#Merky Books

Readers are loving Strangerland by @monikaradojevic ✨ Thank you to everyone who has read and shared their thoughts. Swipe right to read more ➡️ Let us know in the comments what you loved about this gorgeous novel 📚

Out now 🚨 Trapped Life by Ebony Reid ✨ ‘An urgent and pressurised account of lives which are often reduced to headlines. This is not just a book - it’s a reckoning’ - Scorcher Step beyond the headlines into Northville Estate with someone who knows it as home, from The Cotch, The Block, and even to the Bookies. Blending lived experience with sharp insight, Dr Ebony Reid lays bare the realities of life on Britain’s socio-economic periphery with honesty, care, and urgency. Get your copy now 📚

Hunger Pains by Derek Owusu is out now! Part of the Quick Reads series, Hunger Pains is only £1 ✨ Ray wants the perfect body. But how far is too far? When his training turns extreme, Ray is pulled into a dark gym culture that promises results at any cost. As his body changes, so does his mind. Watching from the side lines is his girlfriend Temi, a journalist who expresses concern but has her own secret agenda. Hunger Pains is a gripping story about obsession, control, and what happens when self-improvement becomes self-destruction. We’re proud to be part of the Quick Reads initiative, because access to books, and the power of reading, matters more than ever 📚

“I’m not sure how I ended up here…” Introducing The Recovery House by Derek Owusu, a Granta Best Young British Novelist and Desmond Elliot Prize winner. A stunningly lyrical novel about the music that survives inside us when language falters 🎵 Featuring a beautiful painting by the talented @zahraanesdesign we love this gorgeous cover 🖼️ Publishing this September and available to pre-order now, comment if you’d like to get your hands on a proof!

Today marks 25 years of Noughts & Crosses 🖤🤍 A story that changed everything from an author who inspires us all ✨ We’re so proud to publish Malorie Blackman’s memoir Just Sayin’, the story behind the story 📖

A quick stop at Goldsboro Books 📚✍️ @monikaradojevic dropped by to sign copies of Strangerland earlier this week, and let’s just say the shelves are looking very good right now 🖼️ So, if you’ve been waiting to dive into this one, now’s the time. Signed copies are out in the wild…

It’s publication day. ✨ Strangerland by @monikaradojevic is out in the world 🌍 Inspired by true events, this is a novel about immigration, endurance, and the kind of love that crosses borders and survives anyway 💜 Click the link in our bio to get your copy now 🔗

Hunger Pains by Derek Owusu is out soon and it’s only £1 🏋🏾‍♂️ Part of the @readingagency Quick Reads programme, this initiative prioritises great story telling and accessibility 📖 Click the link in our bio to pre-order your copy!

We’re still not over last week ✨ Swipe right for some stunning pics ➡️ Congratulations to our New Writers’ Prize winner, Sandy Rompotiyoke 🏆 A huge thanks to everyone who makes this prize possible, to the extremely talented shortlist and to everyone who trusts us with your work ✍🏾

🏆 Sandy Rompotiyoke wins the 25/26 #Merky Books New Writers’ Prize 🏆 Her winning submission, Hallowed Land, is a lyrical intergenerational novel exploring a legacy forged through quiet sacrifices and lullabies of wonder that echo between mothers, daughters and ancestral realms that refuse to forget them.✨ Spanning three generations of Thai women of Chinese descent – Dao, Pailin, and Tawan – across Southern Thailand and London, the novel traces the subtle yet devastating ways memory, longing, and grief inscribe themselves into their lineage, altering their sense of devotion, estrangement, and belonging. ✨ Sandy Rompotiyoke said: “I’m incredibly grateful and excited to begin this writing journey with Penguin. Growing up in the UK, I’ve often wondered where or even whether untold stories of quiet sacrifice, often carried by women and immigrant lives, might belong when listening feels increasingly rare. Winning this prize feels profoundly affirming. It gives me permission to be curious, to surface urgent and sometimes inconvenient truths, and to honour the brilliance of those who came before me. Thank you to the #Merky Books team and judges, and to the generous communities of writers, readers, and advocates. If this work resonates, it’s because it has never been mine alone. I look forward to developing it with care and close attention.” Please join us in congratulating the newest winner of the New Writers’ Prize! 🏆

Happy publication day to The Waterbearers by @sasha.bonet 🌊 A “bold new entry in the canon of literature about Black motherhood” (Kaitlyn Greenidge) and “magnificent… Electrifying and incredibly sturdy” (Kiese Laymon). This books is a love song to Black matriarchy, to grandmothers, mothers, daughters and the legacies they inherit, resist and reimagine ✨ Click the link in our bio to get your copy!

“three boyz drive & dream of an impossible night on an endless street” 🚗💨 Late last year, we pulled up in the cold and shot something special 📸 Wet tarmac. Camera shutters clicking. Now we can finally show you… WIMMY ROAD BOYZ by Sufiyaan Salam! A white bimmer hurtles down manchester’s curry mile, carrying three brown boys in pursuit of a wild night out, oi oi oi! And look, what the boys don’t know: this night might just be their last. . . ⭐ ‘Riotous… raucous, wildly inventive’ — THE OBSERVER ⭐ ‘An energetic livewire masterpiece’ — NIKESH SHUKLA ⭐ ‘A landmark debut… Salam’s prose flows with wit and feeling.’ — NICOLA DINAN ⭐ ‘Freewheeling, risk-taking… one hell of a ride’ — GURNAIK JOHAL ⭐ ‘Compulsive, raw and searingly honest.’ — NUSSAIBAH YOUNIS Winner of the #MerkyBooks New Writers Prize and BAFTA-nominated, Sufiyaan Salam is an utterly original voice. Strap in. Out this May. Hit the link in our bio to pre-order your copy now 🔗