‘A must-read’ iPAPER

‘Original and heart-warming’ LINDSEY HILSUM

‘Remarkable … the perfect antidote to our times’ CHRISTINA LAMB

From the Orwell Prize-winning author of My Fourth Time, We Drowned comes a powerful account of human resilience, capturing our capacity for love and connection against all odds.

We live in an era defined by crisis – whether it be war and displacement, or climate collapse and rapidly widening inequality. Acclaimed international correspondent Sally Hayden has spent her career covering some of the darkest moments of our time, and yet even in the face of unimaginable adversity, she’s witnessed the love and care of everyday people.

Hayden introduces us to a couple separated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a mother in northeast Nigeria who risks everything to save her daughter from forced marriage to Boko Haram militants. We meet a group of Syrian women searching tirelessly for their missing spouses and children, while launching a call for justice, and learn about letters from the bereaved to the dead, still being written over a decade after the tsunami that devastated Japan.

In stories that crisscross the globe, from Uganda to Lebanon, Rwanda to Iraq, Hayden asks us: what if news was recounted through the actions people take for those they love? Would it become harder to dehumanise those who seem different to us? This is Also a Love Story dares us to recognise how love can be found in even the most difficult of times, and to question what might be needed to create a better world.

‘Shows us that in the midst of war, around the most acute suffering, there is also tremendous heroism’ NATHAN THRALL, author of A Day in the Life of Abed Salama ‘

Sally Hayden uncovers miracles. She may be one herself’ ALEX PERRY, author of Blood Will Flow

‘A beautifully penned tribute to what can keep us human in the face of catastrophe. Read this book to lighten your soul’ ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN, author of The Palestine Laboratory

There is something special about being close to wide expanses of sea and sky, living with open doors, broad horizons and soft colours – all these things instantly bring a sense of calm. This book is packed with evocative images of beautiful places and spaces that will inspire you to leave real life behind and enjoy rest and relaxation close to nature. The first section, Inspiration, focuses on the key elements of easy waterside style, including colour palettes, fabrics, furniture, accessories and display. In the second section, Homes, Sally explores stunning real-life coastal homes that capture the spirit of living by the water.  They include an airy summer retreat in Denmark, a shingled beach house in Nantucket and even a lighthouse.  Living by the Water is not only a glorious treat for the eyes – it will also inspire you to emulate the laid-back, barefoot chic of summery, waterside style all year round, wherever you live.  Living by the Water is a fantastic new edition of the previously published At the Water’s Edge.

WINNER OF IRISH BOOK OF THE YEAR

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE

‘The most important work of contemporary reporting I have ever read’ SALLY ROONEY

The treatment of refugees has become one of the most devastating human rights disasters in our history. In this book, award-winning journalist Sally Hayden unfolds a staggering investigation into the migrant crisis across North Africa.

This book follows the experiences of refugees, telling a range of shocking and eye-opening human stories. But it also surveys the bigger picture: the negligence of NGOs and corruption within the United Nations. The economics of the twenty-first-century slave trade and the EU’s bankrolling of Libyan militias. The trials of people smugglers, the frustrations of aid workers, the loopholes refugees seek out and the role of social media in crowdfunding ransoms. Who was accountable for the abuse? Where were the people finding solutions? Why wasn’t it being widely reported?

At its heart, this is a book about people who have made unimaginable choices, risking everything to survive in a system that wants them to be silent and disappear.