Gurnaik Johal is shortlisted for the Young Writer of the Year Award
Johal is recognised for his critically-acclaimed debut novel Saraswati
One Sun Only – Read an Extract
Dive into Camille Bordas' sharply observed portraits of contemporary life and family, perfect for readers who love Curtis Sittenfeld
Serpent’s Tail and Viper’s Christmas Gift Guide 2025
Whether for yourself or a loved one, give the gift of a great book this Christmas – from Serpent's Tail and Viper.
New releases
Enough About Angels
Laszlo Krasznahorkai
The brilliant Nobel Prize lecture by László Krasznahorkai, who was awarded for ‘his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic…
Stag Dance
Torrey Peters
Trans life past, present and future is explored in this kaleidoscopic follow-up to the Women's Prize-nominated Detransition, Baby
I Am Agatha
Nancy Foley
A darkly funny debut about late-in-life queer relationships and smalltown shenanigans for readers of Sigrid Nunez and Jen Beagin
Intelligence
Robert Newman
From the beloved comedian and writer: an irresistible novel about love, secrets, wartime espionage – and moral philosophy
Saraswati
Gurnaik Johal
A masterpiece debut novel from one of the UK's most exciting young writers, for fans of David Mitchell, Deepti Kapoor and Zadie Smith
This Is a Love Story
Jessica Soffer
My Name Is Lucy Barton meets Harry and Sally in this witty, moving portrait of a long New York marriage
Discipline
Larissa Pham
A taut, provocative debut novel about creativity and sex, coercion and control, with shades of Rachel Cusk and Katie Kitamura
One Sun Only
Camille Bordas
Sharply observed portraits of contemporary life and family for readers who love Curtis Sittenfeld
Like Family
Erin White
A moving debut about secrets and chosen family for fans of Elizabeth Strout and Lucy Caldwell
The Gorgeous Inertia of the Earth
Adrian Duncan
In this moving new novel, award-winning Irish writer Adrian Duncan explores love and grief while finding their resonance in works of art
The Pelican Child
Joy Williams
A biting new collection of stories featuring misfits across time and space from award-winning visionary Joy Williams
The Ferryman and His Wife
Frode Grytten
A powerfully moving novel of love, loss and a life well-lived for fans of healing Scandi fiction in the vein of Fredrik Backman and Per Petterson
Service
John Tottenham
Life at a bookstore in LA through the eyes of a cynical English bookseller – irascible, witty and darkly humourous at his own expense and that of his…
Eurotrash
Christian Kracht
A rambunctious, tragicomic absurd road trip novel about a wealthy Swiss-German mother and son
The Wolf of Whindale
Jacob Kerr
A chilling gothic tale of magic, cults and werewolves – perfect for fans of Paul Kingsnorth, Andrew Michael Hurley and Alan Garner
Flowers from the Void
Gianni Washington
Grotesquely gothic short stories to keep you awake all night
Herscht 07769
Laszlo Krasznahorkai
A masterpiece of form and fiction as one of our greatest living writers tackles our fears of environmental disaster
The Course of the Heart
M. John Harrison
The strange edges of reality are explored in M John Harrison's extraordinary cult classic, now with an introduction by bestselling author Julia A…
The Adversary
Michael Crummey
The internationally prize-winning, bestselling novel of exploitation and corruption on the North American frontier
No Small Thing
Orlaine McDonald
An exceptional Black British debut filled with desire and jeopardy and set on a south London estate
Featured authors
Bestsellers and Classics
Detransition, Baby
Torrey Peters
A uniquely trans take on love, motherhood, and those exes who you just can't quit
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Karen Joy Fowler
You can't choose your family, but they make choices for you.
Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments
Saidiya Hartman
Revolution in a minor key: how young black women invented freedom
In the Dream House
Carmen Maria Machado
A revolutionary memoir about domestic abuse by the award-winning author of Her Body and Other Parties
Eat Up
Ruby Tandoh
Ruby Tandoh's radical manifesto takes the guilt out of eating and puts the pleasure back in.
The Essex Serpent
Sarah Perry
The literary sensation and Waterstones Book of the Year: a thrilling and unforgettable historical novel of love and intrigue now out in paperback
African Psycho
Alain Mabanckou
Alain Mabanckou's uproarious, fleet-footed English-language debut, reissued as a Serpent's Tail Classic to coincide with the publication of Bl…
Seiobo There Below
Laszlo Krasznahorkai
One of László Krasznahorkai's finest novels available in stunning redesigned paperback
I Love Dick
Chris Kraus
The cult novel – now a major TV series by Jill Soloway, the creator of TRANSPARENT, starring Kevin Bacon and Kathryn Hahn
Serpent's Tail Classics
The Course of the Heart
M. John Harrison
The strange edges of reality are explored in M John Harrison's extraordinary cult classic, now with an introduction by bestselling author Julia A…
Valencia
Michelle Tea
A fast-paced account of one year in San Francisco's underground scene, filled with sex, drugs and the never-ending search for true love.
The Assault
Harry Mulisch
The classic that sold over 200,000 copies in the Netherlands: a richly crafted novel of post-war innocence and guilt
Closer
Dennis Cooper
The brutally frank and daring gay classic from countercultural icon Dennis Cooper
Pedro Páramo
Juan Rulfo
A new translation of the legendary Mexican classic of magic realism which inspired the works of Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa a…
Cold Nights of Childhood
Tezer Özlü
A lyrical autofictional account of the author's fight to survive depression and carve out her own path in 1950s and 60s Istanbul
Haruko/Love Poems
June Jordan
Searingly beautiful poems about compassion, resistance and desire by an iconic Black American activist and writer
The Impostor
Silvina Ocampo
Fantastical, unnerving short stories from a Surrealist master of the form
Passing
Nella Larsen
A classic of the Harlem Renaissance reissued to coincide with the major Netflix adaptation of Passing (2021)
To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life
Hervé Guibert
The cult classic that describes with devastating, darkly comic clarity the experience of living with and dying from AIDS
Man Enough to Be a Woman
Jayne County
The true story of trans punk performance art sensation Jayne County's wild and daring life
And the Band Played On
Randy Shilts
A masterpiece of investigative reporting on the AIDS crisis in the USA
Mysteries
Knut Hamsun
Serpent's Tail Classics edition of a wild masterpiece by a Nobel prize winner championed by influential writers such as Karl Ove Knausgaard and Do…
Devil in a Blue Dress
Walter Mosley
The bestselling, award-winning first novel by the internationally acclaimed crime writer Walter Mosley introduces his most famous character – Easy Raw…
Selected Poems
Langston Hughes
Classics edition with new introduction by Kayo Chingonyi of the essential poems of 'the poet laureate of black America' New Yorker.
Eat My Heart Out
Zoe Pilger
Zoe Pilger's wildly funny debut novel, reissued as a Serpent's Tail Classic
