Susan Barker

'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN 'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTIST Fear never dies… These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror. From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor in his new home country; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors.

The most mesmerising, unsettling novel of 2025, perfect for fans of David Mitchell, Julia Armfield, and Margaret Atwood.'Sinister, mysterious and gorgeously realised' KALIANE BRADLEY, author of The Ministry of Time'Old Soul will sneak into your dreams and haunt you' CLAIRE FULLER, author of Unsettled Ground---The woman never goes by the same name. She never stays in the same place too long. She never ages. She never dies. But those around her do. When two grieving strangers meet by chance in Osaka airport they uncover a disturbing connection. Jake's best friend and Mariko's twin brother each died, 6,000 miles apart, in brutal and unfathomable circumstances. Each encountered a mesmerising, dark-haired woman in the days before their deaths. A woman who came looking for Mariko - and then disappeared. Jake, who has carried his loss and guilt for a decade, finds himself compelled to follow the trail set by Mariko's revelations. It's a trail that weaves across continents and centuries, leading back to the many who have died - in strange and terrifying and eerily similar ways - and those they left behind: bewildered, disbelieved, yet resolutely sure of what they saw. And, at the centre of it all, there is the same beguiling woman. Her name may have changed, but her purpose has never wavered, and as Jake races to discover who, or what she is, she has already made her next choice. But will knowing her secret be enough to stop her?---'Snags the reader in its claw and mesmerizes from page one' Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch'Like nothing else I've ever read ... The kind of story you tell around a campfire as the lights of civilization begin to flicker out around you' Kristen Roupenian, author of 'Cat Person''Beguiles, terrifies and utterly seduces you ... At once a thriller, a postmodern mystery and an existential horror tale' Megan Abbott, author of El Dorado Drive'Brilliant, horrifying ... So much fun, fantastically tense and wonderful' Evie Wyld, author of The Echoes'Clever, spooky ... Kept me guessing to the end' Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists'A mesmerizing story, brilliantly told' Ian McGuire, author of The North Water'Smart, taut and twisty ... Deftly delivers the chills' Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

The most mesmerising, unsettling novel of 2025, perfect for fans of David Mitchell, Julia Armfield, and Margaret Atwood.'Sinister, mysterious and gorgeously realised' KALIANE BRADLEY, author of The Ministry of Time'Old Soul will sneak into your dreams and haunt you' CLAIRE FULLER, author of Unsettled Ground---The woman never goes by the same name. She never stays in the same place too long. She never ages. She never dies. But those around her do. When two grieving strangers meet by chance in Osaka airport they uncover a disturbing connection. Jake's best friend and Mariko's twin brother each died, 6,000 miles apart, in brutal and unfathomable circumstances. Each encountered a mesmerising, dark-haired woman in the days before their deaths. A woman who came looking for Mariko - and then disappeared. Jake, who has carried his loss and guilt for a decade, finds himself compelled to follow the trail set by Mariko's revelations. It's a trail that weaves across continents and centuries, leading back to the many who have died - in strange and terrifying and eerily similar ways - and those they left behind: bewildered, disbelieved, yet resolutely sure of what they saw. And, at the centre of it all, there is the same beguiling woman. Her name may have changed, but her purpose has never wavered, and as Jake races to discover who, or what she is, she has already made her next choice. But will knowing her secret be enough to stop her?---'Snags the reader in its claw and mesmerizes from page one' Monique Roffey, author of The Mermaid of Black Conch'Like nothing else I've ever read ... The kind of story you tell around a campfire as the lights of civilization begin to flicker out around you' Kristen Roupenian, author of 'Cat Person''Beguiles, terrifies and utterly seduces you ... At once a thriller, a postmodern mystery and an existential horror tale' Megan Abbott, author of El Dorado Drive'Brilliant, horrifying ... So much fun, fantastically tense and wonderful' Evie Wyld, author of The Echoes'Clever, spooky ... Kept me guessing to the end' Chloe Benjamin, author of The Immortalists'A mesmerizing story, brilliantly told' Ian McGuire, author of The North Water'Smart, taut and twisty ... Deftly delivers the chills' Karen Joy Fowler, author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

The Historian meets Under the Skin in this searingly provocative literary horror novel about one woman's determination to stay alive at any terrifying cost. In Osaka, two strangers, Jake and Mariko, miss a flight, and over dinner, discover they've both brutally lost loved ones whose paths crossed with the same beguiling woman no one has seen since. Following traces this mysterious person left behind, Jake travels from country to country gathering chilling testimonies from others who encountered her across the decades--a trail of shattered souls that eventually leads him to Theo, a dying sculptor in rural New Mexico, who knows the woman better than anyone--and might just hold the key to who, or what, she is. Part horror, part western, part thriller, Old Soul is a fearlessly bold and genre-defying tale about predation, morality and free will, and one man's quest to bring a centuries-long chain of human devastation to an end.

'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTISTFear never dies...

'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN 'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTIST Fear never diesâ?¦

The use of legislative history and legislative evolution as aids to interpret legislative intent was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1998. Since then, legislative history research has become important to the legal profession. Researching legislative intent, however necessary, is not straightforward. The wealth of materials available requires researchers to understand the legislative process, and to locate and use a variety of parliamentary materials, websites, and libraries. Researching Legislative Intent: A Practical Guide is the first comprehensive resource that guides researchers through this complex task. Starting with the history of the use of legislative intent in the courts and an overview of the legislative process, this book then provides detailed descriptions of the sources available to compile a legislative history and trace the evolution of statutes and regulations. It also looks at the background of the use of legislative intent in interpreting treaties with Indigenous peoples and provides research checklists. It will be a go-to resource for legal researchers in law firms; academic institutions; and government, courthouse, and law society libraries.

* New York Times Notable Book of the Year * Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of the Year * Finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction * Winner of a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize * Hailed by The New York Times for its "wildly ambitious...dazzling use of language" and "mesmerizing storytelling," The Incarnations is a "brilliant, mind-expanding, and wildly original novel" (Chris Cleave) about a Beijing taxi driver whose past incarnations over one thousand years haunt him through searing letters sent by his mysterious soulmate. Who are you? you must be wondering. I am your soulmate, your old friend, and I have come back to this city of sixteen million in search of you. So begins the first letter that falls into Wang's lap as he flips down the visor in his taxi. The letters that follow are filled with the stories of Wang's previous lives--from escaping a marriage to a spirit bride, to being a slave on the run from Genghis Khan, to living as a fisherman during the Opium Wars, and being a teenager on the Red Guard during the cultural revolution--bound to his mysterious "soulmate," spanning one thousand years of betrayal and intrigue. As the letters continue to appear seemingly out of thin air, Wang becomes convinced that someone is watching him--someone who claims to have known him for over a century. And with each letter, Wang feels the watcher growing closer and closer... Seamlessly weaving Chinese folklore, history, literary classics, and the notion of reincarnation, this is a taut and gripping novel that reveals the cyclical nature of history as it hints that the past is never truly settled.

New York Times Notable Book of 2015 Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2015 Finalist for the 2015 Kirkus Prize for Fiction Winner of a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize Hailed by The New York Times for its "wildly ambitious...dazzling use of language" and "mesmerizing storytelling," The Incarnations is a "brilliant, mind-expanding, and wildly original novel" (Chris Cleave) about a Beijing taxi driver whose past incarnations over one thousand years haunt him through searing letters sent by his mysterious soulmate. Who are you? you must be wondering. I am your soulmate, your old friend, and I have come back to this city of sixteen million in search of you. So begins the first letter that falls into Wang's lap as he flips down the visor in his taxi. The letters that follow are filled with the stories of Wang's previous lives--from escaping a marriage to a spirit bride, to being a slave on the run from Genghis Khan, to living as a fisherman during the Opium Wars, and being a teenager on the Red Guard during the cultural revolution--bound to his mysterious "soulmate," spanning one thousand years of betrayal and intrigue. As the letters continue to appear seemingly out of thin air, Wang becomes convinced that someone is watching him--someone who claims to have known him for over a century. And with each letter, Wang feels the watcher growing closer and closer... Seamlessly weaving Chinese folklore, history, literary classics, and the notion of reincarnation, this is a taut and gripping novel that reveals the cyclical nature of history as it hints that the past is never truly settled.

Beijing, 2008, the Olympics are coming, but as taxi driver Wang circles the city's congested streets, he feels barely alive. His daily grind is suddenly interrupted when he finds a letter in the sunshade of his cab. Someone is watching him. Someone who claims to be his soulmate and to have known him for over a thousand years.

BY THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF THE INCARNATIONS AND SAYONARA BARMalaya 1951, a jungle resettlement camp: young colonial adventurer Christopher Milnar falls passionately in love with a Chinese nurse Evangeline - a fierce flame that ends in tragedy when their camp is attacked by Communist guerrillas and Christopher is violently beaten up. London: half a century later the ghosts of that time return to haunt Christopher, triggering vivid memories of colonial misconduct and lost love. Forced to confront his past, Christopher agonises over the fate of his beloved Evangeline and the disappearance of their daughter. Moving from present day London to the heart of the Malayan jungle in colonial times, THE ORIENTALIST AND THE GHOST is a stunning portrayal of human frailty and lost love.