Anthologies & Short Stories

Book SynopsisAn ever-increasing malice. A mind-numbing terror. The seeds of horror are sown in this collection of Junji Ito’s earliest works.A vengeful family hides an army deserter for eight years after the end of World War II, cocooning him in a false reality where the war never ended. A pair of girls look alike, but they’re not twins. And a boy’s nightmare threatens to spill out into the real world… This hauntingly strange story collection showcases a dozen of Junji Ito’s earliest works from when he burst onto the horror scene, sowing fresh seeds of terror.

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Book SynopsisIndulging in the strangest eddies of literary love, this new anthology bids you enter a doom-laden yet irresistibly seductive corner of the Weird.

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Book SynopsisFrom helpful elves to an enchanting Nutcracker, rediscover the German Christmas tales behind our most iconic festive traditions*A Daily Express Book of the Year*Eine fröhliche Weihnachten -- A Merry Christmas -- made all the more joyful with these literary treats redolent of candle-lit trees, St. Nikolaus, gingerbread, roast goose and red cabbage, tinsel and stollen cakes, accompanied by plenty of schnapps.In this collection, classic works by the Brothers Grimm and Thomas Mann intertwine with more recent stories from writers like Peter Stamm and Martin Suter to bring together the greatest festive tales from Austria, Switzerland and Germany. From a child lost in a snowy, pine-scented forest meeting an unlikely saviour to old lovers reuniting during a last-minute dash across the city for presents, each story creates magical moments of reflection and rediscovery.Bursting with family chaos, carols and yuletide cheer, A German Christmas showcases those works that have helped define the festive period the world over.Trade ReviewA festive treat with a German twist * Daily Express, *Christmas Gift Guide 2022* *A gorgeous little book and the perfect Christmas stocking filler * Art Shelf, *Christmas Gift Guide 2022* *

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Book SynopsisBorn in Harlem in 1924, James Baldwin was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, social critic, and the author of more than twenty books. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, appeared in 1953 to excellent reviews, and his essay collection The Fire Next Time was a bestseller that made him an influential figure in the civil rights movement. Baldwin spent many years in France, where he moved to escape the racism and homophobia of the United States. He died in 1987.

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Book SynopsisA charming, mind-bending and anarchic book of imagined civilizations''Most cosmic civilizations long for things, in the depths of their souls, they would never openly admit to...''Trurl and Klapaucius are ''constructors'' - they travel around the universe creating machines of astonishing inventiveness and power and visiting a bewildering variety of violent, peculiar and morose civilizations. The Cyberiad is oddly reminiscent of Gulliver''s Travels, The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy, The Phantom Tollbooth and Alice in Wonderland. Charming, mind-bending and anarchic, it is perhaps Lem''s greatest work. This edition includes all of Daniel Mroz''s hallucinatory original illustrations.Trade ReviewStanislaw Lem may be the most famous science fiction writer you've never heard of ... [this] collection of stories may go some way to redressing that ... The linguistic inventiveness is extraordinary ... Lem has created a curious world in which robots and rockets rub shoulders with kings, dragons, witches and pirates * Independent on Sunday *A Jorge Luis Borges for the Space Age * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisAn unmissable collection of eight unconventional and captivating short stories for young and adult learners of Swedish."Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too!" - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers Short Stories in Swedish for Beginners has been written especially for students from high-beginner to low-intermediate level, designed to give a sense of achievement, a feeling of progress and most importantly - enjoyment! Mapped to A1-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages, these eight captivating stories are designed to give you a sense of achievement and a feeling of progress when reading.What does this book give you?- Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making reading fun, while you learn a wide range of new vocabulary- Controlled language at your level to help you progress confidently- Realistic spoken dialogues to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability- Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way- Pleasure! Research shows that if you're enjoying reading in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration - 'It's too hard!' 'I don't understand!'Carefully curated to make learning a new language easy, these stories include key features that will support and consolidate your progress, including: - A glossary for bolded words in each chapter- Full plot summary- A bilingual word list- Comprehension questions after each chapter. As a result, you will be able to focus on enjoying reading, delighting in your improved range of vocabulary and grasp of the language, without ever feeling overwhelmed. From science fiction to fantasy, to crime and thrillers, Short Stories in Swedish for Beginners will make learning Swedish easy and enjoyable.Trade ReviewAs researchers in language acquisition, we need to study people like you. * Stephen Krashen, Emeritus Professor, University of Southern California *Olly's advice on language learning is the real deal, and I recommend you pay attention to what he has to say! * Benny Lewis, Fluent in 3 Months *When we wanted to create a free online course on how to learn a language we asked Olly to write it with us. * Dr Tita Beaven, The Open University *Learning a language is challenging, but it's one of the best things you can do for your brain and your learning skill set... Olly Richards is doing some seriously incredible work to empower more and more people to rise to the challenge. * Jonathan Levi *Olly bridges the gap between theory and practice by helping you to use scientific principles to get real results with your language learning. * Anthony Metivier, Magnetic Memory Method *Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too! * Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers *

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Book SynopsisKirsty Logan is an author of novels, short stories, chapbooks and collaborative projects with musicians and illustrators. Her books have won the Lambda, Polari, Saboteur, Scott and Gavin Wallace awards. She lives in Glasgow with her family, where she is working on film and TV projects.@kirstyloganwww.kirstylogan.com

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Book SynopsisA ''bumper collection of short stories'' (Sunday Telegraph} from the No. 1 bestselling master of the form, now with a stunning new cover look.The Stephen King Amusement Park - an unnerving experience, with rides every which way to hell . . . and a few to glory.A solitary finger pokes out of a drain. Novelty teeth turn predatory. The Nevada desert swallows a Cadillac. Meanwhile, the legend of Castle Rock returns . . . and grows on you. What does it all mean? What else could it mean? Stephen King is here with a powerful collection of stories - a vast, many-chambered cave of a volume.The long reach of Stephen King''s imagination will take you on a roller coaster to places you''ve never been before. You will lose sleep. But Stephen King, writing to beat the devil, will do your dreaming for you.Stories include:-Dolan''s Cadillac-The End of the Whole Mess-Suffer the Little Children-The Night Flier-Popsy-It Grows on You<Trade ReviewA bumper collection of short stories...You can't help admiring King's narrative skills and his versatility as a story-teller * Sunday Telegraph *Merely by tickling the keys on his word processor King can make flesh creep half a world away. But where he differs from so many chill merchants is that his horror is rarely gratuitous and often informed with a wry humour * The Times *

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Book Synopsis'Extraordinary . . . Folk is a dazzling talent' Karen Joy Fowler'Wonderfully weird' Daily MailA woman uses dating apps to find a partner, despite the threat posed by 'blots', artificial men more interested in stealing data than dating. A sculptor, trapped in a skyscraper restaurant when a violent coup erupts below, creates a perfect model of the town as it is destroyed. A curtain of void obliterates the world at a steady pace, leaving one woman to decide with whom she wants to spend eternity.Haunting and darkly inventive, the stories in Out There deftly combine science fiction and horror to uncover an unforgettable vision of the absurdity of life in the digital age.'The literary love child of Kafka and Camus and Bradbury penning episodes of Black Mirror' Chang-Rae Lee, author of Native SpeakerTrade ReviewOut There is for readers who consider body horror to be a love language. True romantics will swoon either despite or because of the gore that accompanies these sharp, affable stories . . . Folk's stories have been compared to Shirley Jackson's, and this is most apparent in the way Folk balances her horror with humour. * New York Times Book Review *Kate Folk's short stories are wonderfully weird; playfully pushing the possibilities of plotlines towards the uncanny, creepy and off-kilter, they have a seam of dark humour that illuminates the grotesquery with an unnerving beauty * Daily Mail *A wonderful absurdist collection that explores the vagaries of human connections * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Tightly constructed and spectacularly mind-bending stories that ingeniously pair everyday challenges and outlandish predicaments, ranging from hilarious to terrifying. Folk writes with unnerving matter-of-factness as she veers into Poe- and Shirley Jackson-like horror or turns to the poignantly fantastic in the mode of George Saunders or Kelly Link. * Booklist (starred review) *Kate Folk will be compared to Carmen Maria Machado and Julia Armfield - there are wonderful similarities in the sheer force of her creations, but she's very much her own writer. These stories are funny, scalding and, sometimes, breathtakingly beautiful. -- Sarah Davis-Goff, author of Last Ones Left AliveFifteen extraordinary, through-the-looking-glass tales, containing locked rooms, demanding houses, embodied Russian bots, revolution, and relationships -- all delivered with a side of menace. Wonderfully weird and weirdly wonderful, Folk is a dazzling talent -- Karen Joy Fowler, bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside OurselvesWondrously perverse, often creepy and hilarious, and always sneakily heart-breaking, from the moment you read these tales you'll know you're in the presence of a singularly brilliant vision, one that burns off the scrim of our normal-seeming human customs and operations to reveal the utter bizarreness of this existence. Out There, it turns out, lies very much within. -- Chang-Rae Lee, award-winning author of The SurrenderedDisturbing, alluring, dazzling and creepy, Out There is a riveting collection that keeps you enthralled with every page. -- Claire North, bestselling author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry AugustKate Folk's stories inhabit otherworldly realms where exquisite language and beguiling characters excavate the very nature of love and existence. -- Adam Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Orphan Master’s SonKate Folk is a formidable writer, a literary swordsmith of feline dexterity, very dark and very funny, equally at home in the magisterial dark and the relentless glare of truth. -- Lisa Locascio, author of Open MeThe stories in this stunning debut are funny, fearless, and moving portraits of life shaped by the ever-widening shadow of technological progress. Folk's imagination is uncanny and arresting. Out There expertly captures the all-too-human experience of longing for lives we may never inhabit, and the final story is a chilling and tender portrait of love that will stick with you long after you finish the book. -- Isle McElroy, author of The AtmospheriansThe lucid, unsettling landscapes in Out There bring our own world into chilly focus through an exquisitely distorted lens. Each one of these amazing stories is a masterclass in eeriness and perception. Kate Folk's imagination is on fire. -- Aysegül Savas, author of White on WhiteAn assortment of stories so sharp and ingenious you may cut yourself on them while reading, like a drawer full of the most beautiful knives. Kate Folk's Out There goes onto my shelf of favorite collections. -- Kelly Link, author of Get In TroubleWry, riveting, and ambitious, Out There is one of those rare collections that manages to be both brilliantly inventive and emotionally resonant. Folk's tilted worlds are hilarious and unsettling-they sit squarely in the spaces where anxiety and exhilaration collide. Full of unforgettable voices and gleeful, exacting prose, this is a sharp and stylish debut from a wildly gifted writer -- Kimberly King Parsons, author of Black Light

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Book SynopsisThe lost Japanese bestseller - a darkly funny and relatable book about five women in modern Japan, published in English for the very first timeIzumi is divorced and unemployed, but is the alternative really so much better? Haruka has recovered from her cancer and everyone else thinks she should just forget all about it. Kato is invisible to her children and her husband, but at work at the convenience, no one will leave her alone. Mito can''t decide whether to accept her boyfriend''s marriage proposal, especially as she''s been cheating on him for months.Sumie just needs somewhere to live.

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Book Synopsis'A dazzling, heartbreaking debut collection' Guardian 'Kennedy's voice, and her unforgiving gaze, are electric' Sunday Times 'These stories sing, haunt and inspire laughter ... One of the best collections I've read in years' Sinead Gleeson A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER OF THE JOHN MCGAHERN PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE KATE O'BRIEN AWARD 2022 The secrets people kept, the lies they told. In these visceral, stunningly crafted stories, people are effortlessly cruel to one another, and the natural world is a primitive salve. Here, women are domestically trapped by predatorial men, Ireland’s folklore and politics loom large, and poverty – material, emotional, sexual – seeps through every crack. A wife is abandoned by her new husband in a ghost estate, with blood on her hands; a young woman is tormented by visions of the man murdered by her brother during the Troubles; a pregnant mother fears the worst as her husband grows illegal cannabis with the help of a vulnerable teenage girl; a woman struggles to forgive herself after an abortion threatens to destroy her marriage. Announcing a major new voice in literary fiction for the twenty-first century, these sharp shocks of stories offer flashes of beauty, and even humour, amidst the harshest of truths.Trade Review[A] dazzling, heartbreaking debut collection . . .With their sensitivity to people’s vulnerabilities and failings, and their sharpness of imagery, these fifteen taut tales recall Annie Proulx at her best: salty, wise, droll and keen to share the lessons of a lifetime * Guardian *Gritty, bitter, hard-won, the fifteen stories in this first collection feel a world away from the seeming solipsism of the younger generation of female Irish writers who are conquering the literary world … Kennedy’s voice, and her unforgiving gaze, are electric * Sunday Times *To carve such gilded stories as these from such fathomless gorges of despair would be an accomplishment for an old master, let alone for a relative newbie. Yet Kennedy’s spritz of humour, as black as the holes these women are in, elevates her stories from downbeat to transcendent . . . [A] marvellous collection * Independent *Like fifteen novels squeezed between two covers, ready to blow your mind. The only other writer I can think of who packs this much moving, terrible life into each story is Alice Munro -- Emma DonoghueI am haunted by these unforgettable short stories and believed every single line of every one of them. Louise Kennedy is a very major talent -- Joseph O'Connor * Irish Times *[A] dark, funny, brilliantly downbeat Irish debut. Bitterness, beauty and a caustic wit colour Kennedy’s stories, as the past makes itself unforgettably present in the lives of her vividly drawn characters * Daily Mail *Masterful . . . [Kennedy] can make you laugh and wince all at once . . . A writer very much in control of her craft * Irish Independent *I love Kennedy’s vividly conjured reality. Her prose is so alive, I am surprised that the book stays shut when you close it. These stories breathe, talk, kick-up: they have a pulse -- Anne EnrightDarkly funny, beautifully crafted, intense - this is an outstanding first collection from a natural story writer -- Kevin BarryThese stories are devastating, deadly funny, hauntingly recognisable, wise, brutal, lucent and gloriously refreshing. Kennedy has brought an army of complex, contradictory, haywire women into Irish literature. Prepare to be wrecked. -- Caoilinn HughesLouise Kennedy is a wonderful writer: her characterization is compelling, her style a stimulating mix of the plainspoken and luminous, and her sense of place assured. In The End of the World is a Cul-De-Sac, she has produced a remarkable collection of short stories. -- Nick LairdWhat a collection of stories! One of the best I’ve ever read: funny and searing and true -- Sarah CrossanLouise Kennedy’s collection will stop you in your tracks . . . Profound, beautiful and essential -- Liz NugentA hugely impressive and memorable collection. I adored these downbeat, stirring, disconcerting, punchy, touching, believable short stories, so skilfully and beautifully executed -- Joseph O'Connor

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Book Synopsis'Razor-sharp’ Zadie Smith An electrifying, prizewinning short story collection from the Booker-shortlisted author of Eileen and My Year of Rest and Relaxation.There’s something eerily unsettling about Ottessa Moshfegh’s stories, something almost dangerous while also being delightful – and often even weirdly hilarious. Her characters are all unsteady on their feet; all yearning for connection and betterment, in very different ways, but each of them seems destined to be tripped up by their own baser impulses. The flesh is weak; the timber is crooked; people are cruel to each other, and stupid, and hurtful, but beauty comes from strange sources, and the dark energy surging through these stories is oddly and powerfully invigorating. One of the most gifted and exciting young writers in America, she shows us uncomfortable things, and makes us look at them forensically – until we find, suddenly, that we are really looking at ourselves.‘Moshfegh’s writing is cinematic – vivid, immediate’ TLSTrade ReviewRazor-sharp short stories. * Zadie Smith *Moshfegh is consistently as sparky and gripping as she is inventive… She could become one of the most outstanding US writers of her generation. -- Peter Carty * i *The characters in this collection are an unlovely bunch but make for an irresistible read… She writes terrific, attention-grabbing openings, and impactful last lines that don’t strain for a lapidary effect. Her damaged-girl deadpan snark is second to none, but she inhabits other character types with ease. -- Christopher Taylor * Financial Times *She can really write and has a pitch-black sense of humour. -- Phil Baker * Sunday Times *Moshfegh’s writing is cinematic – vivid, immediate. -- Gwendoline Riley * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisThis new Robots anthology delves into the fascinating evolution of robots, from the mechanical marvels of the past to the imaginative possibilities of the future. Whether exploring the nostalgia of retro robotics or envisioning futuristic automatons, this exciting collection brings together classic robot fiction and new stories by modern authors.

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Book SynopsisM.R. James is probably the finest ghost-story writer England has ever produced. These tales are not only classics of their genre, but are also superb examples of beautifully-paced understatement, convincing background and chilling terror. As well as the preface, there is a fascinating tail-piece by M.R. James, ‘Stories I Have Tried To Write’, which accompanies these thirty tales. Among them are ‘Casting the Runes’, ‘Oh, Whistle and I’ll come to you, My Lad’, ‘The Tractate Middoth’, ‘The Ash Tree’ and ‘Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook’. ‘There are some authors one wishes one had never read in order to have the joy of reading them for the first time. For me, M.R. James is one of these’. Ruth Rendell

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Book SynopsisAs a literary subject, Christmas has inspired everything from intimate domestic dramas, to fanciful flights of the imagination, and the full range of its expression is represented in this wonderfully engaging collection. Goblins frolic in the graveyard of an early Dickens tale; a love-struck ghost disrupts a country estate in Elizabeth Bowen's 'Green Holly'; devils, witches, Cossacks and peasants cavort in Gogol's 'The Night Before Christmas'. The plight of the less fortunate haunts Chekhov's 'Vanka' and Willa Cather's 'The Burglar's Christmas', but takes a boisterously comic turn in Damon Runyon's 'Dancing Dan's Christmas' and John Cheever's 'Christmas is a Sad Season for the Poor'. From Nabokov's intensely moving story of a father's grief in 'Christmas' to Truman Capote's hilarious yet heartbreaking 'A Christmas Memory', from Grace Paley's Jewish girl in the Christmas pageant in 'The Loudest Voice' to the dysfunctional family ski holiday in Richard Ford's 'Creche' - each of the stories is imbued with Christmas spirit of one kind or another, and all are richly and indelibly entertaining.

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Book SynopsisFrom Ernest Hemingway''s Preface: ''There are many kinds of stories in this book. I hope you will find some that you like- In going where you have to go, and doing what you have to do, and seeing what you have to see, you dull and blunt the instrument you write with. But I would rather have it bent and dulled and know I had to put it on the grindstone and hammer it into shape and put a whetstone to it, and know that I had something to write about, than to have it bright and shining, and nothing to say, or smooth and well-oiled in the closet, but unused.''A collection of Hemingway''s first forty-nine short stories, featuring a brief introduction by the author and lesser known as well as familiar tales, including ''Up in Michigan'', ''Fifty Grand'', and ''The Light of the World'', and the Snows of Kilimanjaro, Winner Take Nothing'' and Men Without Women collections.Trade ReviewMr Hemingway, applying that quick eye and wrist of his to the rings of the boxer and bull-fighter, achieves some unforgettable reporting of the world in which blood is argument... The author's exceptional gift of narrative quality gives the excitement of a well-told tale to what is, in fact, a simple description of a scene * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisThe Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings is a collection that displays the full force of Edgar Allan Poe''s mastery of both Gothic horror and the short story form. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction and notes by David Galloway.This selection of Poe''s critical writings, short fiction and poetry demonstrates his intense interest in aesthetic issues, and the astonishing power and imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind. ''The Fall of the House of Usher'' is a slow-burning Gothic horror, describing the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. In ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', a murderer''s insane delusions threaten to betray him, while stories such as ''The Pit and the Pendulum'', ''The Raven'' and ''The Cask of Amontillado'' explore extreme states of decadence, fear and hate.In his introduction, David Galloway re-examines the myths surrounding Poe''s life and reputation. This edition includes a new chronology and suggestions for further reading.As well as his remarkable literary output, Boston-born Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) had a variety of occupations - he served in the US army and was a magazine editor. Towards the end of his life, he was plagued by mental instability. If you enjoyed The Fall of the House of Usher, you might like Horace Walpole''s The Castle of Otranto, also available in Penguin Classics.''The most original genius that America has produced''Alfred, Lord Tennyson''Poe has entered our popular consciousness as no other American writer''The New York Times Book ReviewTable of ContentsThe Fall of the House of Usher and Other WritingsChronologyIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the TextPoemsStanzasSonnet - To ScienceAl AaraafRomanceTo HelenIsrafelThe City and the SeaThe SleeperLenoreThe Valley of UnrestThe RavenUlalumeFor AnnieA ValentineAnnabel LeeThe BellsTalesMS. Found in a BottleLigeiaThe Man that was Used UpThe Fall of the House of UsherWilliam WilsonThe Man of the CrowdThe Murders in the Rue MorgueA Decent into the MaelströmEleonoraThe Oval PortraitThe Masque of the Red DeathThe Pit and the PendulumThe Tell-Tale HeartThe Gold BugThe Black CatThe Purloined LetterThe Facts in the Case of M. ValdemarThe Cask of AmontilladoHop-FrogEssays and ReviewsLetter to B--Georgia ScenesThe Drake-Halleck Review (excerpts)Watkins TottleThe Philosophy of FurnitureWyandottéMusicTime and SpaceTwice-Told TalesThe American Drama (excerpts)HazlittThe Philosophy of CompositionSong-WritingOn ImaginationThe Veil of the SoulThe Poetic Principle (excerpts)Notes

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE ‘Spellbinding’ i ‘Breathtaking’ Elle ‘Powerhouses of feeling and depth’ Mary Gaitskill ‘Sharp and vital’ Daisy Johnson 'Excellent' Margaret Atwood on Twitter An ex-boxer turned nail salon worker falls for a pair of immaculate hands; a mother and daughter harvest earthworms in the middle of the night; a country music-obsessed housewife abandons her family for fantasy; and a young girl's love for her father transcends language. In this stunning debut, Souvankham Thammavongsa captures the day-to-day lives of immigrants and refugees in a nameless city, illuminating hopes, disappointments, love affairs, and above all, the pursuit of a place to belong. 'There is not a moment off in these affecting stories' Sheila HetiTrade ReviewEvery once in a while, you come across a book with writing so breathtaking that you take note of the author so you can read everything they ever write in the future. How to Pronounce Knife, by Souvankham Thammavongsa is one of those books * Elle *Spellbinding ... A perfect marriage of style and refreshing, surprising substance. Like her characters, Thammavongsa possesses x-ray vision for teetering power structures and those who sit precariously at the top of them. But her writing goes beyond this. It actively, though quietly, works against the invisibility or erasure of migrants living and trying to make a living in the margins. * i *Impressive ... Thammavongsa’s spare, rigorous stories are preoccupied with themes of alienation and dislocation, her characters burdened by the sense of existing unseen ... Thammavongsa’s gift for the gently absurd means the stories never feel dour or predictable ... It is when the characters’ sense of alienation follows them home, into the private space of the family, that Thammavongsa’s stories most wrench the heart * New York Times Book Review *The stories are slender, spare, and slide between your ribs like a super-sharp blade, fast and soundless, before you realize what's happening * Vanity Fair *[Souvankham Thammavongsa's] poignant, affecting debut collection conversationally captures the everyday lives of immigrants and refugees who have moved to the city in the hope of better lives * Daily Mail *In this touching debut, the Thailand-born, Toronto-raised author captures the day-to-day lives of immigrants and refugees in a nameless city with universal hopes, disappointments, love affairs, and a desire to belong ... stand-out * Cosmopolitan *This series of short stories brings to life figures that might otherwise not figure on the literary radar ... with enough panache to keep the reader gripped throughout * Vogue *[Thammavongsa] captures the day-to-day lives of immigrants and refugees exploring family relationships, escape from the real world and the love that binds us all * Stylist *[Thammavongsa’s] careful dissection of everyday moments of racism, classism and sexism exposes how power and privilege drive success, how work shapes the immigrant identity, and how erasure and invisibility lead to isolation * Washington Post *Exacting, sharply funny short fictions * Oprah Magazine *These stories feel simple but they move within you and it is impossible to let them go. They are sharp and vital. Thammavongsa is a master over the sentence * Daisy Johnson *These poignant and deceptively quiet stories are powerhouses of feeling and depth; How to Pronounce Knife is an artful blend of simplicity and sophistication -- Mary GaitskillI love these stories. There’s some fierce and steady activity in all of the sentences – something that makes them live, and makes them shift a little in meaning when you look at them again and they look back at you (or look beyond you) -- Helen OyeyemiSouvankham Thammavongsa writes with deep precision, wide-open spaces, and quiet, cool, emotionally devastating poise. There is not a moment off in these affecting stories -- Sheila HetiA riveting, subversive collection that alights within us like a shock to the system. I find it miraculous – and liberating and joyful – that language so radiantly exact can be so raw, so brazen. This is a major work and a lasting one -- Madeleine ThienThammavongsa’s radiant debut collection of short stories is full of precarity, strength, uncertainty, messiness and life * Ms. Magazine *The stories here will gut you, as Thammavongsa's insight proves to be razor-sharp * Bustle *

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Book SynopsisWords begin to lose their meanings, flaking off into air like moths. Friendships cultivated over a lifetime fall apart in testing circumstances. What does the stranger with yellow eyes really want?From Far Around They Saw Us Burn is the eagerly awaited first short story collection from Alice Jolly, one of the most exciting and accomplished voices in British fiction today.The extraordinary range of work gathered here is united by a fascination with how everyday interactions can transform our lives in unpredictable ways. These are stories of lonely people, outcasts and misfits, and the ghosts that inhabit our intimate spaces. The result is a compelling, arresting and, at times, devastating collection – not least in the title story, which was inspired by the tragic true events of the 1943 Cavan orphanage fire.Written with an exemplary eye for detail and an intimate understanding of the complexities of human nature, Jolly's collection builds up towards the ultimate question: what is revealed of us when we peel away the surfaces, and is it enough?Trade Review’I was so impressed by From Far Around They Saw Us Burn. The gift of looking at ordinary life slant-eyed to see what is strange, sadistic, kind, loving or moral is a rare one. Its characters are so vulnerable, yet often unexpectedly compassionate or resilient, transfixed by Jolly’s cool, elegant prose. It’s well worth reading, and a real achievement' Amanda Craig'It is this fearlessness, this indefatigable digging into human behaviour to reveal the uncomfortable truths of our lives, that gives Jolly’s writing real weight. In these stories, she takes on the bored and the lonely, even the perverts, the awkward and the bad. Where a less wise writer might have produced monsters, Jolly, with tenderness, finds their souls' The Guardian

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Book SynopsisHENRY HUGHES is a poet, essayist, and professor of English at Western Oregon University. Winner of the Oregon Book Award, he is also the editor of the Everyman's Library collections Fishing Stories, River Poems, and The Art of Angling: Poems about Fishing. He lives in Monmouth, Oregon.

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Book SynopsisWhat is industrial horror? Is it smoke stacks and gas towers? Is it the metal cranes of the shipyards turned golem? The stuff of our nightmares has been evolving since the industrial revolution and the rise of the machines Machines aren't our friends. We were told they would bring freedom and leisure time, three day weeks and the like, but what they brought was redundancy, replacement, and the scrap heaps of life. How can you not look for horror in something capable of so much wholesale destruction of hope?And that's what's waiting for you in here, the wholesale destruction of hope at the hands of twisted industrial landscapes, smoke stacks and gas towers and metal golems that have no souls, no spirits, and can so easily drape themselves in our skins and walk in our shoes, doing everything we can do, faster, and with ruthless efficiency, removing the need for us. That's the world these stories live in, and it's a bleak place.

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Book SynopsisThe Number One New York Times bestseller from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Interpreter of Maladies and The NamesakeWinner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best BookTrade Review'Lahiri's enormous gifts as a storyteller are on full display ... gorgeous' Khaled Hosseini 'Probably the most influential writer of fiction in America' Financial Times 'Contains some of the best, most beautiful fiction written this decade - the kind that will be read 50 years from now' New Statesman 'It's difficult to think of a contemporary writer who gives her characters so much dignity ... Fiction of matchless restraint, yet also of rich, complex lives and credible characters' The Times

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Book SynopsisErnest Miller Hemingway was born in Chicago in 1899 as the son of a doctor and the second of six children. After a stint as an ambulance driver at the Italian front, Hemingway came home to America in 1919, only to return to the battlefield this time as a reporter on the Greco-Turkish war in 1922. Resigning from journalism to focus on his writing instead, he moved to Paris where he renewed his earlier friendship with fellow American expatriates such as Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. Through the years, Hemingway travelled widely and wrote avidly, becoming an internationally recognized literary master of his craft. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, following the publication of The Old Man and the Sea. He died in 1961.Trade ReviewPainfully good - no-one can deny their brilliance * The Nation *

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Book SynopsisThis anthology gathers 100 tales that share the winter theme of Hans Christian Andersen's classic. In addition to stories by Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, it includes works by Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Wilde, selections from Andrew Lang's fairy books, and Alexandre Dumas's The History of a Nutcracker.

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Book Synopsis'One of the greats' - Lucy Caldwell, author of Intimacies'Comic brilliance' - Sinéad Gleeson, author of Constellations'Ingenious' - The Irish Times'Daring, funny, heartbreaking' - ObserverFollowing the prize-winning Sweet Home, Wendy Erskine's Belfast is once again illuminated. Meet Drew Lord Haig, called on to sing an obscure hit from his youth at a paramilitary event. Meet Max as he recalls an eventful journey to a Christian film festival. And Mrs Dallesandro who dreams of being a teenager again as she sits in a tanning salon on her wedding anniversary. In these stories, Erskine's characters' wishes and hopes often fall short of their grasp. Brilliantly drawn, Dance Move is about the hugeness of life as seen through glimpses of the everyday.'A masterpiece' - David Keenan, author of Monument Maker'Wendy Erskine's debut, Sweet Home, was pitch perfect . . . Dance Move is equally brilliant' - The Daily Mail'Erskine's stories open slight, but they contain more than it seems possible for short stories to contain' - Keith Ridgway, author of Hawthorn & Child'She isn’t just one of the leading writers of short fiction at work today but one of the leading writers, period.' - Matt Rowland Hill, author of Original SinsAs Read on BBC Radio 4Shortlisted for the Edge Hill PrizeShortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Short Story of the YearThe Irish Times Books of the Year 2022Trade ReviewComic brilliance -- Sinéad Gleeson * Guardian *Erskine is less interested in dispensing wisdom than in evoking the ambient pathos of ordinary lives. The understated yet distinctive sensibility first showcased in her 2018 debut collection, Sweet Home, is well honed in this impressive follow-up. * FT *Wendy Erskine has the rarest and most precious of a fiction writer’s gifts: the ability to unveil all the passion, pathos, comedy and beauty just beneath the surface of the most seemingly ordinary lives. She isn’t just one of the leading writers of short fiction at work today but one of the leading writers, period. -- Matt Rowland Hill, author of Original SinsWendy Erskine is the greatest short story writer of her generation. Dance Move is a masterpiece. -- David KeenanNo one writes the bare-knuckle crossroads of sex and class like Wendy Erskine! -- Joanna WalshThe stories are never sentimental, nor do they strain credulity. What grounds them is Erskine’s distinctive style: she is a great noticer, with an eye for microscopic detail, and pays close attention to the syntax and cadences of ordinary conversation. . . She is also extremely funny. * Spectator *A spectacular feat in the short story form . . . Erskine’s Dance Move has such a beautiful deftness of touch that in writing the intricacies and intimacies between people in their most vulnerable moments, there is a tenderness felt by the reader which surpasses words.' * Caught By The River *The people that inhabit Wendy Erskine’s stories are not merely ‘characters’, but instead are living, breathing entities whose lives, you feel, continue beyond the page. Few writers achieve this depth of human understanding so succinctly, and to read Dance Move is to step into their shadowed worlds. It also cements her status as simply one of the very best short story writers around. -- Benjamin MyersDance Move is a triumph, each story so perfectly formed, each character vividly set and startling. I could not put this book down and loved every page. Wendy Erskine is a profound and ingenious story teller, a magnificent writer of the highest calibre. -- Salena GoddenErskine's stories open slight, but they contain more than it seems possible for short stories to contain. Their warmth and depth - even in their depictions of lives that are cold, or shallow, or hopelessly adrift - is testament not only to Erskine's unparalleled skill as a writer of short stories, but also to her humanity. Her characters are astonishingly alive. They rise off the pages of Dance Move and they lodge in the heart, and stay there. -- Keith RidgwayThere are few short story writers I look forward to reading as much as Wendy Erskine. Humane, funny, surprising, profound; in Dance Move she does it all. -- Chris PowerDaring, funny, heartbreaking . . . not to be missed * Observer *So funny and so moving. Erskine's writing is like gentle razor blades, carving blissfully through to the real. -- Ruby CowlingDance Move is the most consummate book of short stories I know. -- Tom Conaghan * Irish Times *No one is writing better stories than Wendy Erskine. -- John MitchinsonI wondered if Dance Move . . . could possibly surpass Erskine’s debut Sweet Home. It does. -- Matt Rowland Hill, author of Original Sins: A MemoirWendy Erskine is like Vermeer, I think. In the same way that supposedly ordinary people and places are illuminated by Vermeer in a way that is technically flawless, but also imbued with something extra that can’t be extracted from the whole. I do think it is genius really, in the both of them. -- Ben Pester, author of Am I In The Right Place?Wendy Erskine’s debut, Sweet Home, was pitch perfect . . . Dance Move is equally brilliant; set in Belfast and brimful of well drawn, compelling characters, these spare, spacious stories pack an emotional punch * Daily Mail *Erskine’s pitch is close to perfect, and as a chronicler of the human condition, she has the most penetrating gaze. * iNews *If there’s a sharper, brighter, truer, funnier, more compelling, more intensely and rewardingly attentive storyteller around I’d like to know who. -- David HaydenExhilarating . . . a vivacious sweep of characters . . . the turn of events ingenious . . . * Irish Times *A remarkable revelation of the everyday extraordinary. Erskine has shown us how the banal can also be epic in its compassion and understated raw beauty. This is a book that carries with it a quiet joy, a reminder of the intensity of life, even at its most quotidian. * Totally Dublin *Superb * Hot Press *Storytelling that is both compelling and original . . . Dance Move is the work of a writer of immense skill * Sunday Independent *A propulsive and unmissable collection of tales full of piercing details and observations. * nb. Magazine *

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Book SynopsisWish You Were Dead is a Quick Read short story from bestselling author Peter James.Roy Grace and his family have left Sussex behind for a week’s holiday in France. The website promised a grand house, but when they arrive the place is very different from the pictures. And it soon becomes clear that their holiday nightmare is only just beginning.An old enemy of Roy, a lowlife criminal he had put behind bars, is now out of jail – and out for revenge. He knows where Roy and his family have gone on holiday. Of course he does. He’s been hacking their emails – and they are in the perfect spot for him to pay Roy back . . .Trade ReviewPeter James has penetrated the inner workings of police procedures, and the inner thoughts and attitudes of real detectives, as no English crime writer before him. His hero, Roy Grace, may not be the most lively cop, nor the most damaged by drink, weight or misery, but he’s one of the most believable * The Times *Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business -- Karin SlaughterJames just gets better and better and deserves the success he has achieved with this first-class series * Independent on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisTHE LAST BOOK FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SHADOW OF THE WIND'Zafón is a master of the atmospheric' Financial TimesTrade ReviewAs well as allusions to the Forgotten Books novels themselves, there's everywhere evidence of the storytelling skill and intoxicating tropes - Faustian pacts, fateful meetings, labyrinthine architecture and nested stories - that made Zafon such a phenomenon. -- Stephanie Cross * DAILY MAIL *The Dickens of Barcelona... A flamboyant farewell from a grand contemporary writer. * Sydney Morning Herald *Ruiz Zafón's many fans are sure to find his collection of short stories both familiarly satisfying and poignant . . . Readers will once again luxuriate in his florid descriptions of his hometown of Barcelona that bring to life that magical and mysterious city . . . [they] will encounter new characters but also find familiar names, offering fresh perspectives on fictional lives we already know so well * Washington Post *A posthumous parting gift from Ruiz Zafón to his millions of fans . . . with much-loved places and characters making fleeting reappearances, it's a fitting coda to his life and world * Observer *Mysterious, imbued with a sense of menace, and told with the warmth, wit, and humor of Zafón's inimitable voice . . . the stories contained within this posthumous collection summon up the mesmerizing magic of their brilliant creator and invite us to come dream along with him * Book Riot *PRAISE FOR CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON AND THE CEMETERY OF FORGOTTEN BOOKS'The real deal: one gorgeous read' Stephen King'Will change your life. An instant classic' Daily Telegraph'A book lover's dream' The Times'Marvellous' Sunday Times'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading' Independent'Gripping and instantly atmospheric' Mail on Sunday'Irresistibly readable' Guardian'Diabolically good' Elle

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Book Synopsis**A Sunday Times Paperback of the Year** **A Granta Best of Young British Novelist** **Winner of the Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2022** **Winner of the BBC National Short Story Award 2022** **Shortlisted for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2023** SELECTED FOR STYLIST'S BOOKS YOU CAN'T MISS IN 2022 - 'A MUST READ' 'An exhilarating debut' GUARDIAN 'A fresh new voice in fiction, wry and sharp and raw' EMMA CLINE 'I still remember where I was when I first encountered a Saba Sams story' NICOLE FLATTERY 'I fell for this stunning collection with a rare, consuming passion' MEGAN NOLAN ____________________________________________________________ In ten dazzling stories, Saba Sams dives into the world of girlhood and immerses us in its contradictions and complexities: growing up too quickly, yet not quickly enough; taking possession of what one can, while being taken possession of; succumbing to societal pressure but also orchestrating that pressure. These young women are feral yet attentive, fierce yet vulnerable, exploited yet exploitative. Threading between clubs at closing time, pub toilets, drenched music festivals and beach holidays, these unforgettable short stories deftly chart the treacherous terrain of growing up – of intense friendships, of ambivalent mothers, of uneasily blended families, and of learning to truly live in your own body. With striking wit, originality and tenderness, Send Nudes celebrates the small victories in a world that tries to claim each young woman as its own. _____________________________________________________________________ 'A roiling, raw, gut-punch of a debut collection, best read in one sitting ... I sat motionless for about half an hour after reading them; I can't wait to see what she writes next' PANDORA SYKES 'A seriously impressive debut. Saba Sams digs into the chaos, euphoria and menace of sexual attraction, friendship and family with bravery and wit' CHRIS POWER CHOSEN AS A BOOK OF THE 2022 BY THE GUARDIAN, STYLIST, VOGUE, GLAMOUR, COSMOPOLITAN, EVENING STANDARD, IRISH INDEPENDENT, AnOTHER, FOYLES, BOOKSHOP.ORG Trade ReviewSaba Sams is a fresh new voice in fiction, wry and sharp and raw -- EMMA CLINESaba Sams is adept at wrongfooting our assumptions, creating a set of unique, multi-dimensional characters with rich internal lives -- ELIZABETH DAYSaba Sams’s unsettling, full-throated Send Nudes captures girls and young women on the brink of change * GUARDIAN, Best Fiction of 2022 *Ten startlingly original stories that … seem to come out of nowhere and clamp their jaws shut around you. Exploring the uneven, hazardous terrain between girlhood and womanhood, Sams expertly reveals its inherent contradictions – the rawness and intense vulnerability of teetering on the edge of something new coupled with the power and euphoria that come with self-discovery … Sams’ unflinching observation yet tender empathy for each of her characters sets her apart as a bold new talent * STYLIST, BOOK OF THE WEEK *The earthy resilience and joie de vivre of these stories make for an exhilarating debut ... Sams joins the ranks of writers such as Megan Nolan and Frances Leviston with these acute portraits of the fragile intimacies and euphoric moments snatched by a generation of women coming of age into a precarious future ... In spare, rhythmic sentences, this exhilarating collection captures the light and dark of negotiating relationships, solitude, sexuality and loss * GUARDIAN *An ode to the women you drunkenly befriend in club toilets, Send Nudes is an astonishing selection of short stories charting the ebb and flow of girlhood. Saba Sams' authoritative yet witty tone of voice shines through, rendering this one of the most exciting books to come out of 2022 * GLAMOUR, THE BEST BOOKS COMING OUT IN 2022 *Girlhood, womanhood and everything in between. Ten glorious stories – set in clubs at closing time, pub toilets, sweaty music festivals and hazy beach holidays – of young, feral women who are navigating the complexities of growing up, friendships and truly living in their own bodies * REFINERY29, The Ultimate Gen Z Book Guide For Surviving 2022 *A collection of short stories that speak to the female experiencer * COSMOPOLITAN, BEST BOOKS OF 2022 *In ten quickfire stories, Brighton-born Saba Sams conjures up the spaces between lovers, the visceral attraction and the damning rejection. Read in one sitting and you’ll be transported to moments in your past, to scenes you instantly recognise but may have deliberately forgotten; a must-read for 2022 * STYLIST, The fiction books you can’t miss in 2022 *A visceral and compulsive writer, Saba Sams’ ten short stories slalom through the pulsing veins of romance, rejection, and resistance to a world that attempts to box in every young woman. Painfully familiar feelings are dredged up, but it’s so utterly compelling it can be consumed in one sitting. I have fallen in love with Sams’ feral women, found in club toilets, on beach towels, in ferocious friendships, navigating tense family dynamics and body politics * AnOTHER, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2022 *A razor-sharp debut * VOGUE, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2022 *I still remember where I was when I first encountered a Saba Sams story. She is an instinctive storyteller attuned to the ordinary details that make up a life. A highly perceptive and intelligent writer -- NICOLE FLATTERYAcclaimed by Emma Cline, Nicole Flattery and Megan Nolan, this debut short story collection from 25-year-old British author Saba Sams announces the arrival of a striking new talent … Wry, visceral, astute, they capture the intensity of adolescent self-consciousness and fledgling experience * CULTURE WHISPER *If you’ve made it your 2022 mission to cut down on screen time, there’s no shortage of brilliant new fiction to scratch the escapist itch that social media has left. Send Nudes by Saba Sams is a collection of short stories perfect for those who are pressed for time (and attention span), all focused on the world of girlhood and growing up as a woman (fans include Emma Cline and Megan Nolan) * EVENING STANDARD, CLASS OF 2022 *Beautiful, compressed, fleeting -- SALLY ROONEY on 'Overnight'A roiling, raw, gut-punch of a debut collection, best read in one sitting. Sams conveys the suffocation of being and the longing to break free - from parents, partners, children, convention, your own self - in tender, spare prose. I sat motionless for about half an hour after reading them; I can't wait to see what she writes next. -- PANDORA SYKESSend Nudes is a seriously impressive debut. Saba Sams digs into the chaos, euphoria and menace of sexual attraction, friendship and family with bravery and wit. The balance her prose strikes between observation and empathy is remarkable, and its rhythms irresistible -- CHRIS POWERSaba Sams’ writing is dark and glittering. Her collection twists the world on its axis and filters it through an unsettling light. Her precise, wry sentences and sticky, uncompromising characters got beneath my skin -- JESSICA ANDREWSI really liked Saba Sams' spare, blunt style and her quirky take on adolescence and young womanhood. The stories covered such a wide range of moods and experiences and the various humiliations and disappointments were treated with a wonderfully clear and unsentimental eye ... I hope this collection brings her lots of new readers -- CLARE CHAMBERSUnfalteringly different, ensnaring, often frightening stories about characters caught between childhood and adulthood, who are feeling out their boundaries, desires and limits for the first time. Sams’ writing is intoxicating -- CLAIRE KOHDAIn Send Nudes Saba Sams provides an alluring glimpse into contemporary life by presenting familiar experiences in entirely new and electrifying prose -- ZEBA TALKHANITen short stories about the treacherous terrain of growing up, learning to live in your body, friendships, mothers and blended families introduce a promising debut author, whose work has appeared in The Stinging Fly * IRISH INDEPENDENT, HOTTEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR *

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Book SynopsisFaber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes, presents masters of the short story form at work in a range of genres and styles.

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Book SynopsisThis new volume of eight short stories offers students of German at all levels the opportunity to enjoy a wide range of contemporary literature in the original, with the aid of parallel translations.The majority of these stories have been written in the past decade, and reflect a rich diversity of styles and themes. Complete with notes, the stories make excellent reading in either language.Table of ContentsShort Stories in GermanIntroductionThe Listener, or a Description of a Route with a Hidden MotiveSiegfried Lenz (b. 1926)Waiting for the Guests Dieter Wellershoff (b. 1925)Eating Mussels (Excerpt) Birgit Vanderbeke (b. 1956)The Good Old Days Gabriele Wohmann (b. 1932)Lascia Judith Hermann (b. 1970)Chicago/Shanty Town Georg Klein (b. 1953)Grandfather and the Decision-makers Christoph Hein (b. 1944)The Suspect Jurek Becker (b. 1937)Notes on German TextAcknowledgments

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Book SynopsisThis generous collection of fifty-two stories selected from across her prolific career by the author, is preceded by a preface in which she discusses the sources of her art.With irony and an unfailing eye for the telling detail, Gallant weaves stories of spare complexity, often pushing the boundaries of the form in boldly unconventional directions. The settings in the COLLECTED STORIES range from Paris to Berlin to Switzerland, from the Riviera to the Côte d'Azur, and her characters are almost all exiles of one sort or another, as she herself was the most of her expatriate life. The wit and precision of her prose, combined with her expansive view of humanity, provide a rare and deep reading pleasure. With breathtaking control and compression, Gallant delivers a whole life, a whole world, in each story.Trade ReviewOne of the most brilliant story writers in the language. * The New Yorker *Gallant's talent is as versatile and witty as it is somber and empathetic. -- John UpdikeFunny, exacting, and stern... Gallant's chronicles of internal and external exile are a fitting tribute to a diasporic century. * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisIlka Weisz is in need not just of friends but ''elective cousins''. She has left her home in New York to accept a junior teaching post at the prestigious Concordance Institute, a liberal college in bucolic Connecticut. But how can she, a Jewish refugee from Vienna, find a new set to belong to - a surrogate family? Might the Shakespeares - the institute''s director and his wry, acerbic wife - hold the key?In these interlinked New Yorker stories, Lore Segal evokes the comic melancholy of the outsider and the ineffectual ambitions of a progressive, predominantly WASP-ish institution. Tragedy and loss haunt characters as they plan an academic symposium on genocide, while their privileged lives contrast starkly with those on a derelict housing project next door. Includes the acclaimed New Yorker podcast story, "The Reverse Bug".

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Book Synopsis''It''s an improbable city, Bologna - like one you might walk through after you have died.''A dreamlike meditation on memory, food, paintings, a fond uncle and the improbable beauty of Bologna, from the visionary thinker and art critic.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York''s underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

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Book SynopsisA mindbending new collection of short stories from the unique, internationally acclaimed author of Norwegian Wood and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle.THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThe eight masterly stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator. From nostalgic memories of youth, meditations on music and an ardent love of baseball to dreamlike scenarios, an encounter with a talking monkey and invented jazz albums, together these stories challenge the boundaries between our minds and the exterior world. Occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Murakami himself is present. Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides.Philosophical and mysterious, the stories in First Person Singular all touch beautifully on love and solitude, childhood and memory. . . all with a signature Murakami twist.A GUARDIAN AND SUNDAY TIMES 'BOOKS OF 2021' PICKTrade ReviewFirst Person Singular is a patch of intense variety and colour... Murakami's protagonists tend to be introspective, ordinary men who find themselves confronted by women and unusual situations. It is as much their reactions to events as the events themselves that make his books so brilliant -- Arjun Neil Alim * Evening Standard *Mind-bending...touches beautifully on love, solitude, childhood memories, dreamlike scenarios, invented jazz albums and meditations on music. In true Murakami tale-telling perfection, it's devourable * Irish Daily Mail *I never tire of re-entering Murakami's world, finding his Proustian ability to covey the texture of memory exhilarating, and his fatalistic heroes and their deadpan response to the melodramatic and the outré soothing -- Jake Kerridge * Daily Telegraph *These stories are unmistakably Murakami's for the way they traffic in his signature themes of time and memory, nostalgia and young love... each one [story] has insights that remain with you long after they are done -- Alexander Nurnberh * Sunday Times *The hallmarks of Haruki Murakami's longer fiction are all here; an enigmatic eeriness which hints at the supernatural in everyday situations, a love of jazz and baseball, and the nourishing nostalgia of pop music * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisIn France, Mattie feels 20 again. In Poland, Magda revisits her impoverished family. In Uzbekistan, Diana lets a fellow tourist kiss her. In Germany, Lynn loses her luggage on the Düsseldorf train.The Hopeful Traveller is a collection of short stories about—and told by—single women who have put the past behind them but are still looking for their anchor in the present. It includes bitter-sweet accounts of the freedoms of postwar life, of foreign travel, of the rekindling of old friendships and of the search for new ones. The stories speak of cosmopolitan, self-confident, well-heeled characters, in an era just before the birth of feminism, conventional in their expectations of men, always just a step away from displacement and alienation.Set variously in Paris, Kalisz, Samarkand, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Erfurt, Singapore and London, these stories, from a much-admired veteran writer, offer a teasing mix of realism and fantasy, wish-fulfilment and regret. Some of these stories have appeared in translation in overseas annuals and collections.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Pari Perspectives 1; On the Terrace 5; The Way to the Park 20; Trees 27; The Hopeful Traveller 49; Nothing to do with the Moon 75; In the Heat of the Sun 96; Pearl of Wisdom 121; A Visit to Erfurt 137; Ghosts 147; Hothouse 155; The Babysitter 179; Sauce for the Goose 193; The Overcrowded Inn 220.

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Book SynopsisPalestine + 100 poses a question to twelve Palestinian writers: what might your country look like in the year 2048 - a century after the tragedies and trauma of what has come to be called the Nakba? How might this event - which, in 1948, saw the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes - reach across a century of occupation, oppression, and political isolation, to shape the country and its people? Will a lasting peace finally have been reached, or will future technology only amplify the suffering and mistreatment of Palestinians? Covering a range of approaches - from SF noir, to nightmarish dystopia, to high-tech farce - these stories use the blank canvas of the future to reimagine the Palestinian experience today. Along the way, we encounter drone swarms, digital uprisings, time-bending VR, peace treaties that span parallel universes, and even a Palestinian superhero, in probably the first anthology of science fiction from Palestine ever.

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Book SynopsisCAPTIVATING LOVE STORIES CELEBRATED AND RETOLDTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND GLOBAL HITAs seen on BBC2 Between the Covers''Perfection in short story form. So rarely is love expressed this richly, this vividly, or this artfully.'' CANDICE CARTY-WILLIAMS''Beautifully written and full of joy. Bolu Babalola is a star.'' MEG CABOT''Here is love as freedom, love as deep joy. Romance will never be dead, as long as Bolu is writing it.'' JESSIE BURTON__________Bolu Babalola takes the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology and rewrites them with incredible new detail and vivacity in her debut collection. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines iconic Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from countries that no longer exist in our world. A high-born Nigerian goddess feels beaten down and unapprecTrade ReviewIf you're tired of conventional love stories, 'Love in Colour' is a captivating collection of love stories inspired by Greek mythology and Nigerian folklore. * Melan magazine *

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Book SynopsisEditedand with an Introduction by David Stuart Davies. ‘Have you ever heard of the fascination of terror?’ This is a unique collection of strange stories from the cunning pen of Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. The star attraction is the novella The Haunted Hotel, a clever combination of detective and ghost story set in Venice, a city of grim waterways, dark shadows and death. The action takes place in an ancient palazzo coverted into a modern hotel that houses a grisly secret. The supernatural horror, relentless pace, tight narrative, and a doomed countess characterise and distinguish this powerful tale. The other stories present equally disturbing scenarios, which include ghosts, corpses that move, family curses and perhaps the most unusual of all, the Devil's spectacles, which bring a clarity of vision that can lead to madness.

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Book SynopsisThe perfect festive treat: a beautifully illustrated book of Christmas stories and recipes from the Booker prize long-listed author.'Packed with charm and beautifully illustrated, it's a book that will solve your gift dilemmas and let you escape the less salubrious aspects of Christmas for a literary wonderland' StylistEverybody loves a Christmas story. The tradition of the Twelve Days of Christmas is a tradition of celebration, sharing and giving. And what better way to do that than with a story?Read these stories by the fire, in the snow, travelling home for the holidays. Give them to friends, wrap them up for someone you love, read them aloud, read them alone, read them together. Enjoy the season of peace and goodwill, mystery, and a little bit of magic.There are ghosts here and jovial spirits. Chances at love and tricks with time.There is frost and icicles, mistletoe and sledges. There's a cat and a dog and a solid silver frog. There's a Christmas cracker with a surprising gift inside.There's a haunted house and a SnowMama. There are Yuletides and holly wreaths. Three Kings. And a merry little Christmas time.And for the icing on the Christmas cake, there are twelve festive recipes from Yuletides past and present. Red cabbage, gravlax, turkey biryani, sherry trifle, Mrs Winterson's mince pies and more.Trade ReviewPacked with charm and beautifully illustrated, it's a book that will solve your gift dilemmas and let you escape the less salubrious aspects of Christmas for a literary wonderland. * Stylist *Winterson’s winter tales unfailingly succeed in their endeavour to leave you aglow. * Guardian *Winterson's prose is often witty and sometimes lyrical . . . The recipes come with intriguing glimpses of the writer, her friends, and their Christmas rituals. Spooky, inventive, funny . . . Winterson's mixed bag of fictional treats has a 19th-century charm much needed in the grim 21st. * Kirkus *Starred Review* *A pretty cloth-bound book containing an enchanting collection of recipes and short stories… suitably festive with icicles and plenty of mistletoe. -- Laura Powell * Sunday Telegraph, Book of the Year *A wonderful mix of festive stories and recipes. * Good Housekeeping *

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Book SynopsisOne day, at dinner, Aschenbach notices an exceptionally beautiful young boy who is staying with his family in the same hotel. Soon his days begin to revolve around seeing this boy and he is too distracted to pay attention to the ominous rumours that have begun to circulate about disease spreading through the city.Trade ReviewThe real theme is fading creativity and the search for inspiration...A deep and highly complex drama of the psyche * Financial Times *This complex fin-de-siecle masterpiece...seems eerily to pre-echo the destructive decadence that would shortly shatter European civilisation itself * The Times *Thomas Mann's story of obsession and spiritual malaise * Observer *What Mann understands and laughs at, though it grips him, is the quasi-sexual attraction of beauty and philosophy...Death in Venice is one of the undisputed classics of contemporary European literature * Independent *Mann's obsessive story explores the complex, haunted relationship between an ageing writer and a beautiful Polish boy * Express *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2015 International Frank O’Connor Short Story AwardWinner of the 2015 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered PrizeShortlisted for the 2015 Wales Book of the Year: FictionShortlisted for the 2015 Edge Hill Short Story PrizeThe Globe 100: The Best International Fiction of 2017In a remote Australian settlement a young wife with an untellable secret reluctantly invites her neighbour into her home. A Quaker spinster offers companionship to a condemned man in a Colorado jail. In the ice and snows of Siberia an office employee from Birmingham witnesses a scene that will change her life. At a jubilee celebration in a northern English town a middle-aged alderman opens his heart to Queen Victoria. A teenage daughter leaves home in search of adventure. High in the Cumbrian fells a woman seeks help from her father’s enemy.Spare, precise, charged with a prickly wit, the stories in Carys Davies's sparkling second collection remind us how little we know of the lives of others.Trade ReviewExtraordinarily powerful -- VS Pritchett Prize judges Jane Gardam, Penelope Lively and Jacob Ross on The Redemption of Galen PikeThis story of brutal murder and rough justice in the American Wild West carried a real punch. As if Mark Twain and Annie Proulx had sat down at a desk together. But an original voice too. I shall be looking out for more. -- Piers PlowrightKaren E Bender, Carys Davies, Tony Earley, Kirsty Gunn and Alejandro Zambra on shortlist for world’s richest short story prize … Jennifer Hamilton-Emery of Salt Publishing said: “We were completely bowled over when we heard the news that Carys Davies' book, The Redemption of Galen Pike, had been shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor prize. It is, without doubt, the world's most prestigious prize for short stories and to have a book placed up there with the best collections internationally is something we've dreamt of for many years. We are delighted for Carys, it is a fantastic achievement, and delighted too that her book has received such recognition.” -- Martin Doyle * The Irish Times *Outstanding...perfectly distilled, intense...exquisite. * The Yorkshire Post *Confirms beyond doubt her position among the finest British exponents of a particularly challenging form. * The Irish Examiner *This delicate, magical collection won the Frank O’Connor Award for Short Stories and the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize and it’s easy to see why. They are precise but full of beautifully observed details that fill compact vignettes with incident and emotion. -- Charlotte Heathcote * Daily Express *This book is so wonderful! It’s fantastic. -- Sarah Jessica Parker * Read It Forward! *Her collection, The Redemption of Galen Pike, is published by the small UK independent press Salt. Its subjects span the world, with stories set everywhere from a remote Australian settlement, where a young wife has a secret, to a Colorado jail, where a Quaker woman meets a condemned man in his final hours in the title story. -- Alison Flood * The Guardian *One of the things that I loved so much about The Redemption of Galen Pike is one of the things that makes it incredibly difficult to write about – the scope of these stories in both time and place are epic… It is simply a stunning collection of stories. -- Simon Savidge * Savidge Reads *This sophisticated collection observes that everyone contains multitudes, and people’s darkest corners are what make them interesting. The book never falters in its delicate touch and confident, nuanced observations about the human condition. * Publishers Weekly *It’s little wonder that Davies was winner of the 2015 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, a prize previously given to the likes of Yiyun Li, Jhumpa Lahiri, Haruki Murakami and Edna O’Brien. The Redemption of Galen Pike is a stunning achievement, and Carys Davies a writer to celebrate. -- Stephen Finucan * The Star *Table of Contents The Quiet On Commercial Hill Jubilee The Travellers Myth Bonnet First Journeyman Precious The Taking of Bunny Clay Miracle at Hawk’s Bay In the Cabin in the Woods The Coat The Redemption of Galen Pike Wicked Fairy Creed Nothing Like My Nightmare Sibyl Notes & Acknowledgements Note on ‘Bonnet’

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Book SynopsisReading the stories of Somerset Maugham is rather like curling up and up listening to the delicious, risqué tales of an old, dear and rather wicked friend. You turn the pages and enter a magical world of fabulous characters, are transported to the very place, the villa, the street, the bar, of which he writes. This Macmillan Collector’s Library selection features ten of his finest and most vivid stories: 'The Letter', 'The Verger', 'The Vessel of Wrath', 'The Book-Bag', 'The Facts of Life', 'Lord Mountdrago', 'The Colonel's Lady', 'The Treasure', 'Rain' and 'P&O'.This elegant edition of W. Somerset Maugham's Best Short Stories features an afterword by writer and journalist Ned Halley.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

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