Biographical fiction / autobiographical fiction
Penguin Books Ltd The Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Book SynopsisA new translation and abridgement of one of the four classical Chinese novels - an epic story of warring factions in the era of China''s Han dynastyPart historical and part legend, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms dramatizes the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, recounting their personal and military battles, intrigues and struggles to achieve dominance for almost a hundred years. It is one of the most beloved works of East Asian literature, and the most famous historical novel in China.
£12.34
Penguin Books Ltd Tender is the Night
Book Synopsis''I don''t ask you to love me always like this, but I ask you to remember. Somewhere inside me there''ll always be the person I am to-night.''Between the First World War and the Wall Street Crash the French Riviera was the stylish place for wealthy Americans to visit. Among the most fashionable are psychoanalyst Dick Diver and his wife Nicole, who hold court at their villa. Into their circle comes Rosemary Hoyt, a film star, who is instantly attracted to them, but understands little of the dark secrets and hidden corruption that hold them together. As Dick draws closer to Rosemary, he fractures the delicate structure of his marriage and sets both Nicole and himself on to a dangerous path where only the strongest can survive. In this exquisite, lyrical novel, Fitzgerald has poured much of the essence of his own life; he has also depicted the age of materialism, shattered idealism and broken dreams.The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers'' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.
£9.25
Penguin Books Ltd Amerika
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNo other voice has borne truer witness to the dark of our times -- George SteienrHe is the greatest German writer of our time. Such poets as Rilke or such novelists as Thomas Mann are dwarfs or plaster saints in comparison to him -- Vladimir NabokovIt was Kafka who made me understand that one can write differently -- Gabriel García Márquez
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd (UK) The Escape of Arsène Lupin
Book Synopsis90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books'When I decide to escape I shall want nobody's assistance.' In this thrilling collection, we meet Arsène Lupin, a brilliant, alluring master of disguise or, as some would have it, a notorious criminal. We follow him on a series of high-stakes adventures, from ingenious heists of invaluable paintings to daring escapes, each one showcasing his intellect, charm, and extraordinary ability to stay one step ahead of the law.
£5.99
British Library Publishing Our Haunted Shores
Book SynopsisThis new collection of fifteen short stories, six folk tales and four poems ranging from 1789 to 1933 offers a chilling literary tour of the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man, including haunting pieces by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Bram Stoker and Charlotte Riddell.
£999.99
Arcturus Publishing The Voyage Out
Book SynopsisVirginia Woolf, who was to become a major figure in the Bloomsbury Group of intellectuals, was born into an intellectual family in 1882. Her mother died when she was 13 and the death of her half-sister Stella two years later led to her first nervous breakdown. Woolf suffered from fragile mental health all her life and on 28 March 1941, after filling the pockets of her overcoat with stones, she walked into the River Ouse near her home and drowned herself.
£9.49
Arcturus Publishing Anton Chekovs Selected Short Stories
Book SynopsisAnton Chekhov (1860-1904) was one of Russia's greatest short story writers, a playwright and a novelist. He worked as a doctor, too, and initially began writing for the financial rewards it presented.Constance Garnett (1861-1946) was an English translator of nineteenth-century Russian literature. She was the first to translate Dostoyevsky and Chekhov into English and these translations remain highly acclaimed.
£8.54
Arcturus Publishing Alices Adventures in Wonderland
Book SynopsisLewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), an English writer, mathematician and academic. It was while working as a lecturer at Oxford University that Carroll met the daughter of Henry George Liddell, dean of Christ Church College. Four year old Alice became the audience for Carroll's fantastical stories and the inspiration for his much-loved lead character.Sir John Tenniel (1820-1914) was an prominent illustrator and political cartoonist. An alumnus of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he was knighted for artistic achievements in 1893, the first such honour ever bestowed on an illustrator. He was the principal cartoonist for the bestselling satirical magazine Punch and is also known for his illustrations of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
£15.29
Union Square & Co. Walden and Civil Disobedience
Book SynopsisIn'Walden', Thoreau explains how separating oneself from the world of men can truly awaken the sleeping self. Thoreau holds fast to the notion that you have not truly existed until you adopt such a lifestyle and only then can you reenter society, as an enlightened being.
£16.14
Vintage Publishing The Great Gatsby
Book SynopsisFrancis Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. His first novel, This Side of Paradise, was published in 1920 and was a tremendous critical and commercial success. Fitzgerald followed with The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night . He was working on The Last Tycoon when he died, in Hollywood, in 1940.
£17.09
Bonnier Books Ltd Local Heavens
£15.29
Pushkin Press The Sirens Lament
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Union Square & Co. The Iliad
£16.14
Union Square & Co. The Prince
£14.44
Oxford University Press Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre
Book Synopsis`Upon her neck and breast was blood, and upon her throat were the marks of teeth having opened the vein: - to this the men pointed, crying, simultaneously struck with horror, a Vampyre, a Vampyre!'' John Polidori''s classic tale of the vampyre was a product of the same ghost-story competition that produced Mary Shelley''s Frankenstein. Set in Italy, Greece, and London, Polidori''s tales is a reaction to the dominating presence of his employer Lord Byron, and transformed the figure of the vampire from the bestial ghoul of earlier mythologies into the glamorous aristocrat whose violence and sexual allure make him literally a ''lady-killer''. Polidori''s tale introduced the vampire into English fiction, and launched a vampire craze that has never subsided. `The Vampyre'' was first published in 1819 in the London New Monthly Magazine. The present volume selects thirteen other tales of the macabre first published in the leading London and Dublin magazines between 1819 and 1838, including Edward Bulwer''s chilling account of the doppelganger, Letitia Landon''s elegant reworking of the Gothic romance, William Carleton''s terrifying description of an actual lynching, and James Hogg''s ghoulish exploitation of the cholera epidemic of 1831-2. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewI enjoyed the collection very much, and recommend it as a good mix of stories that are a little different from the norm. * FictionFan *Moving effortlessly from folklore to melodrama, the Introduction assesses the position that Polidori's story . . . We may not be ableto recover the experience of the origianl readers, but we can be grateful to the editors for bringing back to life tales that are not only of academic interest but which still exert their own nightmarish fascination * Studies in Hogg and his World *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Note on the Text ; Select Bibliography ; Chronology of the Magazines ; The Vampyre ; Sir Guy Eveling's Dream ; Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman ; Edward Bulwer ; The Master of Logan ; The Victim ; Some Terrible Letters from Scotland ; The Curse ; Life in Death ; My Hobby - Rather ; The Red Man ; Post-Mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer ; The Bride of Lindorf ; Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess ; Appendix A: Preliminaries for 'The Vampyre' ; Appendix B: John Polidori, Note on the Vampyre ; Appendix C: Lord Byron: 'Augustus Darvell' ; Biographical Notes, Explanatory Notes
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens Penguin
Book Synopsis'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...' Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities portrays a world on fire, split between Paris and London during the brutal and bloody events of the French Revolution. After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There, two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine. This edition uses the text as it appeared in its first serial publication in 1859 to convey the full scope of Dickens's vision, and includes the original illustrations by H.K. Browne ('Phiz')Trade Review“[A Tale of Two Cities] has the best of Dickens and the worst of Dickens: a dark, driven opening, and a celestial but melodramatic ending; a terrifyingly demonic villainess and (even by Dickens’ standards) an impossibly angelic heroine. Though its version of the French Revolution is brutally simplified, its engagement with the immense moral themes of rebirth and terror, justice, and sacrifice gets right to the heart of the matter . . . For every reader in the past hundred and forty years and for hundreds to come, it is an unforgettable ride.”–from the Introduction by Simon Schama
£8.65
Oxford University Press The Phantom of the Opera
Book SynopsisLeroux's classic Gothic melodrama, here freshly presented in a vivid new translation, with informative introduction and notes. The original novel behind Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous musical, The Phantom of the Opera tells of the masked Phantom whose obsessive love for Christine Daaé sets in chain a series of terrifying events.
£8.54
Oxford University Press Around the World in Eighty Days
Book SynopsisHaving assured the members of London''s exclusive Reform Club that he will circumnavigate the world in 80 days, Fogg - stiff, repressed, English - starts by joining forces with an irrepressible Frenchman, Passepartout, and then with a ravishing Indian beauty, Aouda. Together they slice through jungles, over snowbound passes, even across an entire isthmus - only to get back five minutes late. Fogg faces despair and suicide, but Aouda makes a new man of him, able to face even the Reform Club again. Around the World in Eighty Days (1872) contains a strong dose of post-Romantic reality plus extensive borrowing from the author''s own Journey to England and Scotland - but not a shred of science fiction. Its modernism lies instead in the experimental literary technique, with parallel plots, a narrator constantly made to look foolish, four characters in search of their own unconscious, and a unique twisting of space and time. Verne''s classic, a bestseller for over a century, has never appeared in a critical edition before. William Butcher''s stylish new translation moves as fast and as brilliantly as Fogg''s own journey. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade Reviewelegant * Daily Telegraph *by far the best translations/critical editions available * Science-Fiction Studies *
£8.54
HarperCollins Publishers The Little Prince
Book SynopsisFew books have been as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince.A beautiful gift edition of this touching and wise classic children''s book, with the original translation by Katherine Woods and full-colour illustrations.A pilot stranded in the desert awakes one morning to see the most extraordinary little fellow standing before him. Please, asks the stranger, draw me a sheep.And the pilot realises that when life's events are too difficult to understand, there is no choice but to succumb to their mysteries. He pulls out a pencil and paper and thus begins this wise and enchanting fable that, in teaching the secret of what is really important in life, has changed the world forever for its readers.This stunning new edition of the classic children''s book The Little Prince, includes the classic English translation by Katherine Woods and original colour illustrations which will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944) was
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Collins Classics
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.Come along, Toto, she said. We will go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again.'Swept away from her home in Kansas by a tornado, Dorothy and her dog Toto find themselves stranded in the fantastical Land of Oz. As instructed by the Good Witch of the North and the Munchkins, Dorothy sets off on the yellow brick road to try and find her way to the Emerald City and the Wizard of Oz, who can help her get home.With her companions the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, Dorothy experiences an adventure full of friendship, magic and danger. A much-loved children's classic, The Wizard of Oz continues to delight readers young and old with its enchanting tale of witches, flying monkeys and silver shoes.
£5.62
Oxford University Press North and South
Book SynopsisThrough the story of Margaret Hale, the middle-class southerner who moves to the northern industrial town of Milton, Gaskell skilfully explores issues of class and gender in the conflict between Margaret's ready sympathy with the workers and her growing attraction to the charismatic mill owner, John Thornton. This new revised and expanded edition sets the novel in the context of Victorian social and medical debate.
£8.04
Penguin Books Ltd Pamela
Book SynopsisI cannot be patient, I cannot be passive, when my virtue is in danger.Fifteen-year-old Pamela Andrews, alone and unprotected, is relentlessly pursued by her dead mistress’s son. Although she is attracted to young Mr B., she holds out against his demands and threats of abduction and rape, determined to defend her virginity and abide by her own moral standards. Psychologically acute in its investigations of sex, freedom and power, Richardson’s first novel caused a sensation when it was first published, with its depiction of a servant heroine who dares to assert herself. Richly comic and full of lively scenes and descriptions, Pamela contains a diverse cast of characters, ranging from the vulgar and malevolent Mrs Jewkes to the aggressive but awkward country squire who serves this unusual love story as both its villain and its hero.This edition incorporates all the revisions made by Richardson in his lifetime. Margaret A. Doody’s introd
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Portrait of a Lady
Book SynopsisThe Penguin English Library edition of The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James''She knew of no wrong that he had done; he was not violent, he was not cruel; she simply believed that he hated her''When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American, is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy her freedom, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors. Then she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Gilbert Osmond. Charming and cultivated, Osmond sees Isabel as a rich prize waiting to be taken. In this portrait of a ''young woman affronting her destiny'', Henry James created one of his most magnificent heroines, and a story of intense poignancy.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers Agatha Christies Miss Marple
Book SynopsisThe definitive companion to the MISS MARPLE novels, short stories, films and TV appearances, now revised and updated.Trade Review‘A great treat for Agatha Christie addicts.’DAILY MAIL ‘Elegantly arranged and presented.’DAILY TELEGRAPH ‘A fine feat of detection.’DAILY EXPRESS
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd Silas Marner
Book SynopsisGeorge Eliot''s tale of a solitary miser gradually redeemed by the joy of fatherhood, Silas Marner is edited with an introduction and notes by David Carroll in Penguin Classics. Wrongly accused of theft and exiled from a religious community many years before, the embittered weaver Silas Marner lives alone in Raveloe, living only for work and his precious hoard of money. But when his money is stolen and an orphaned child finds her way into his house, Silas is given the chance to transform his life. His fate, and that of Eppie, the little girl he adopts, is entwined with Godfrey Cass, son of the village Squire, who, like Silas, is trapped by his past. Silas Marner, George Eliot''s favourite of her novels, combines humour, rich symbolism and pointed social criticism to create an unsentimental but affectionate portrait of rural life. This text uses the Cabinet edition, revised by George Eliot in 1878. David Carroll''s introduction is complemented by the original Penguin Classics edition introduction by Q.D. Leavis. Mary Ann Evans (1819-80) began her literary career as a translator, and later editor, of the Westminster Review. In 1857, she published Scenes of Clerical Life, the first of eight novels she would publish under the name of ''George Eliot'', including The Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch, and Daniel Deronda. If you enjoyed Silas Marner, you might like Nathaniel Hawthorne''s The Scarlet Letter, also available in Penguin Classics. ''I think Silas Marner holds a higher place than any of the author''s works. It is more nearly a masterpiece; it has more of that simple, rounded, consummate aspect ... which marks a classical work'' Henry JamesTrade Review"I think Silas Marner holds a higher place than any of the author's works. It is more nearly a masterpiece; it has more of that simple, rounded, consummate aspect. . .which marks a classical work."—Henry James
£999.99
Oxford University Press Frankenstein
Book Synopsis
£6.99
Oxford University Press The Confusions of Young Törless
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis volume is an admirable addition to the Oxford World's Classics, with some good commentary inbetween on the quality of the translation and the helpfulness of both introduction and notes. * David Midgley, Times Literary Supplement *A wonderful time to reissue this book. * Winston's Dad *
£8.54
Oxford University Press The Europeans A Sketch Oxford Worlds Classics
Book Synopsis
£7.59
Oxford University Press First Love and Other Stories
Book SynopsisTrade Review'Turgenev's superbly ironic story, The Diary Of A Superfluous Man, in which a dying man reflects on the futility of his life, is among the six collected in this volume, in Oxford University Press's valuable series of classic texts.' GuardianTable of ContentsThe Diary of a Superfluous Man; Mumu; Asya; First Love; King Lear of the Steppes; The Song of Triumphant Love
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Bostonians A Novel Penguin Classics
Book Synopsis‘There was nothing weak about Miss Olive, she was a fighting woman, and she would fight him to the death’ Basil Ransom, an attractive young Mississippi lawyer, is on a visit to his cousin Olive, a wealthy feminist, in Boston when he accompanies her to a meeting on the subject of women’s emancipation. One of the speakers is Verena Tarrant, and although he disapproves of all she claims to stand for, Basil is immediately captivated by her and sets about ‘reforming’ her with his traditional views. But Olive has already made Verena her protégée, and soon a battle is under way for exclusive possession of her heart and mind. The Bostonians is one of James’s most provocative and astute portrayals of a world caught between old values and the lure of progress.Richard Lansdown’s introduction discusses The Bostonians as James’s most successful political work and his funniest novel. This editionTrade Review“As devastating in its wit as it is sharp in its social critique of sexual politics. No writer in America had dared the subject before. No one has done it so well since.” —The New Republic
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd Lark Rise to Candleford
Book SynopsisFlora Thompson''s immortal trilogy, containing Lark Rise, Over To Candleford and Candleford Green, is a heartwarming portrayal of country life at the close of the 19th century. This story of three closely related Oxfordshire communities - a hamlet, the nearby village and a small market town - is based on the author''s experiences during childhood and youth. It chronicles May Day celebrations and forgotten children''s games, the daily lives of farmworkers and craftsmen, friends and relations - all painted with a gaiety and freshness of observation that make this trilogy an evocative and sensitive memorial to Victorian rural England.With a new introduction by Richard Mabey
£9.49
Profile Books Ltd To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life
Book SynopsisWith a foreword by Maggie Nelson, an introduction from Frieze editor Andrew Durbin and afterword from Edmund White 'Unforgettable, heartbreaking' New York Times 'Brilliant' - Dazed 'As brutal as it is elegant' - Neil Bartlett 'Electrifying' - Colm Tóibín 'Dazzling' - Katherine Angel After being diagnosed with AIDS, Hervé Guibert wrote this devastating, darkly humorous and personal novel, chronicling three months in the penultimate year of the narrator's life. In the wake of his friend Muzil's death, he goes from one quack doctor to another, from holidays to test centres, and charts the highs and lows of trying to cheat death. On publication in 1990, the novel scandalized French media, which quickly identified Muzil as Guibert's close friend Michel Foucault. The book became a bestseller, and Guibert a celebrity. The book has since attained a cult following for its tender, fragmented and beautifully written accounts of illness, friendship, sex, art and everyday life. It catapulted Guibert into notoriety and sealed his reputation as a writer of shocking precision and power.Trade Review[Full of] innovation and historical importance, ... breathtaking indiscretion, tenderness and gore. -- Parul Sehgal * New York Times *The father of autofiction, the master of finding that perfect balance of truth and beauty. * Guardian *As much about friendship, intimacy, and betrayal as it is about sickness. ... Brilliant * Dazed *Written with urgency, clarity, controlled rage. ... it is electrifying in its searing honesty -- Colm TóibínA writer of courage, beguiling flair * New Yorker *Relentlessly honest, extraordinarily truthful * Kirkus Reviews *This moving French bestseller ... reads like a personal memoir. Delivered with wit, verve and valor * Publishers Weekly *'Dark and unsettling, yet Guibert manages to find beauty and tenderness in the world around him.' -- Moyra Davey, author of Index CardsThe book is a lightly fictionalized (and magnificently indiscreet) account of the final days of the philosopher Michel Foucault, Guibert's neighbor and friend. Guibert possesses an aloof, silvery style - a cool envelope for scalding material: a homage to a friendship and its betrayal, and a document of the breakdown of his own body. It is an unforgettable, heartbreaking evocation of the early days of the epidemic, when gay men were forced to become their own scientists, lobbyists, archivists. -- Parul Sehgal * New York Times *Outstandingly colloquial and exact translation ... urgent and monitory. ... Restrained and controlled...but full of well-noticed contrasting details that combine to create an effect that Guibert...characterized as "barbarous and delicate." -- Marco Roth * Book Forum *'Reveals a writer of courage, beguiling flair, and sometimes maddening nastiness ... The rare book that truly deserves the epithet "unflinching." Its author may be afraid to die, but on the page his voice doesn't crack, his hand doesn't tremble. ... In Linda Coverdale's masterly translation ...[the book] powerfully evokes the aids epidemic's uncertain early days. * New Yorker *[Guibert's] work has been strangely neglected in the Anglophone world, never mind its innovation and historical importance, its breathtaking indiscretion, tenderness and gore. How can an artist so original, so thrillingly indifferent to convention and the tyranny of good taste - let alone one so prescient - remain untranslated and unread? -- Parul Sehgal * New York Times *One of the most beautiful, haunting, and fascinating works in the French autofictional canon. Guibert grapples with his own AIDS diagnosis, and the death of his friend Muzil, in a dazzling piece of writing. It's a book that gives me goose-bumps every time I open it - I'm thrilled that it's being reissued in the UK, where Guibert's extraordinary writing deserves to be much better known. -- Katherine AngelThirty years on, it can be hard to adequately describe what things felt like when AIDS first swung its wrecking ball. But that's exactly what Guibert achieves. He writes from the inside, and deploys every trick of his famously disinhibited prose to make sure that the squalor and madness of his journey through HIV infection hit us right between the eyes . His testimony is as brutal as it is elegant; shot through with a scalding and necessary rage. -- Neil Bartlett, author * Ready to Catch Him Should He Fall *
£10.44
Pan Macmillan Standing Her Ground
Book SynopsisAll the stories in Standing Her Ground have been chosen to celebrate the skill, the passion and achievements of women writers spanning one hundred years of innovation. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is edited by Harriet Sanders.Edith Wharton was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature. Writer and activist Alice Dunbar Nelson was an early adopter of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Kate Chopin and Elizabeth Gaskell dared to explore themes outside the strict social codes of their times. And Virginia Woolf was hugely influential in both the feminist and modernist movements.From ‘The Manchester Marriage’, in which a husband, supposedly drowned at sea, returns to find his daughter, to the two sisters who are comically adrift after t
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Beholders
Book Synopsis'Held me completely in its thrall until the very last line' SUSAN STOKES-CHAPMAN 'I was hooked from the start' DAILY MAIL A SUNDAY TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH A TIMES BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION DEBUT CROWN PRIZE June, 1878. The body of a boy is pulled from the depths of the River Thames, suspected to be the beloved missing child of the widely admired Liberal MP Ralph Gethin. Four months earlier. Harriet is a young maid newly employed at Finton Hall. Fleeing the drudgery of an unwanted engagement in the small village where she grew up, Harriet is entranced by the grand country hall; she is entranced too by her glamorous mistress Clara Gethin, whose unearthly singing voice floats through the house. But Clara, though captivating, is erratic. The master of the house is a much-lauded politician, but he is strangely absent. And some of their beautiful belongings seem to tell terrible stories. Unable to ignore her growing unease, Harriet sets out to discover their secrets. When she uncovers a shocking truth, a chain of events is set in motion that could cost Harriet everything, even her freedom What readers are saying 'I didn't want to stop reading!' ????? 'This story has everything: murder, love, intrigue and heartbreak' ????? 'Plenty of unexpected twists and turns. A sold five stars from me!' ????? 'I couldn't put it down til the very end' ????? 'Heartbreaking, intriguing, hard to put down' ?????
£9.49
HarperCollins Publishers The Analects
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.
£5.62
Penguin Books Ltd The Scarlet Letter
Book SynopsisThe Penguin English Library Edition of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne''Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, - stern and wild ones, - and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss''Fiercely romantic and hugely influential, The Scarlet Letter is the tale of Hester Prynne, imprisoned, publicly shamed, and forced to wear a scarlet ''A'' for committing adultery and bearing an illegitimate child, Pearl. In their small, Puritan village, Hester and her daughter struggle to survive, but in this searing study of the tension between private and public existence, Hester Prynne''s inner strength and quiet dignity means she has frequently been seen as one of the first great heroines of American fiction.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
£7.99
Penguin Books Ltd David Copperfield Charles Dickens Penguin
Book SynopsisNow a major film directed by Armando Iannucci, starring Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi and Ben WhishawDickens''s great coming-of-age novel, now in a beautiful clothbound Penguin editionThis is the novel Dickens regarded as his ''favourite child'' and is considered his most autobiographical. As David recounts his experiences from childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist, Dickens draws openly and revealingly on his own life. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters are Rosa Dartle, Dora, Steerforth, and the ''umble Uriah Heep, along with Mr Micawber, a portrait of Dickens''s own father which evokes a mixture of love, nostalgia and guilt.Dickens''s great Bildungsroman (based, in part, on his own boyhood) is a work filled with life, both comic and tragic.Charles Dickens (1812-70) had his first, astounding success with his first novel The Pickwick Papers and never looked back
£21.25
Oxford University Press Orlando
Book Synopsis''I feel the need of an escapade after these serious poetic experimental books...I want to kick up my heels & be off.''Orlando tells the tale of an extraordinary individual who lives through centuries of English history, first as a man, then as a woman; of his/her encounters with queens, kings, novelists, playwrights, and poets, and of his/her struggle to find fame and immortality not through actions, but through the written word. At its heart are the life and works of Woolf''s friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, and Knole, the historic home of the Sackvilles. But as well as being a love letter to Vita, Orlando mocks the conventions of biography and history, teases the pretensions of contemporary men of letters, and wryly examines sexual double standards. This new edition discusses Woolf''s stylistic aims, the biographical parallels, and the work''s literary context, and includes the original illustrations. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewIf you have always wanted to read Woolf but feel intimidated, Orlando is a good place to start. And you can't go wrong with this new Oxford edition. * Shiny New Books, Stefanie Hollmichel *
£7.59
Penguin Books Ltd A Spy In The House Of Love
Book SynopsisIntroducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world''s greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.Beautiful, bored and bourgeoise, Sabina leads a double life inspired by her relentless desire for fleeting romance. But when the secrecy of her affairs becomes too much to bear, Sabina makes a late night phone-call to a stranger from a bar, and begins a confession that captivates the unknown man and soon inspires him to seek her out...
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd (UK) Lady L.
Book Synopsis90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin BooksWhy should I bother to invent things? My life has been far more exciting and wonderful than any fairy-tale'In the heart of the English countryside, surrounded by irritatingly polite relatives and hopeless sycophants, Lady L. is celebrating her eightieth birthday. But as the guests disperse, she feels the undeniable pull of a mysterious pavilion in the lush grounds, and the terrible secret she buried there many years ago . . .
£5.99
Little, Brown Book Group Faces In The Water Janet Frame Virago Modern
Book Synopsis''One of the most impressive accounts of madness to be found in literature'' ANITA BROOKNER''Lyrical, touching and deeply entertaining'' JOHN MORTIMER, OBSERVER''Any one of her books could be published today and it would be ground-breaking'' ELEANOR CATTON''I was now an established citizen with little hope of returning across the frontier; I was in the crazy world, separated now by more than locked doors and barred windows from the people who called themselves sane.''When Janet Frame''s doctor suggested that she write about her traumatic experiences in mental institutions in order to free herself from them, the result was Faces in the Water, a powerful and poignant novel.Istina Mavet descends through increasingly desolate wards, with the threat of leucotomy ever present. As she observes her fellow patients, long dismissed by hospital staff with humour and compassion, she reveals her original and questing mind. This Trade ReviewOne of the most impressive accounts of madness to be found in literature . . . A masterpieceLyrical, touching and deeply entertaining * Observer *What an extraordinary woman she is, overcoming such obstacles, and making fresh and good use of them in her workJanet Frame's luminous words are the more precious because they were snatched from the jaws of the disaster of her early life . . . and yet to read her is no more difficult than breathingJanet Frame is the greatest New Zealand writer. She is utterly herself. Any one of her books could be published today and it would be ground-breaking
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Doctor Faustus
Book SynopsisA masterpiece of German modernism and one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century.Adrian Leverkühn is a young man destined for success.Trade ReviewArguably the great German novel * New York Times *Perhaps not since Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus has a novelist conveyed so tangibly and exaltedly the mechanism and the aesthetic effect in musical performance * New York Times *The real masterpiece * New York Times *Mann struggled with his own conflicted feelings about Germany and German culture, and in his magisterial Doctor Faustus found the perfect metaphor for what his country had done; it had bargained with the devil, and lost. * The Herald *
£11.69
Universitas Press The Picture of Dorian Gray
Book Synopsis
£12.56
Arcturus Publishing Ltd Alices Adventures In Wonderland
Book SynopsisThis elegant hardback edition presents Lewis Carroll''s best loved work, Alice''s Adventures in Wonderland, with gilded page edges and original pen and ink illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. First published in 1865, this perennially popular tale follows the tale of curious Alice and her fall through the rabbit hole into a fantasy world filled with anthropomorphic and peculiar creatures, including the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts. A lasting classic that plays with logic and the bizarre, this tale cannot fail to delight readers with its mix of prose and poetry.This elegant pocket-sized gift edition contains the classic and unabridged text, presented with a silver embossed cover design, patterned endpapers, red gilded page edges, ivory pages and original illustrations. Part of the Arcturus Ornate Classics series, this edition makes wonderful gift for adults and chi
£8.54
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Great Passion
Book SynopsisA SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR_______________'A masterpiece' SCOTSMAN'A wise, refreshing novel ... Runcie has an expert imagination' HILARY MANTELA masterclass in writing about the power of music and grief' THE TIMES, 100 best books for summer 2022_______________Love and Death. Grief and Joy. Music that lasts forever. Leipzig, 1726. Eleven-year-old Stefan Silbermann has just lost his mother. Sent to Leipzig to train as a singer in the St Thomas Church choir, he is rescued from his homesickness and grief by the Cantor: Johann Sebastian Bach himself. Stefan is brought into the Bach household as an apprentice - until a devastating loss brings his period of sanctuary to a close. Something is happening, though. In the depths of his loss, the Cantor is writing a new work. As Stefan watches the work rehearsed, he realises he is witness to the creation of one of the most extraordinary pieces of music that has ever been written. _______________Brilliant ... Readers will be enriched bTrade ReviewA beautifully calibrated novel ... Bach emerges as an intense, flawed, deeply religious man, and through a poignant exploration of grief and love, Runcie brings his glorious music thrillingly to life * MAIL ON SUNDAY *A riveting meditation on grief and the possibilities of music * SUNDAY TIMES, Best Books of 2022: Historical Fiction *A novel which deserves to last and will surely do so. It is surely James Runcie’s masterwork, a novel written with love and understanding * SCOTSMAN *Runcie is brilliant at chronicling Bach’s mission to take the messiness of grief and love and turn them into something beautiful and sacred. Even readers as tone-deaf as I am will be enriched by this novel and its glimpse at genius * THE TIMES, Historical Fiction of the Month *This wise, refreshing novel takes us to the heart of Bach’s life and work. James Runcie’s expert imagination makes his picture of Leipzig specific and convincing, and behind the music’s echo lies a touching human story. It offers a glimpse into a world more faithful and attentive than our own, but not alien to us: "we listen to music as survivors," the great Cantor says -- HILARY MANTELTo conjure him as a man, a writer needs to focus very sharply, and, whether in his bestselling Grantchester stories or award-winning documentaries, Runcie is expert at focus … Warmly, reverently, Runcie bring s alive what it is like to take part, for the very first time, in one of the most extraordinary pieces of music ever written * DAILY TELEGRAPH *In this moving and fascinating portrait of a rare moment in musical history, Runcie turns a legend into a real man, compellingly unveiling the intricate connection between passion, grief and the greatest art. Careful research and beautiful writing make this a memorable and rewarding read -- LUCY JAGOThe Great Passion is a novel revering the life and work of JS Bach, as told by a young boy soprano in Leipzig * IRISH INDEPENDENT, BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2022 *This is historical fiction of the highest order ... intricate and accessible * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review *I loved this book. Runcie’s description of the familiar music being rehearsed and performed for the first time is extraordinary * CHURCH TIMES *Like the St Matthew Passion, this is a novel filled not just with loss and lamentation but with transcendent joy. Runcie’s prose sings. Soli Deo gloria! * SAGA MAGAZINE *Wonderfully imagined * COUNTRY LIVING *A delightful novel filled with warmth, music, and an obvious love of Bach * KIRKUS *Praise for James Runcie: ‘Runcie has the gift of the born storyteller * DAILY MAIL *Tremendous: shrewd, compelling and full of insight -- WILLIAM BOYDA triumph of inspired imagination * FINANCIAL TIMES *It’s a warm, tender novel, brimful of emotion and empathy, as the fascinating characters grapple with faith, feelings and fellowship. But it’s Runcie’s description of the music that is truly marvellous. Intoxicating, insightful and revelatory, he brilliantly tackles the difficult task of using words to capture the intricacies of Bach’s fervent work on the beautiful, groundbreaking masterpiece, St Matthew Passion * DAILY MAIL *Runcie ... has a gift for capturing the past * INDEPENDENT.CO.UK *
£8.54
Notting Hill Editions The Lake Poets
£15.19
Oxford University Press Evelina
Book SynopsisOr the History of A Young Ladys Entrance into the World. A story of initiation into the ways of the world for a young, provincial girl, Evelina is both richly comic and gravely moral. It is at once a guide to fashionable London, a satirical attack on ...Trade ReviewFanny Burney's first novel Evelina was the chick-lit novel of 1778 - all about a young girl's adventures in London, and one of the best of its kind ever written...the Oxford World's Classics edition has a knowledgeable preface by Edward A. Bloom * Derwent May, the Times *
£10.79
Penguin Books Ltd David Copperfield
Book SynopsisNow a major film directed by Armando Iannucci, starring Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie, Peter Capaldi and Ben Whishaw''The greatest achievement of the greatest of all novelists'' Leo TolstoyIn David Copperfield - the novel he described as his ''favourite child'' - Dickens drew on his own experiences to create one of his most moving and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure. It is the story of a young man''s adventures on his journey from an unhappy childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters are his tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone; his brilliant but unworthy school-friend Steerforth; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble yet treacherous Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora; and the magnificently impecunious Micawber, one of literature''s great comic creations. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Jeremy TamblingTrade Review"The most perfect of all the Dickens novels."--Virginia Woolf
£9.49
