhere else to go.

If you enjoy stories of train travel and history, explore our book: The Untold Railway Stories.

Join us for an evening @waterstonestrafsq of horrifying thrillers with authors Tobi Coventry @tobicoventry Sean Gilbert @seangilbertwrites and Callie Kazumi @callieuntitled

Ever wondered if your roommate might be demonically possessed, if your lover might be hiding ghastly crimes, if your boss is actually a cannibal?

Come explore these heart racing horrors and more with three fantastic authors and their new horrific thrillers. Tickets at the link in stories!

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Join us for an evening @waterstonestrafsq of horrifying thrillers with authors Tobi Coventry @tobicoventry Sean Gilbert @seangilbertwrites and Callie Kazumi @callieuntitled

Ever wondered if your roommate might be demonically possessed, if your lover might be hiding ghastly crimes, if your boss is actually a cannibal?

Come explore these heart racing horrors and more with three fantastic authors and their new horrific thrillers. Tickets at the link in stories!

Step into Brutal Scotland, the striking exhibition by our Duckworth author Simon Phipps, now on show at Street Level Photoworks.

Simon’s powerful photography brings Scotland’s post war modernist and brutalist architecture into focus, capturing iconic buildings from Inverness to Galashiels with remarkable clarity and depth. From bold concrete forms to overlooked civic landmarks, Brutal Scotland celebrates a defining chapter in architectural history and the stories embedded within these structures.

Don’t miss this, on show now until 16th May 2026!

#BrutalScotland

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Step into Brutal Scotland, the striking exhibition by our Duckworth author Simon Phipps, now on show at Street Level Photoworks.

Simon’s powerful photography brings Scotland’s post war modernist and brutalist architecture into focus, capturing iconic buildings from Inverness to Galashiels with remarkable clarity and depth. From bold concrete forms to overlooked civic landmarks, Brutal Scotland celebrates a defining chapter in architectural history and the stories embedded within these structures.

Don’t miss this, on show now until 16th May 2026!

#BrutalScotland

We are so pleased to announce that we are a regional and county finalist for the Small Press of the Year awards 🥳🥳 #britishbookawards #nibbies

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We are so pleased to announce that we are a regional and county finalist for the Small Press of the Year awards 🥳🥳 #britishbookawards #nibbies

It is finally here... I`ll be the Monster by Sean Gilbert. OUT NOW

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It is finally here... I'll be the Monster by Sean Gilbert. OUT NOW

Come join us at @waterstonescambridge!

Join authors Sean Gilbert and Amy Twigg as they discusses I’ll Be the Monster – a stunning debut of dark humour and razor wit that follows a glamorous but sinister couple who bump into an old friend while on holiday.

🗓️Wednesday 18th of Feb
📍Waterstones Cambridge
⏰18:00-19:30
🎟️£8 (£5 for loyalty card holders)
Link here: https://www.waterstones.com/events/an-evening-with-sean-gilbert/cambridge

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Come join us at @waterstonescambridge!

Join authors Sean Gilbert and Amy Twigg as they discusses I’ll Be the Monster – a stunning debut of dark humour and razor wit that follows a glamorous but sinister couple who bump into an old friend while on holiday.

🗓️Wednesday 18th of Feb
📍Waterstones Cambridge
⏰18:00-19:30
🎟️£8 (£5 for loyalty card holders)
Link here: https://www.waterstones.com/events/an-evening-with-sean-gilbert/cambridge

I`ll be the Monster book tour 🐙

You can catch the brilliant Sean Gilbert at any of the above events chatting about his debut novel I`ll be the Monster.

Come along and join us📚

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I'll be the Monster book tour 🐙

You can catch the brilliant Sean Gilbert at any of the above events chatting about his debut novel I'll be the Monster.

Come along and join us📚

We couldn`t agree more @wsj 👏👏

🎶📖 Duet by Eleanor Chan

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We couldn't agree more @wsj 👏👏

🎶📖 Duet by Eleanor Chan

The Spider, Spider trailer is here — and signed special editions are waiting at @goldsborobooks 🕷️📚🖋️

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The Spider, Spider trailer is here — and signed special editions are waiting at @goldsborobooks 🕷️📚🖋️

Congratulations to Dur e Aziz Amna! 🎉

We’re delighted to share that A Splintering has been shortlisted for the Fiction with a Sense of Place Award by the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2026.

This recognition celebrates storytelling that brings place vividly to life, and A Splintering does exactly that! We’re so proud to see Dur e Aziz Amna’s work honoured among such outstanding writing 👏👏

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Congratulations to Dur e Aziz Amna! 🎉

We’re delighted to share that A Splintering has been shortlisted for the Fiction with a Sense of Place Award by the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2026.

This recognition celebrates storytelling that brings place vividly to life, and A Splintering does exactly that! We’re so proud to see Dur e Aziz Amna’s work honoured among such outstanding writing 👏👏

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