Biographical fiction / autobiographical fiction
Penguin Books Ltd Burmese Days
Book SynopsisBased on his experiences as a policeman in Burma, George Orwell''s first novel presents a devastating picture of British colonial ruleBurmese Days describes corruption and imperial bigotry in a society where, ''after all, natives were natives''. When Flory, a white timber merchant, befriends Indian Dr Veraswami, he defies this orthodoxy. The doctor is in danger: U Po Kyin, a corrupt magistrate, is plotting his downfall. The only thing that can save him is membership of the all-white Club, and Flory can help. Flory''s life is changed further by the arrival of beautiful Elizabeth Lackersteen from Paris, who offers an escape from loneliness and the ''lie'' of colonial life.George Orwell''s first novel, inspired by his experiences in the Indian Imperial Police in Burma, Burmese Days includes a new introduction by Emma Larkin in Penguin Modern Classics.
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd I Claudius
Book Synopsis''Still an acknowledged masterpiece and a model for historical fiction ... sympathetic and intensely involving: a great feat of imagination'' Hilary Mantel Bringing to life the intrigue of ancient Rome, Robert Graves''s I, Claudius is one of the most celebrated, gripping historical novels ever writtenDespised for his weakness and regarded by his family as little more than a stammering fool, the nobleman Claudius quietly survives the bloody purges and mounting cruelty of the imperial Roman dynasties. In I, Claudius he watches from the sidelines to record the reigns of its emperors: from the wise Augustus and his villainous wife Livia to the sadistic Tiberius and the insane excesses of Caligula. Written in the form of Claudius'' autobiography, this is the first part of Robert Graves''s brilliant account of the madness and debauchery of ancient Rome.With an introduction by Barry Unsworth''An imaginative and hugely readable account of the early decades of the Roman Empire ... racy, inventive, often comic'' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewI, CLAUDIUS and CLAUDIUS THE GOD are an imaginative and hugely readable account of the early decades of the Roman Empire ... racy, inventive, often comic * Daily Telegraph *One of the really remarkable books of our day, a novel of learning and imagination, fortunately conceived and brilliantly executed * New York Times *Still an acknowledged masterpiece and a model for historical fiction ... sympathetic and intensely involving: a great feat of imagination -- Hilary Mantel
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd Anna Karenina
Book SynopsisTolstoy''s epic novel of love, destiny and self-destruction, in a gorgeous new clothbound edition from Penguin Classics. Anna Karenina seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky. Their subsequent affair scandalizes society and family alike and soon brings jealously and bitterness in its wake. Contrasting with this tale of love and self-destruction is the vividly observed story of Levin, a man striving to find contentment and a meaning to his life - and also a self-portrait of Tolstoy himself. This acclaimed modern translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky won the PEN/ Book of the Month Club Translation Prize in 2001. Their translation is accompanied in this edition by an introduction by Richard Pevear and a preface by John Bayley ''The new and brilliantly witty translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is a must'' - Lisa Appignanesi, Independent, Books of the Year ''Pevear and Volokhonsky are at once scrupulous translators and vivid stylists of English, and their superb rendering allows us, as perhaps never before, to grasp the palpability of Tolstoy''s characters, acts, situations'' - James Wood, New YorkerTrade ReviewThe new and brilliantly witty translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is a must -- Lisa Appignanesi * Independent, Books of the Year *Pevear and Volokhonsky are at once scrupulous translators and vivid stylists of English, and their superb rendering allows us, as perhaps never before, to grasp the palpability of Tolstoy's "characters, acts, situations" -- James Wood * New Yorker *
£21.25
Oxford University Press Pan
Book Synopsis''When the snow water had broken crevices open in the mountain a shot or even just a sharp cry was enough to tear loose a huge slab and send it toppling.'' Lieutenant Thomas Glahn spends a summer in northern Norway, where the midnight sun triggers a short but intense release of energies. Living out of a rudimentary hut on the edge of the forest, he pursues a solitary existence, hunting, fishing, and engaging intermittently with the inhabitants of the nearby coastal village. Among these is Edvarda, daughter of the wealthy local trader Herr Mack. Their mutual attraction rapidly develops into an erotic fascination shot through with suspicions and jealousies; a series of fraught encounters culminates in violent actions with unforeseen consequences. First published in 1894, Pan was an immediate success and remains a classic of Norwegian literature. It embodies many of the distinctive features of Hamsun''s early works, in particular a rejection of psychological stereotypes and a style infuseTrade ReviewGiven the rarity of non-British/American novels in the main canon, it is a good idea for this work to be assigned in a world literature class. And a copy of it should also be available in all types of libraries to make it accessible to the different types of readers and scholars who might be interested in accessing it. * Pennsylvania Literary Journal *Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Translation Select Bibliography A Chronology of Knut Hamsun PAN Explanatory Notes
£6.99
Vintage Publishing Night Side of the River: Dazzling new ghost
Book SynopsisA ghost has no substance, but it has power - and presence - and it can appear in alternative forms. In the metaverse, we are all alternative forms. The Dead will join us.The genre-bending and dazzling new collection of ghost stories from the Sunday Times bestselling Jeanette Winterson'Winterson the artist at her most potent' GUARDIAN'Thought-provoking' DAILY MIRROR'Spine-chillingly good' IOur lives are digital, exposed and always-on. We track our friends and family wherever they go. We have millennia of knowledge at our fingertips.We know everything about our world. But we know nothing about theirs.We have changed, but our ghosts have not. They've simply adapted and innovated, found new channels to reach us. They inhabit our apps and wander the metaverse just as they haunt our homes and our memories, always seeking new ways to connect.To live amongst us.To remind us.To tempt us.To take their revenge.These stories are not ours to tell. They are the stories of the dead - of those we've lost, loved, forgotten... and feared. Some are fiction. But some may not be.Trade ReviewIn the stories Winterson is at her best, unsurprisingly, when doing new things with the form * The Times *A thought-provoking collection of short stories… The theme that runs through all the stories is loss and how it haunts the living * Daily Mirror *Thought-provoking... A captivating and chilling collection examining grief, revenge and how technology can breach the boundary between life and death * Sunday Express *Spine-chillingly good * i *Jeanette Winterson brings the classic gothic literature theme into the 21st century by imagining what happens when the undead have to find modern ways to reach out to us... This collection is as hair-raising and suspenseful as it is witty and thought-provoking * Independent *Winterson the artist at her most potent, melding the viscerally real with the lavishly supernatural * Guardian *I loved Night Side of the River. Jeanette Winterson is one of the wittiest writers around today… I can't think of any other writer who can treat death and horror with such lightheartedness and pragmatic cheerfulness but without losing the cold-yet-cosy frisson that comes with all the best ghost stories. MR James would be very happy! -- Natasha Pulley, author of The Watchmaker of Filigree StreetA collection of ghost stories that range from campfire-level spooks to speculative reflections on the meaning of life.. As challenging and entertaining as anything undertaken by this endlessly ingenious writer * Los Angeles Times *At the height of spooky season, turn off the lights and immerse yourself in the spine-tingling delights of this frighteningly modern ghost story collection. Blurring the lines between nonfiction and campfire tale, this one imagines what would happen if there really was a ghost in the machine * Good Housekeeping *This collection is as hair-raising and suspenseful as it is witty and thought-provoking * UK Press Syndication *
£17.09
Canelo Biggles and the Rescue Flight
Book SynopsisBiggles helps two friends search for a missing brother, shot down behind the LinesDevastating news reaches sixteen-year-old Peter Thirty' Fortymore at his school in England: his older brother, Nigel, is missing in action, believed dead, after being shot down over the Western Front.Thirty is adamant that his brother may still be alive, and is determined to find him. With help of his best friend, Rip, Thirty runs away from school with a ridiculous and daring plan to get to France.The two boys successfully pose as officers in the R.F.C. and steal two Sopwith Camels to cross the Channel. A tumultuous journey lands them in hot water, only to be saved by a pilot from 266 Squadron, a certain James Bigglesworth.Far from home and in dangerous territory, Thirty and Rip have a daunting mission ahead. Will Biggles rumble the boys' wild plans? Can they rescue Nigel before it's too late?Join cult hero and flying ace Squadron Leader Biggles on another action-packed adventure!
£11.69
Pushkin Press A Chess Story
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Lady Susan
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.Recently widowed, the unscrupulous and beautiful Lady Susan Vernon is determined to scheme her way through high society in the hope of a profitable new match - all while trying to marry off her unfortunate daughter. Told through a series of letters, Jane Austen''s magnificent first novella is as subversive as it is charming.''The wit of Jane Austen has for partner the perfection of her taste'' - Virginia WoolfTrade ReviewThe wit of Jane Austen has for partner the perfection of her taste -- Virginia Woolf
£9.99
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Jane Eyre Heritage Collection
Book SynopsisJane Eyre ranks as one of the greatest and most perennially popular works of English fiction. Although the poor but plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance, she possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage.She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order. All of which circumscribe her life and position when she becomes governess to the daughter of the mysterious, sardonic and attractive Mr Rochester.However, there is great kindness and warmth in this epic love story, which is set against the magnificent backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. Ultimately the grand passion of Jane and Rochester is called upon to survive cruel revelation, loss and reunion, only to be confronted with tragedy.
£17.09
Union Square & Co. Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Other Stories
Book SynopsisThis volume includes novels, nonsense verse, miscellaneous poems, short stories, puzzles and acrostics by Lewis Carroll.
£36.00
Oxford University Press Sense and Sensibility
Book Synopsis''Pray, pray be composed,'' cried Elinor, ''and do not betray what you feel to every body present. Perhaps he has not observed you yet.''For Elinor Dashwood, sensible and sensitive, and her romantic, impetuous younger sister Marianne, the prospect of marrying the men they love appears remote. In a world ruled by money and self-interest, the Dashwood sisters have neither fortune nor connections. Concerned for others and for social proprieties, Elinor is ill-equipped to compete with self-centred fortune-hunters like Lucy Steele, whilst Marianne''s unswerving belief in the truth of her own feelings makes her more dangerously susceptible to the designs of unscrupulous men. Through her heroines'' parallel experiences of love, loss, and hope, Jane Austen offers a powerful analysis of the ways in which women''s lives were shaped by the claustrophobic society in which they had to survive.
£5.99
Penguin Books Ltd Villette
Book SynopsisVillette is Charlotte Brontë''s powerful autobiographical novel of one woman''s search for true love, edited with an introduction by Helen M. Cooper in Penguin Classics.With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls'' boarding school in the small town of Villette. There, she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, the hostility of headmistress Madame Beck, and her own complex feelings - first for the school''s English doctor and then for the dictatorial professor Paul Emanuel. Drawing on her own deeply unhappy experiences as a governess in Brussels, Charlotte Brontë''sautobiographical novel, the last published during her lifetime, is a powerfully moving study of loneliness and isolation, and the pain of unrequited love, narrated by a heroine determined to preserve an independent spirit in the face of adverse circumstances. Helen M. Cooper''s new introduction places the novel in the context of Brontë''s life and career and argues for the importance of the novel as an exploration of imperialism.Charlotte Brontë (1816-55), eldest of the Brontë sisters, was born in Thornton, West Yorkshire. Jane Eyre was first published in 1847 under the pen-name Currer Bell, and was followed by Shirley (1848) and Vilette (1853). In 1854 Charlotte Brontë married her father''s curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls. She died during her pregnancy on 31 March 1855 in Haworth, Yorkshire. The Professor was posthumously published in 1857.If you liked Villette, you may enjoy Elizabeth Gaskell''s Cranford, also available in Penguin Classics.''I am only just returned to a sense of real wonder about me, for I have been reading Villette'' George Eliot''Her finest novel''Virginia WoolfTrade ReviewI am only just returned to a sense of real wonder about me, for I have been reading Villette... (George Eliot)"
£9.49
Vintage Publishing On the Beach
Book SynopsisAfter the war is over, a radioactive cloud begins to sweep southwards on the winds, gradually poisoning everything in its path. An American submarine captain is among the survivors left sheltering in Australia, preparing with the locals for the inevitable. Despite his memories of his wife, he becomes close to a young woman struggling to accept the harsh realities of their situation. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from the United States and the submarine must set sail through the bleak ocean to search for signs of life.On the Beach is Nevil Shute''s most powerful novel. Both gripping and intensely moving, its impact is unforgettable.Trade ReviewShute's most considerable achievement * Daily Telegraph *The most evocative novel on the aftermath of a nuclear war * The Times *Fictions such as On the Beach played an important role in raising awareness about the threat of nuclear war. We stared into the abyss and then stepped back from the brink * Guardian *Still incredibly moving after nearly half a century * Economist *Timely and ironic..an indelibly sad ending that leaves you tearful and disturbed * Los Angeles Times *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Pearl
Book SynopsisWhen Kino, a poor Indian pearl-diver, finds ''the Pearl of the world'' he believes that his life will be magically transformed. He will marry Juana and their son Coyotito will be able to attend school. Obsessed by his dreams, Kino is blind to the greed and even violence the pearl arouses in him and his neighbours. Written with lyrical simplicity, The Pearl sets the values of the civilized world against those of the primitive and finds them tragically inadequate.
£7.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Short Novels of John Steinbeck
Book SynopsisA Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Steinbeck's brilliant short novelsCollected here for the first time in a deluxe paperback volume are six of John Steinbeck's most widely read and beloved novels. From the tale of commitment, loneliness and hope in Of Mice and Men, to the tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society in Cannery Row, to The Pearl's examination of the fallacy of the American dream, Steinbeck stories of realism, that were imbued with energy and resilience.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.Trade ReviewBy the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
£22.95
Penguin Books Ltd Mrs Dalloway
Book Synopsis''She always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day''On a June morning in 1923, Clarissa Dalloway is preparing for a party and remembering her past. Elsewhere in London, Septimus Smith is suffering from shell-shock and on the brink of madness. Their days interweave and their lives converge as the party reaches its glittering climax. Here, Virginia Woolf perfected the interior monologue and the novel''s lyricism and accessibility have made it one of her most popular works.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.Trade ReviewOne of the few genuine innovations in the history of the novel—New YorkerOne of her greatest achievements, a book whose afterlife continues to inspire new generations of writers and readers—Guardian
£7.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Pursuit of Love
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewUtter, utter bliss—Daily MailA dazzling comic delight—Fiona Wilson, The Times, Saturday ReviewThe story's genius lies in its wicked humour, which remains relentlessly uplifting even as the Blitz begin to smash all the hopes of that pre-war arcadia—Olivia Laing, The GuardianToo spiky and intelligent, I think, to qualify as an altogether cosy read [...] beneath the brittle surface of Mitford's wit there is something infinitely more melancholy at work - something that is apt to snag you and pull you into its dark undertow when you are least expecting it—Zoë Heller, The TelegraphNancy Mitford taught the wonderful truth that laughter can see you through the darkest hours of your life—Daily MailThe Millennial faint-hearted will be appalled by Mitford's depiction of class and gender. But Mitford's triumph is that, as the Radletts live and laugh and cry, we [cry] with them—Julie Parsons, The Irish TimesIn her novels Nancy mastered her life, making everyone who was different or difficult into figures of mirth, moving only among the aristocracy, and infusing the world with a spirit of lazy, delightful romance—Natasha Walter, The IndependentUtter, utter bliss—Daily MailA dazzling comic delight. —Fiona Wilson, The Times, Saturday Review
£10.44
Arcturus Publishing The Castle
Book SynopsisFranz Kafka (1883-1924) was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, born into a middle-class Jewish family in Prague. His name has become a byword for alienation and guilt and his harrowing yet humorous work features individuals in an impersonal and bureaucratic world over which they have increasingly little power.
£7.59
WORDSWORTH Fall Of The House Of Usher
£10.72
Union Square & Co. A Tale of Two Cities
Book SynopsisWhen millions suffer under iron-fisted oppression, when anger and resentment boil into bloody insurrection, when triumph leads to savage vengeance does one individual life matter?
£17.10
Harvard University Press The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray
Book SynopsisOver 120 years after Oscar Wilde submitted The Picture of Dorian Gray for publication, the uncensored version of his novel appears here for the first time in a paperback edition. This volume restores material, including instances of graphic homosexual content, removed by the novel’s first editor, who feared it would be “offensive” to Victorians.Trade ReviewOscar Wilde just got a little wilder. -- Marcia Kaye * Toronto Star *The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray is the latest edition of Wilde's only novel, but it is also the first. Editor Nicholas Frankel has followed the manuscript Wilde submitted to Lippincott's magazine in early 1890. Frankel poured over the original typescript and about 3,000 handwritten words Wilde added to it, restoring subtle but important romance between the three lead characters… The effect is not radical…but it is noticeable, and the book is more satisfying for his efforts… Frankel's uncensored version is closest to what Wilde intended before editors and hostile critics intervened, and it is also the most pleasurable to read… The Picture of Dorian Gray is a haunting, beautiful and important novel. -- Michael Ruffles * Bangkok Post *Now, for the first time, we can read the version that Wilde intended...Both the text and Nicholas Frankel's introduction make for fascinating reading. -- Sadie Stein * Paris Review *The Picture of Dorian Gray is just as spine tingling, relevant, and original now as it was in 1891. From the compelling story to the musicality of the prose to the symbolism, The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray is a great read. -- Catherine Ramsdell * PopMatters *
£16.10
Chiltern Publishing Black Beauty
Book SynopsisChiltern publishing creates the most beautiful editions of the World's finest literature. Your favourite classic titles in a way you have never seen them before; the tactile embossed layers, fine details and beautiful colours of these remarkable covers make these titles feel extra special and will look striking on any shelf.
£14.12
Oxford University Press The Trial
Book SynopsisThe Trial is one of the central works of modern literature. This meticulous new translation includes the chapters Kafka left incomplete and is accompanied by a biographical preface, detailed introduction, chronology, bibliography and notes.
£8.54
Union Square & Co. Great Expectations
Book SynopsisA love story, a mystery, and a sharp critique of upper-class English society, Great Expectations remains one of Dickens's best-regarded works.
£7.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Vigilante
Book Synopsis''Everything was dead, everything unreal; the dark mob was made up of stiff lay-figures''One of America''s greatest writers explores mob violence, voyeurism and betrayal in these unforgettable tales of Californian life.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.
£5.63
Penguin Books Ltd Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Book SynopsisRobert Louis Stevenson''s immortal tale of personality and evil, now in a Clothbound ClassicA Penguin Classics HardcoverDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have become synonymous with the idea of a split personality. More than a morality tale, this dark psychological fantasy is also a product of its time, drawing on contemporary theories of class, evolution, criminality, and secret lives. Also in this volume are The Body Snatcher, which charts the murky underside of Victorian medical practice, and Olalla, a tale of vampirism and the beast within, with a beautiful woman at its center.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators.
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd (UK) The Daemon Lover
Book Synopsis90 Classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin BooksIt's terribly important that I get in touch with a gentleman who may have stopped in here to buy flowers this morning. Terribly important. Sometimes, the person you think you love isn't who they seem. And sometimes, you can be your own deception. Spanning Shirley Jackson's entire career, these devilish tales of love, death, and despair show us how all that keeps us safe in suburbia can strike up, leave, and instantly disappear.
£5.99
Pan Macmillan Poems for Happiness
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£10.44
Union Square & Co. Aesops Fables
Book SynopsisFor nearly three thousand years, the fables of Aesop have amused people of all ages as they provide common-sense lessons in the conduct of everyday life. The colorful characters and brief tales, by turns amusing and frightening, deliver a how-to course in applied moral philosophy.
£17.10
Renard Press Ltd A Childs Christmas in Wales
£6.06
Pushkin Press Theres No Turning Back
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£10.44
Sterling Juvenile The Iliad The Odyssey Barnes Noble Collectible
Book SynopsisHomer's two epics of the ancient world, The Iliad and The Odyssey , tell stories as riveting today as when they were written between the eighth and ninth century B.C.This edition employs Samuel Butler's classic translations of both texts.
£31.50
HarperCollins Publishers To the Lighthouse
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Every summer, the Ramsays visit their summer home on the beautiful Isle of Skye, surrounded by the excitement and chatter of family and friends, mirroring Virginia Woolf's own joyful holidays of her youth. But as time passes, and in its wake the First World War, the transience of life becomes ever more apparent through the vignette of the thoughts and observations of the novel's disparate cast.A landmark of high modernism and the most autobiographical of Virginia Woolf's novels, To the Lighthouse explores themes of loss, class structure and the question of perception, in a hauntingly beautiful memorial to the lost but not forgotten.Chosen by TIME magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.
£5.62
Oxford University Press The Castle of Otranto
Book SynopsisOne of the most influential Gothic novels, The Castle of Otranto established the literary effects associated with the genre: an ancient castle, secret passages, supernatural visitations, an innocent girl threatened with violence, sudden revelations, terror, and excitement. This new edition explores the reasons for the novel's impact.
£8.04
HarperCollins Publishers Inferno
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.There is no greater sorrow then to recall our times of joy in wretchedness.'Considered one of the greatest medieval poems written in the common vernacular of the time, Dante's Inferno begins on Good Friday in the year 1300. As he wanders through a dark forest, Dante loses his way and stumbles across the ghost of the poet Virgil. Virgil promises to lead him back to the top of the mountain, but to do so, they must pass through Hell, encountering all manner of shocking horrors, sins and evil torments along the way, evoking questions about God's justice, human behaviour and Christianity.
£5.62
Penguin Books Ltd Phineas Redux
Book SynopsisIn the fourth of the ''Palliser'' stories, Trollope follows Phineas Finn''s return to the dangerous world of Westminster politics. When his political rival is murdered, Phineas is thrown under suspicion and eventually finds himself standing trial at the Old Bailey. The situation is complicated by the presence of two women in his life: his old flame Lady Laura, whose estranged husband is determined to destroy Phineas''s reputation, and the wealthy and enimgatic widow, Madame Max.
£11.69
Penguin Books Ltd The Phantom of the Opera
Book SynopsisThe Phantom of the Opera is Gaston Leroux''s exquisite blend of Gothic horror and tragic romance, which formed the basis for a world-renowned stage musical. This Penguin Classics edition is translated with notes by Mireille Ribiere, and an introduction by Jann Matlock.When the new managers of the Paris Opera House ignore their predecessors'' warnings about the hideous ''Opera ghost'' stalking the theatre, it is a fatal mistake. The Phantom haunts the imagination of the beautiful and talented singer Christine Daaé, appearing to her as the ''Angel of Music'' - a disembodied voice, coaching her to sing as she never could before. When Christine is courted by a handsome young Viscount, the Phantom is consumed by jealousy and seeks revenge. And when Christine suddenly disappears after a triumphant singing performance, it becomes clear that the Phantom''s time has come. With its pervading atmosphere of menace, tinged with dark humour, The Phantom of the Opera (1910) has inspired film, stage and literature since its publication, including Andrew Lloyd Webber''s Phantom of the Opera, the most successful theatrical show of all time. Mireille Ribière''s highly readable and historically accurate translation captures the drive and drama of Leroux''s vivid tale, and is accompanied by extensive notes and further reading. Jann Matlock''s fascinating new introduction examines the Phantom''s legacy and uncovers the real secrets hidden in the Paris Opera House.Gaston Leroux (1868-1927) was born in Paris, the son of a building contractor. His first novel was serialised in the late 1890s, and with the 1907 publication of The Mystery of the Yellow Room he launched his career as a pioneer of the French detective novel. The Phantom of the Opera (1910) has been Leroux''s best-known novel in the English-speaking world ever since the resounding success of the 1925 silent film version.If you enjoyed The Phantom of the Opera, you might like Victor Hugo''s Les Miserables, also available in Penguin Classics.Trade Review“Ingenious . . . breathless suspense.”—The Nation
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd Oliver Twist Penguin Classics
Book SynopsisA gripping portrayal of London's dark criminal underbelly, published in Penguin Classics with an introduction by Philip Horne.The story of Oliver Twist - orphaned, and set upon by evil and adversity from his first breath - shocked readers when it was published. After running away from the workhouse and pompous beadle Mr Bumble, Oliver finds himself lured into a den of thieves peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the Artful Dodger, vicious burglar Bill Sikes, his dog Bull's Eye, and prostitute Nancy, all watched over by cunning master-thief Fagin. Combining elements of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.This Penguin Classics edition of Oliver Twist is the first critical edition to faithfully reproduce the text as its earliest readers would have encountered it from its serialisatioTrade Review"The power of [Dickens] is so amazing, that the reader at once becomes his captive, and must follow him whithersoever he leads."--William Makepeace Thackeray
£8.65
Penguin Books Ltd The Turn of the Screw and Other Ghost Stories
Book Synopsis
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd Lolita
Book SynopsisVladimir Nabakov''s shocking masterpiece, now in a beautifully designed clothbound edition''Lolita is comedy, subversive yet divine'' Martin AmisPoet and pervert, Humbert Humbert becomes obsessed by twelve-year-old Lolita and seeks to possess her, first carnally and then artistically, out of love, ''to fix once for all the perilous magic of nymphets''. Is he in love or insane? A tortured soul or a monster? Humbert Humbert''s seduction is one of many dimensions in Nabokov''s dizzying masterpiece, which is suffused with a savage humour and rich, elaborate verbal textures. Filmed by Stanley Kubrick in 1962 starring James Mason and Peter Sellers, and again in 1997 by Adrian Lyne starring Jeremy Irons and Melanie Griffith, Lolita has lost none of its power to shock and awe.
£15.29
Penguin Books Ltd (UK) Horsie
Book Synopsis90 Classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin BooksWhat can you say, when a man asks you to dance with him? I most certainly will not dance with you. I'll see you in hell first. Why, thank you, I'd like to awfully, but I'm having labor pains. Acerbic, pithy and vibrant, Dorothy Parker's writings capture the dizzying decadence of Jazz Age New York. Parker, however, refuses to be swept along: she gleefully deconstructs its hypocrisy, prejudice and taboos with style and precision.
£5.99
Profile Books Ltd The Assault
Book Synopsis''Mulisch is a rarity ... an instinctively psychological novelist'' John UpdikeWith an introduction by Thomas HardingPraised for his emotionally restrained psychological portraits, Harry Mulisch was one of Holland''s greatest writers - and his masterpiece novel is now published in the UK with a new introduction.In the bitter final months of the Second World War, the body of a Dutch Nazi collaborator is found on the doorstep of an ordinary family home. The repercussions are complex and terrible: the family is killed and the house burned to the ground; only the twelve-year-old son, Anton, survives. Following Anton as he reckons with this trauma through his life, The Assault is a powerful excavation of resistance and the collateral damage wrought on innocent people in times of war.
£10.44
HarperCollins Publishers The Silmarillion
Book SynopsisIncluding brand-new paintings, this is a fully illustrated new edition of the forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, telling the earlier history of Middle-earth, recounting the events of the First and Second Ages, and introducing some of the key characters, such as Galadriel, Elrond, Elendil and the Dark Lord, Sauron.The Silmarillion is the core of J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginative writing, a collection of narratives ranging in time from the Elder Days of Middle-earth, through the Second Age and the rise of Sauron, to the end of the War of the Ring.They are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the Elves made war upon him in his impenetrable fortress in Angband for the recovery of the Silmarils, three jewels containing the last remaining pure light of Valinor, seized by Morgoth and set in his iron crown.Accompanying these tales are several shorter works. The Ainulindalë is a myth of the Creation and in the Valaquenta the nature and powers of the gods is dTrade Review‘How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?’The Guardian ‘Demanding to be compared with English mythologies… at times rises to the greatness of true myth’Financial Times ‘A creation of singular beauty… magnificent in its best moments’Washington Post ‘A grim, tragic, brooding and beautiful book, shot through with heroism and hope… its power is almost that of mysticism’Toronto Globe & Mail
£28.00
HarperCollins Publishers The Silmarillion. Illustrated Edition
Book SynopsisFor the first time ever, a very special edition of the forerunner to The Lord of the Rings, illustrated throughout in colour by J.R.R. Tolkien himself and with the complete text printed in two colours.The Silmarilli were three perfect jewels, fashioned by Fëanor, most gifted of the Elves, and within them was imprisoned the last Light of the Two Trees of Valinor. But the first Dark Lord, Morgoth, stole the jewels and set them within his iron crown, guarded in the impenetrable fortress of Angband in the north of Middle-earth.The Silmarillion is the history of the rebellion of Fëanor and his kindred against the gods, their exile from Valinor and return to Middle-earth, and their war, hopeless despite all the heroism, against the great Enemy. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part.The book also includes several shorter works: the Ainulindalë, a myth of the Creation, and the Valaquenta, in which the nature and powers of each of the gods is described. The Akallabêth recounts the downfall of the great island kingdom of Númenor at the end of the Second Age, and Of the Rings of Power tells of the great events at the end of the Third Age, as narrated in The Lord of the Rings.Tolkien could not publish The Silmarillion in his lifetime, as it grew with him, so he would leave it to his son, Christopher Tolkien, to edit the work from many manuscripts and bring his father's great vision to publishable form, so completing the literary achievement of a lifetime. This special edition presents anew this seminal first step towards mapping out the posthumous publishing of Middle-earth, and the beginning of an illustrious forty years and more than twenty books celebrating his father's legacy.This definitive new edition includes, by way of an introduction, a letter written by Tolkien in 1951 which provides a brilliant exposition of the earlier Ages, and for the first time in its history is presented with J.R.R. Tolkien's own paintings and drawings, which reveal the breathtaking grandeur and beauty of his vision of the First Age of Middle-earth.Trade Review‘How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?’The Guardian ‘Demanding to be compared with English mythologies… at times rises to the greatness of true myth’Financial Times ‘A creation of singular beauty… magnificent in its best moments’Washington Post ‘A grim, tragic, brooding and beautiful book, shot through with heroism and hope… its power is almost that of mysticism’Toronto Globe & Mail
£36.00
HarperCollins Publishers The Hunchback of NotreDame
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.Love is like a tree, it grows of its own accord, it puts down deep roots into our whole being.'Set in medieval Paris, against the backdrop of the brooding Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Hugo's take on the classic story of Beauty and the Beast tells of the hunchbacked, grotesque bellringer, Quasimodo. Rejected by Parisian society because of his appearance, Quasimodo resides in Notre-Dame, harbouring a love for the only woman that pities him, a gypsy named Esmerelda. However, a sinister archdeacon also covets Esmerelda, and when his advances are spurned, he seeks to destroy her.
£5.94
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Little Women Heritage Collection
Book SynopsisLittle Women is one of the best-loved children's stories of all time, based on the author's own youthful experiences. It describes the family of the four March sisters living in a small New England community. Meg, the eldest, is pretty and wishes to be a lady; Jo, at fifteen is ungainly and unconventional with an ambition to be an author; Beth is a delicate child of thirteen with a taste for music and Amy is a blonde beauty of twelve. The story of their domestic adventures, their attempts to increase the family income, their friendship with the neighbouring Laurence family, and their later love affairs remains as fresh and beguiling as ever. Soon after the success of Little Women, Louis May Alcott wrote a sequel called Good Wives. In the U.K. and around most of the world, this has continued to be published as a separate book, but many American editions have incorporated both books under the title of Little Women. Readers should note that our editions do not contain material from Good Wives unless specifically stated.
£17.09
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Alice in Wonderland Heritage Collection
Book SynopsisTweedledum and Tweedledee, the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen and the White Rabbit all make their appearances, and are now familiar figures in writing, conversation and idiom. So too are Carroll's delightful verses such as The Walrus and the Carpenter and the inspired jargon of that masterly Wordsworthian parody, The Jabberwocky.
£19.23
Penguin Books Ltd Tess of the DUrbervilles
Book SynopsisThe Penguin English Library Edition of Tess of the D''Urbervilles by Thomas HardyI would be content, ay, glad, to live with you as your servant, if I may not as your wife; so that I could only be near you, and get glimpses of you, and think of you as mine ... I long for only one thing in heaven or earth or under the earth, to meet you, my own dear! Come to me - come to me, and save me from what threatens me!When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D''Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her ''cousin'' Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future. With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the D''Urbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardy''s novels.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.
£9.25
