{"title":"Books by Thomas Morris","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780571317028","title":"We Don't Know What We're Doing","description":"\u003cp\u003eA young video shop assistant exchanges the home comforts of one mother-figure for a fleeting encounter with another; a brother and sister find themselves at the bottom of a coal mine with a Japanese tourist; a Welsh stag on a debauched weekend in Dublin confesses an unimaginable truth; and a twice-widowed pensioner tries to persuade the lovely Mrs Morgan to be his date at the town's summer festival...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSet in Caerphilly, a sleepy castle town in South Wales, Thomas Morris' debut collection reveals its treasures in unexpected ways, offering vivid and moving glimpses of the lost, lonely and bemused. By turns poignant, witty, and tender - these entertaining stories detail the lives of people who know where they are, but don't know what they're doing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This is the work of a young writer with a startlingly fresh voice, an uncanny ear for dialogue and a broad emotional range. \u003ci\u003eWe Don't Know What We're Doing\u003c\/i\u003e is a major launch for the Faber fiction list in 2015.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204033446066,"sku":"9780571317028","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780571317028_e5b5541d-4fe8-4790-be2a-e4e922630e9d.jpg?v=1786014808"},{"product_id":"9780571317059","title":"Open Up","description":"\u003cp\u003eA GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELIST 2023\u003cbr\u003eA\u003ci\u003e NEW STATESMAN\u003c\/i\u003e BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003cbr\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘I love this book.’ BRANDON TAYLOR \u003cbr\u003e‘Extraordinary and original.’ \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Brilliant, funny, unsettling.’ SALLY ROONEY \u003cbr\u003e‘Impressive.’ \u003ci\u003eI\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003erish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘A writer beyond compare.’ ALI SMITH\u003cbr\u003e‘Fierce and tender.’ LUCY CALDWELL\u003cbr\u003e‘Astounding.’ COLIN BARRETT \u003cbr\u003e‘Worthy of multiple readings.’ JON McGREGOR\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe new collection from a literary star – five achingly tender, innovative and dazzling stories of (dis)connection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom Wales to Croatia to the depths of the ocean, these five achingly tender stories of (dis)connection are bursting with emotional vulnerability. A child attends his first football match, buoyed by secret magic; a young seahorse grapples with grief and loss; a troubled young man gets his birthday teeth. Strikingly original and wincingly humane, Open Up seeks to find grace, hope and benevolence in the churning tumult of self-discovery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eWe Don’t Know What We’re Doing\u003c\/i\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Heart-hurtingly acute, laugh-out-loud funny, and one of the most satisfying collections I’ve read for years.’ ALI SMITH, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e 'Books of the Year'\u003cbr\u003e'Masterly. . .  marvellous grace and wit.' PHILIP HENSHER\u003cbr\u003e'That tonic gift, the sense of truth - the sense of transparency that permits us to see imaginary lives more clearly than we see our own'. The tonic comes in large doses in Thomas Morris's debut short-story collection.’ \u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e‘Morris’s fresh, direct writing style feels brand new.’ \u003ci\u003eMetro\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Radiant’ \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44581840388274,"sku":"9780571317059","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780571317059_44ba33a1-5784-4b8c-a723-0da1a2bc93db.jpg?v=1786014809"},{"product_id":"9781529113006","title":"The Dublin Railway Murder","description":"\u003cb\u003eA thrilling and perplexing investigation of a true Victorian crime at Dublin railway station.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDublin, November 1856: \u003c\/b\u003eGeorge Little, the chief cashier of the Broadstone railway terminus, is found dead, lying in a pool of blood beneath his desk.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe has been savagely beaten, his head almost severed; there is no sign of a murder weapon, and the office door is locked, apparently from the inside. Thousands of pounds in gold and silver are left untouched at the scene of the crime.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAugustus Guy, Ireland's most experienced detective, teams up with Dublin's leading lawyer to investigate the murder. But the mystery defies all explanation, and two celebrated sleuths sent by Scotland Yard soon return to London, baffled. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFive suspects are arrested then released, with every step of the salacious case followed by the press, clamouring for answers. But then a local woman comes forward, claiming to know the murderer....","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56302606156149,"sku":"9781529113006","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529113006_3d3dfdb4-1a68-4d30-9c96-8e8ad0bdafeb.jpg?v=1786022692"},{"product_id":"9781784703257","title":"The Matter of the Heart","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Thrilling... The “dizzying” story of heart surgery is every bit as important as that of the nuclear, computer or rocket ages. And now it has been given the history it deserves' James McConnachie, \u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eFor thousands of years the human heart remained the deepest of mysteries; both home to the soul and an organ too complex to touch, let alone operate on. Then, in the late nineteenth century, medics began going where no one had dared go before. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn eleven landmark operations, Thomas Morris tells us stories of triumph, reckless bravery, swaggering arrogance, jealousy and rivalry, and incredible ingenuity, from the trail-blazing ‘blue baby’ procedure to the first human heart transplant. \u003ci\u003eThe Matter of the Heart\u003c\/i\u003e gives us a view over the surgeon’s shoulder, showing us the heart’s inner workings and failings. It describes both a human story and a history of risk-taking that has ultimately saved millions of lives.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56305302733173,"sku":"9781784703257","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781784703257_d7b7e0c0-e1d6-445e-a039-7bfab9831b47.jpg?v=1786025952"},{"product_id":"9780552175456","title":"The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth and Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Delightfully horrifying.\"--\u003ci\u003ePopular Science\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of Mental Floss's Best Books of 2018\u003cbr\u003eOne of Science Friday's Best Science Books of 2018\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e·         \u003cb\u003eA mysterious epidemic of dental explosions… \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e·         \u003cb\u003eA teenage boy who got his wick stuck in a candlestick...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e·         \u003cb\u003eA remarkable woman who, like a human fountain, spurted urine from virtually every orifice...\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese are just a few of the anecdotal gems that have until now lain undiscovered in medical journals for centuries. This fascinating collection of historical curiosities explores some of the strangest cases that have perplexed doctors across the world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom seventeenth-century Holland to Tsarist Russia, from rural Canada to a whaler in the Pacific, many are monuments to human stupidity – such as the sailor who swallowed dozens of penknives to amuse his shipmates, or the chemistry student who in 1850 arrived at a hospital in New York with his penis trapped inside a bottle, having unwisely decided to relieve himself into a vessel containing highly reactive potassium. Others demonstrate exceptional surgical ingenuity long before the advent of anaesthesia – such as a daring nineteenth-century operation to remove a metal fragment from beneath a conscious patient’s heart.  We also hear of the weird, often hilarious remedies employed by physicians of yore – from crow’s vomit to port-wine enemas – the hazards of such everyday objects as cucumbers and false teeth, and miraculous recovery from apparently terminal injuries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBlending fascinating history with lacerating wit, \u003ci\u003eThe Mystery of the Exploding Teeth \u003c\/i\u003ewill take you on a tour of some of the funniest, strangest and most wince-inducing corners of medical history.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311796498805,"sku":"9780552175456","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780552175456_3d823864-58f3-46a6-86e1-c8ae11f976bd.jpg?v=1786013581"},{"product_id":"blood-on-the-thames","title":"Blood on the Thames","description":"'This real-life murder mystery had as many twists and turns as an Agatha Christie whodunit' Daily Mail on The Dublin Railway Murders    A shocking murder. A suspect with an alibi. A courtroom trial that gripped a nation.   On an autumn night by the London docks, shipyard magnate Isaac Blight is found shot dead in his own armchair. Within hours, rumours spread across London and all fingers point to his business partner, Richard Patch. But Patch has an alibi, he has no obvious motive, and the crime scene is anything but clear.   Enter three men who will change the face of British justice: brilliant young surgeon Astley Cooper, relentless magistrate Aaron Graham, and courtroom superstar William Garrow. Together, they help forge the foundations of modern detective work.   What unfolds next is the trial no one wants to miss. Cabinet ministers angle for seats, British royals flock to the gallery, and the future king of France watches from the wings as the court case takes twist after twist.   Blood on the Thames races through the backstreets and courtrooms of Georgian London, blending vivid history with the taut suspense of a classic crime novel. A true story of greed, intrigue and a death that would echo far beyond the docks.   Praise for Thomas Morris:'A true-crime masterclass: meticulous, vivid and as compelling as any thriller' Philip Gray  ' The research that has gone into this book is simply staggering' Daily Telegraph","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57507623108981,"sku":"9781787303492","price":22.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781787303492.jpg?v=1787042631"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-thomas-morris.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}