Julia Darling

The original Northern Powerhouse, Newcastle upon Tyne has witnessed countless transformations over the last century or so, from its industrial heyday, when Tyneside engineering and innovation led the world, through decades of post-industrial decline, and underinvestment, to its more recent reinvention as a cultural destination for the North. The ten short stories gathered here all feature characters in search of something, a new reality, a space, perhaps, in which to rediscover themselves: from the call-centre worker imagining herself far away from the claustrophobic realities of her day job, to the woman coming to terms with an ex-lover who’s moved on all too quickly, to the man trying to outrun his mother’s death on Town Moor. The Book of Newcastle brings together some of the city’s most renowned literary talents, along with exciting new voices, proving that while Newcastle continues to feel the effects of its lost industrial past, it is also a city striving for a future that brims with promise.

In this definitive collection, Julia Darling’s indomitable women emerge laughing, shouting and snarling. Darling’s cast of aunties, sisters, mothers and grandmothers do battle with house keys and knitting needles as they deal with cancer, teen angst and tyranny. Their heartbreakingly funny stories portray women making their own worlds – of survival, love and loyalty. This exquisite book will enfold the reader in an origami of vivacious, witty narratives, exploring the fault lines in everyday life. `Julia Darling is a true original. Her particular way of looking at the world is infectious. Time and time again, the reader thinks, yes, that’s it, exactly. Here’s a whole cast of characters who will win over your heart.’ Jackie Kay

Award-winning novelist Julia Darling's classic tale of the search for love, identity and acceptance is funny, poignant and bizarre by turns, as Gert gradually learns that her journey to the future must go via the past.

This collected edition commemorates the 10th anniversary of Julia Darling's death, and includes a substantial selection of unpublished work. Jackie Kay writes: "The poems are funny, irreverent, moving and never sentimental. You can recognise yourself in them, recognise your family. They are warm, full of compassion; [...] a shining bright light."

Published to tie in with the legendary Live Theatre's thirtieth birthday celebrations Spanning three generations, Live Theatre is a celebration of the finest playwrights from the North East. In The Filleting Machine (Tom Hadaway), a fishing family's way of life faces extinction; in You Are My Heart's Delight (C. P. Taylor), the lights are switched out in the house of a gamekeeper and his sister who have resisted change for years; Shooting the Legend (Alan Plater) is a comedy of cultural errors in which two women prepare to make a documentary about the 'socially deprived' of Gateshead; in Wittgenstein on Tyne (Lee Hall), Wittgenstein is caught red-handed when working as a hospital porter on Tyneside; Laughter When We're Dead (Sean O'Brien) is a modern revenge tragedy set around the politics of old versus new labour while Cold Calling (Julia Darling) is a dark comedy about a door-to-door salesman.

Gert Hardcastle is thirty-something and unlucky in love. She is also estranged from her mother. As Crocodile Soup opens, she thinks she has found "the One" -- the enigmatic Eva, who serves coffee at the cafeteria in the museum where Gert works as a curator cataloging Egyptian artifacts. As Gert embarks on her hilarious and poignant pursuit of Eva, she looks back on her eccentric, childhood through a series of vivid and surreal flashbacks: her obsessive twin, Frank, with whom she communicates telepathically; her father, George, who vanished to Africa to salvage the family crocodile farm; her vain, neglectful mother, Jean; and the family ghost -- a Victorian poet who haunts the attic. In a narrative studded with relentless humor and giddy self-deprecation, Julia Darling introduces an endearing cast of characters whose shared and wayward search for love is irresistible.