Bonnie, a lost American girl with a troubled past.

Mansour, a gifted musician about to be discovered by the world.

When they meet at a jazz club in New York City, 1968, it is clear they are meant to be together. As they tour the globe, from Paris to Rio and Switzerland, stardom seems only a heartbeat away. But now Mansour is missing, and Bonnie, pregnant with their baby, must find him.

In They Dream in Gold, Mai Sennaar takes us across oceans and continents as we chart their once-in-a-lifetime love.

‘One of the most beautiful debuts I’ve ever read’ – Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
‘A sweeping, fascinating book about identity and families’ – The Times

‘A mouth-watering delight . . . subtle yet striking’ – Sarah Jessica Parker

‘A glorious debut . . . a richly layered account of artistic endeavour and resilience.’ – Guardian

Shortlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize 2024

Two dreamers. One love story. A world of sound.

When Bonnie meets musician Mansour in 1960s New York City, it is clear that they are meant to be. As they tour the world together, from New York to Paris, to Rio and Swtizerland, it soon seems as though fame and unimaginable riches are only a heartbeat away. But now he is missing, and Bonnie, pregnant with his child, must find him.

In Mai Sennaar’s sparkling debut , Bonnie and Mansour’s story takes us across oceans and continents as we chart their once-in-a-lifetime love.

‘One of the most beautiful debuts I’ve ever read’ – Dawnie Walton, author of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev

‘A sweeping, fascinating book’ – The Times

‘What a wonderful book. Mod isn’t about what decade you lived in, it’s about your attitude, and this book has tons of it’ Kenney Jones, The Small Faces

‘A charismatic storyteller, witty and unpretentious, he is at once an engaging protagonist and an indisputable authority, giving a live-wire, visceral perspective on mod life in that short flash of time. He manages to create a welcoming space in this rather exclusive world while never losing his formidable edge as a narrator’ – The Big Issue

‘Buy it on sight. You won’t be disappointed’ – Louder Than War

‘Eddie’s book is really good!’ – Robert Elms

‘Akin to being in the company of someone with plenty of entertaining tales to tell…. the comradery and spirit of like-minded souls is inspiring.’ – Paul Ritchie, Shindig! Magazine

WITH A FOREWORD BY PAUL WELLER

This is the memoir of a teenage mod from the East End of London.

A journey of discovery for a schoolboy dabbling with punk, funk, record shops, discos and clothes, and then… WHAAAM! An unstoppable wave of like-minded kids fall headlong in love with 60s mod culture, revived and reformatted for the 70s and 80s generation.

Eddie Piller was one such kid. His life was changed forever. Written with humour, passion and attention to detail, CLEAN LIVING UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES is perhaps the ultimate mod memoir, taking us from meeting the Small Faces as a toddler, to the 1979 Mod revival, through the more purist 1980s mod scene and eventually to Acid Jazz.

A born storyteller, Eddie takes us evocatively into a world of scooters, clothes, and music. We run with the crowd to decaying seaside towns, East End backstreet boozers and sweaty teenage gigs, all fizzing with an uncontainable excitement and often exploding into violence.

Once mod touched your soul it changed the way you looked at life, unexpectedly broadening your horizons. In Eddie it awakens a can-do attitude that sees him setting up a fanzine, putting on club nights, hustling jobs in the music industry, and eventually setting up a record label. It even takes him to Ireland at the height of the troubles and to Australia where the local mods take him on a military exercise…

Visceral and always entertaining, CLEAN LIVING UNDER DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES is a stand-out memoir that relives the thrill of the 70s and 80s, and the movement that helped make mod the most enduring and successful British youth culture of all time.

FEATURING EXCLUSIVE LISTENING SESSIONS WITH: Paul Simon; Justin Vernon of Bon Iver; Gus Van Sant; Rhiannon Giddens; The Bad Plus; Gavin Bryars; Van Dyke Parks; Sam Amidon; Hal Willner; Jim Woodring; Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill

‘A beautiful and long overdue portrait of one of America’s true living cultural treasures.’
JOHN ZORN

‘The perfect companion-piece to the music of its subject.’
MOJO

‘Outlines the subject’s life in a series of scrupulous strokes and intimate interviews that are rare in such undertakings . . . a cool, casual victory.’
IRISH TIMES

Over a period of forty-five years, Bill Frisell has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential musicians at work today. A quietly revolutionary guitar hero for our genre-blurring times, he connects to a diverse range of artists and admirers, including Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Gus Van Sant and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, all of whom feature in this book.

A vital addition to any music lover’s book collection, Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer tells the legendary guitarist’s story for the first time.

‘Stuffed with musical encounters, so many that every couple of pages there’s an unheard Frisell recording for the reader to chase down.’
NEW YORKER

‘Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer is the definitive biography.’
BILL MILKOWSKI, DOWNBEAT

‘Superb . . . the book races along like Sonny Rollins in full sail. Like subject, like writer: this is super-articulate, adventurous prose.’
PERSPECTIVE

‘[Watson’s] writing balances unbridled passion and dispassionate research nearly as deftly as Mr. Frisell’s playing does sound and silence . . . compelling.’
WALL STREET JOURNAL

FEATURING EXCLUSIVE LISTENING SESSIONS WITH: Paul Simon; Justin Vernon of Bon Iver; Gus Van Sant; Rhiannon Giddens; The Bad Plus; Gavin Bryars; Van Dyke Parks; Sam Amidon; Hal Willner; Jim Woodring; Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill

‘A beautiful and long overdue portrait of one of America’s true living cultural treasures.’
JOHN ZORN

‘The perfect companion-piece to the music of its subject.’
MOJO

‘Outlines the subject’s life in a series of scrupulous strokes and intimate interviews that are rare in such undertakings . . . a cool, casual victory.’
IRISH TIMES

Over a period of forty-five years, Bill Frisell has established himself as one of the most innovative and influential musicians at work today.

Growing up playing clarinet in orchestras and marching bands, Frisell has progressed through a remarkable range of musical personas – from devotee of jazz master Jim Hall to ‘house guitarist’ of estimable German label ECM, from edgy New York downtown experimentalist to plaintive country and bluegrass picker. He has been a pioneering bandleader and collaborator, a prolific composer and arranger and a celebrated Grammy Award winner.

A quietly revolutionary guitar hero who has synthesised many disparate musical elements into one compellingly singular sound, Frisell connects to a diverse range of artists and admirers, including Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Gus Van Sant, Marianne Faithfull and Justin Vernon, many of whom feature in this book.

Through unprecedented access to the guitarist and interviews with his close family, friends and associates, Philip Watson tells Frisell’s story for the first time.

‘Stuffed with musical encounters, so many that every couple of pages there’s an unheard Frisell recording for the reader to chase down.’
NEW YORKER

‘Superb . . . the book races along like Sonny Rollins in full sail. Like subject, like writer: this is super-articulate, adventurous prose.’
PERSPECTIVE

‘[Watson’s] writing balances unbridled passion and dispassionate research nearly as deftly as Mr. Frisell’s playing does sound and silence . . . compelling.’
WALL STREET JOURNAL

Blue Note is not only known as the purveyor of extraordinary jazz but is also famous as an arbiter of cool. The superb photography of co-founder Francis Wolff and the cover designs of Reid Miles were integral to the label’s success and this highly illustrated publication – featuring the very best photographs, covers and ephemera from the archives, including never-before-published material – commemorates Blue Note’s momentous contribution to jazz, to art and design, and to the music business.

Tracing the evolution of jazz from the boogie-woogie and swing of the 1930s, through bebop, funk and fusion, to the eclectic mix Blue Note releases today, the book also narrates a complex social history from the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany to the developments in music and technology in the late 20th century. Celebrating over eight decades of extraordinary music, this book demonstrates how Blue Note has stayed true to its founders’ commitment to ‘Uncompromising Expression’.

Only one person knows what really happened to Amy, other than Amy herself. He is Tyler James, Amy’s best friend from the age of thirteen. They met at stage school as two insecure outsiders, formed an instant connection and lived together from their late teenage years right up until the day she died, aged just twenty-seven.

Tyler was there by her side through it all. From their carefree early years touring together to the creation of the multiple Grammy-winning Back To Black, which she wrote on their kitchen floor. From her volatile marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil through her escalating addictions, self-harm and eating disorders as the toxic nature of fame warped Amy’s reality. For the last three years of her life, Tyler was with her every day when she’d beaten drugs and was close to beating alcoholism too. He also knew better than anyone the real Amy Winehouse who the tabloid-reading public rarely saw – the hilarious, uncompromising force-of-nature busy taking care of everyone else.

We all think we know what happened to Amy Winehouse, but we don’t. This definitive insider’s story tells us all, finally, the truth.

‘Heartbreaking’ – The Times