Pa`nop´ti`con ( noun). A circular prison with cells so constructed that the prisoners can be observed at all times. [Greek panoptos 'seen by all']

The Panopticon, by debut novelist Jenni Fagan, is published today in William Heinemann hardback. The story of counter-culture outlaw, Anais Hendricks, The Panopticon is a stunning novel about childhood and institutions, with a compelling and heartbreaking character at its centre. Over the past couple of weeks The Panopticon has received brilliant reviews and generous praise from bloggers and press alike, winning Stylist’s most recent ‘Book Wars’ feature. Everyone at Windmill and William Heinemann is thrilled to be introducing an outstanding new voice in fiction.

Jenni Fagan is an Edinburgh-based author, and a writer in residence in hospitals and prisons. She has twice been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize. You can follow Jenni on Twitter.

For more information on The Panopticon, or to buy the book, click here, or visit Waterstones, where the book is included in their prestigious Waterstones 11 list of the best debut novels of 2012.

Windmill and William Heinemann are delighted to see that Tim Pears’ Landed has been shortlisted for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. The IMPAC Dublin Award is the world’s most valuable annual literary award and recognises fiction of the highest standard. For the full shortlist, please visit IMPAC Dublin’s website.

Landed was published in March 2010 by William Heinemann and is a powerful story of loss, family, redemption and tragedy. Upon publication the novel was lauded by the press and readers, with The Guardian describing it as a ‘profoundly moving novel’ and The Sunday Telegraph a ‘beautifully crafted story.’

We would like to congratulate Tim on being shortlisted for the award and wish him all the best for the final judging process, with the winner due to be announced on 13th June 2012.

Landed is available to buy now in paperback and ebook, as is Tim’s most recent novel Disputed Land.

Today sees the publication of Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit in William Heinemann paperback.

The Power of Habit is a revelatory new book about the effect our habits have on how we live. Through case studies and groundbreaking scientific research, Charles Duhigg demonstrates how habits can be changed to transform businesses, communities and our day-to-day lives. This video from Random House, Inc. about craving and habit transformation brilliantly explains one of the core messages in the book.

In recent weeks we have been delighted to see the success of The Power of Habit in the US, with many superb reviews and its rise to number two in the New York Times bestseller list. Whilst here in the UK Charles will be appearing in several major news outlets to talk about his book.

The Power of Habit is available to buy now in paperback and ebook.

We are delighted to hear that Amy Waldman’s The Submission has been longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2012. The Orange Prize celebrates the best fiction written by women throughout the world and since its formation in 1996 has been awarded to some of the finest writers of our time. Everyone at William Heinemann and Windmill Books would like to congratulate Amy on being longlisted.

The Submission is set ten years after 9/11, as a jury gathers to select a memorial to commemorate the victims of the attacks. With their deliberations complete, the jurors open the envelope containing the identity of the anonymous winner to find it is Mohammad Khan, an American Muslim. What follows is a fight for advantage and ideals, as Waldman’s spectacular cast of characters all bring their histories to bear on the question of how to remember, and understand, a national tragedy.

Amy’s novel has been lauded by the press and readers alike since its publication last August. With The Guardian describing it as ‘an exceptional debut about a changing America’ and Michael Prodger in the Financial Times hailing it as ‘the best 9/11 novel to date’.

The Submission is available to buy now in William Heinemann hardback and ebook, and will be published as a Windmill paperback in May this year.

Hazlehurst housing estate, Glasgow, Christmas Eve 2010. Fifteen-year-old Marnie and her little sister Nelly have just finished burying their parents in the back garden.

The Death of Bees is the debut novel from award-winning screenwriter Lisa O’Donnell, published today in William Heinemann paperback. Told from the point of view of sisters Marnie and Nelly, and their neighbour Lennie, The Death of Bees is a compelling and grimly comic story, announcing  a major new talent in fiction.

To find out more about The Death of Bees and to buy the book, please visit our website.

Also published today, in William Heinemann hardback, is Johanna Skibsrud’s new short story collection This Will Be Difficult to Explain, which includes the The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award 2012 nominated ‘Fat Man and Little Boy’.

We are thrilled to hear that Johanna Skibsrud, author of The Sentimentalists and the forthcoming collection This Will Be Difficult to Explain, has been longlisted for The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award 2012, for her story ‘Fat Man and Little Boy’. The award is to honour the finest writers of short stories in the UK and Ireland, with the winner receiving £30,000.

Everyone at William Heinemann and Windmill Books would like to congratulate Johanna on being longlisted and we all have our fingers crossed that ‘Fat Man and Little Boy’ will be part of the six story shortlist, to be announced on 4 March. The winner of the award will be revealed on 30 March at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival.

This Will Be Difficult to Explain is released on 1 March in William Heinemann hardback.

We are delighted to announce the publication of Angelmaker, the new novel from the acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World, Nick Harkaway. Featuring a cast of heroes and villains, men and women of high virtue and low morals (sometimes both simultaneously), Angelmaker is the story of a mobster’s son and a retired secret agent, teaming up to save the world.

To find out more and read the first chapter, visit http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/angelmaker/9780434020942

Praise for Angelmaker:

‘Harkaway has created a wonderfully entertaining, unguessable kaleidoscope of a novel. And e-book readers will miss the additional pleasure of a hardback that looks as gorgeously ornate as its contents.’ - The Times

‘It’s a wonderfully strange, rich piece of work - extremely entertaining and exciting - and has a wonderfully comic aspect to it as well.’  - William Gibson, New York Times

‘Distinctive, creative and blessed with the kind of imagination that leaves his novels bursting with invention, Nick Harkaway certainly isn’t an everyday author.’ - SFX

‘A very British bastardisation of Chuck Palahniuk, Douglas Adams and China Miéville.’ - SciFiNow

Prepare to be amazed by this fantastic novel by the acclaimed author Marina Endicott. Scheduled to be published as a Windmill paperback in September, but if you can’t wait until then, the beautiful hardback edition is available now.

Little Women meets Water for Elephants - The Little Shadows tells the story of three sisters making their way in the world of vaudeville before and during the First World War. Setting off to make their fortune as a singing act after the untimely death of their father, the girls, Aurora, Clover and Bella, are overseen by their fond but barely coping Mama.

The sisters begin with little in their favour besides youth and hope, but each one slowly and steadily evolves into a unique and accomplished artist while navigating her way to adulthood among a cast of extraordinary charmers, charlatans, eccentrics, impresarios - and once in a rare while, a bright star with transcendent gifts.
With gorgeous prose and keen insight, Endicott lures us onto the brightly lit stage and then into the little shadows that lurk behind the curtain, and reveals how the art of vaudeville - in all its variety, madness, melodrama, and sorrow - echoes the art of life itself.

Praise for The Little Shadows:

The Little Shadows is my book of the year. Think of your favourite stories about sisters - the gravity, levity and subtlety with which the lives of siblings are woven together; Endicott puts her own spin on that.’ Helen Oyeyemi, author of Mr Fox

‘A vivid coming of age tale about the beautiful Avery sisters, thrust on the vaudeville stage after their father’s death. Set in early 20^th-century Canada, it catapults the reader into the beating heart of the travelling theatrical world - the smell of the greasepaint, heat of the spotlights, and high-wire adrenaline are near-tangible. Thrilling and moving this is a glittering jewel of a novel.’ Easy Living

The Little Shadows is a novel about art and women, and personal fulfilment and the thrill of performing… She has written an entertaining, moving and original work. - The National Post

The Little Shadows has Endicott’s wry sensibility, her pithy lyricism and her skill at pulling the rug out from under the reader’s feet. Like the previous novel, this one also concerns itself with big ideas: the point of art, sisterly and familial love and, as the war’s shadow extends and darkens, the meaning of life itself. - The Globe and Mail

It’s been chosen by STYLIST as one of their cult books for 2012, therefore it’s definately one not to be missed!

To find out more or to buy The Little Shadows, click here.

To find out more about Marina and her books, visit her website.

Windmill is excited to be publishing The Sugar Barons by Matthew Parker, available from 2 February 2012.  

For 200 years after 1650 the West Indies were the most fought-over colonies in the world, as Europeans made and lost immense fortunes growing and trading in sugar - a commodity so lucrative that it was known as white gold.

Young men, beset by death and disease, an ocean away from the moral anchors of life in Britain created immense dynastic wealth but produced a society poisoned by war, sickness, cruelty and corruption.

The Sugar Barons explores the lives and experiences of those whose fortunes rose and fell with the West Indian empire. From the ambitious and brilliant entrepreneurs, to the grandees wielding power across the Atlantic, to the inheritors often consumed by decadence, disgrace and madness, this is a compelling story of how a few small islands and a handful of families decisively shaped the British Empire.

Praise for The Sugar Barons:

‘A shocking tale of corruption and brutality…an admirable and gripping history’ Sunday Times

‘Very impressive - a meticulously researched piece of work and so engagingly written. It taught me so much that I didn’t know about British Caribbean history’ Andrea Levy

‘The Sugar Barons is an exemplary book; history as it should be written’ Independent

‘Gripping…a compendium of greed, horrible ingenuity and wickedness, but also a fascinating and thoughtful history.’ William Dalrymple

GET YOUR HANDS ON A SIGNED COPY

Great news! We have 8 signed copies to give away. To be in with a chance of receiving one, all you need to do is ‘Like’ us on Facebook and check the Facebook page to find out more. Good luck!

Nick Harkaway, acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World, brings us another propulsively entertaining literary thriller, featuring an octogenarian spy, a mobster’s son with a heart of gold, and an extremely ugly dog.

Angelmaker is published in February 2012, but we are giving Windmill Books followers a chance to win exclusive proof copies. All you have to do is answer the following question:

What is the name of the pipe that is on fire in The Gone-Away World?

a) The Hakote Pipe

b) The Apprehension Pipe

c) The Jorgmund Pipe

Email windmill@randomhouse.co.uk by 5pm, Monday 12th December with the answer, your name and address to be in with a chance of winning. Good luck!