Classic fiction: literary and general

6752 products


  • The Women's Room

    Little, Brown Book Group The Women's Room

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL AND BESTSELLING NOVELS OF THE MODERN FEMINIST MOVEMENT 'It was about the need to change things from top to bottom; it was a declaration of independence' OBSERVER 'The first and last international bestseller of the women's movement' GUARDIAN 'They said this book would change lives - and it certainly changed mine' JENNI MURRAY, BBC RADIO 4 A landmark in feminist literature, The Women's Room is a biting social commentary of a world gone silently haywire. Written in the 1970s but with profound resonance today, this is a modern allegory that offers piercing insight into the social norms accepted blindly and revered so completely.It follows the transformation of Mira Ward and her circle as the women's movement begins to have an impact on their lives. A biting social commentary on an emotional world gone silently haywire, The Women's Room is a modern classic that offers piercing insight into the social norms accepted so blindly and revered so completely. Marilyn French questions those accepted norms and poignantly portrays the hopeful believers looking for new truths.Trade ReviewThe Women's Room took the lid off a seething mass of women's frustrations, resentments and furies; it was about the need to change things from top to bottom; it was a declaration of independence * Observer *The first and last international bestseller of the women's movement * Guardian *They said this book would change lives - and it certainly changed mine -- Jenni Murray, BBC Radio 4's Woman's HourToday's "Desperate Housewives" eat your heart out! This is the original and still the best, a page-turner that makes you think. Essential reading -- Kate Mosse

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • Turtle Point Press Smoke

    Out of stock

    a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • Liberty Or Love! And Mourning For Mourning:

    Atlas Press Liberty Or Love! And Mourning For Mourning:

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £14.25

  • The Living Are Few, The Dead Many: Selected Works

    2 in stock

    £11.40

  • The Tutu

    Atlas Press The Tutu

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £14.25

  • Kidnapped: A Graphic Novel in Full Colour

    The Gresham Publishing Co. Ltd Kidnapped: A Graphic Novel in Full Colour

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £13.46

  • To Bed with Grand Music

    Persephone Books Ltd To Bed with Grand Music

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £16.00

  • The Two Mrs Abbotts

    Persephone Books Ltd The Two Mrs Abbotts

    5 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    5 in stock

    £16.00

  • Simplicissimus

    Dedalus Ltd Simplicissimus

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • Alves and Co. and Other Stories

    Dedalus Ltd Alves and Co. and Other Stories

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £7.99

  • Cathedral

    Dedalus Ltd Cathedral

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £9.49

  • Canongate Books Short Stories: The Ultimate Classic Collection

    2 in stock

    Book SynopsisThis volume in CSA Word's famous Short Story compilation series focuses on the very best in timeless short fiction.Table of ContentsCD 1. The Girl from Arles Alphonse Daudet Stephen Fry 08.02 Tobermory Saki Barbara Leigh-Hunt 20.53 The Sphinx Without a Secret Oscar Wilde Martin Jarvis 14.09 On Being Idle Jerome K. Jerome Hugh Laurie 13.29 For Better or Worse W.W. Jacobs Joanna David 22.40 TOTALS 1:18:19 CD 2 Mr & Mrs Dove Katherine Mansfield Rosalind Ayres 22.21 The Model Millionaire Oscar Wilde T.P. McKenna 14.40 The Garden of Truth E. Nesbit Harriet Walter 38.19 TOTALS 1:17:34 CD 3 The Cat that Walked by Himself Rudyard Kipling Liza Goddard 25.27 Pat Hobby & Orson Welles F. Scott Fitzgerald Kerry Shale 15.08 Georgie Porgie Rudyard Kipling Edward Fox 24.52 Mad Guy de Maupassant Derek Jacobi 09.30 TOTALS 1:14:42 CD 4 B 24 Arthur Conan Doyle Brian Cox 35.22 Caterpillars E.F. Benson Patrick Malahide 22.19 The Man of the Night Edgar Wallace Robin Bailey 20.59 TOTALS 1:18:08 CD 5 Reginald on House Parties Saki Nigel Hawthorne 05.55 Dr. Heidegger's Experiment Nathaniel Hawthorne Nicky Henson 20.58 Ship to Tarshish John Buchan Iain Cuthbertson 36.50 The Tell-Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe Richard Pasco 15.18 TOTALS 1:18:07 CD 6 Lost Hearts M.R. James Richard Pasco 26.15 The Black Cat Edgar Allan Poe Richard Griffiths 25.35 The Monkey's Paw W.W. Jacobs Patrick Malahide 25.49

    2 in stock

    £24.00

  • Heavy Weather

    Canongate Books Heavy Weather

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn this story, an engagingly vague Lord Emsworth battles to prevent a pig-napping, Lord Tillbury lurks, desperate to filch Gally Threepwood's sensational memoirs, and those formidable sisters, Julia and Constance, will do anything to sabotage the nuptials of Ronnie Fish and chorus girl Sue. Also thrown into the proverbial mix are: Parsloe-Parsloe, Monty Bodkin and Percy Pilbeam. Confused? So is Beach the butler, drawn into events by a heady cocktail of loyalty and self-interest. But surely, the storm will conk out and the thunder will grumble away...This is Wodehouse's comic genius at its most magical, so expect sunshine - and even a bally rainbow - when the weather lightens and all the confusions of the castle are finally resolved. Pip, pip!Martin Jarvis inhabits this masterpiece of cross-purposes with dazzling vocal dexterity, adding another laugh-out-loud performance to his many Wodehouse readings.Trade ReviewQuite simply a pleasure and delight from start to finish. * * audiobooksreview.co.uk * *Absolutely spiffing. * * Publishing News * *Each character comes live with Jarvis' expert interpretations. * * Audiofile Magazine * *An idyllic world of sublime comedy. No better place to escape. * * The Sunday Times * *

    1 in stock

    £22.67

  • The Inimitable Jeeves: Volume 1

    Canongate Books The Inimitable Jeeves: Volume 1

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisJeeves and Wooster are a case-in-point of chalk and cheese coexisting to make an enduring partnership of sublime comedy. Hapless, though always engaging, Bertie Wooster would be lost without his 'man' Jeeves, to advise him, not only on sartorial good taste but, crucially, to be on hand to rescue the young master from a variety of social and romantic entanglements. Immortalised on-screen by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie - and on the Broadway stage by Martin Jarvis himself - the duo have won the hearts, minds and laughter of generations since the first Jeeves story was published in 1916.STORY LISTINGS: 1. Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum 2. No Wedding Bells for Bingo 3. Aunt Agatha Speaks Her Mind 4. Pearls Mean Tears 5. The Pride of the Woosters is Wounded 6. The Hero's Reward 7. Introducing Claude and Eustace 8. Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch 9. A Letter of Introduction 10. Startling Dressiness of a Lift Attendant 11. Comrade Bingo 12. Bingo Has a Bad GoodwoodMartin Jarvis is an award-winning actor renowned for his readings of P.G. Wodehouse.Table of Contents1 Jeeves Exerts The Old Cerebellum 2 No Wedding Bells For Bingo 3 Aunt Agatha Speaks Her Mind 4 Pearls Mean Tears 5 The Pride Of The Woosters Is Wounded 6 The Hero's Reward 7 Introducing Claude And Eustace 8 Sir Roderick Comes To Lunch 9 A Letter Of Introduction 10 Startling Dressiness Of A Lift Attendant 11 Comrade Bingo 12. Bingo Has a Bad Goodwood

    1 in stock

    £19.71

  • Canongate Books Service With A Smile

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe debonair Uncle Fred makes a welcome return to Blandings, where plotting and confusion is rife. Blackmail, sabotage, jilted lovers and pigs under threat of kidnap all feature largely, making this hilarious instalment in the Blandings series irresistible to fans and newcomers alike.The story sees lovely debutante Myra Schoonmaker unhappily ensconced in Blandings at the insistence of Lady Constance Keeble, who objects to Myra's entanglement with down-at-heel curate Bill Bailey. But Blandings never has been a place to stifle the wants of the heart for long. Soon, all kinds of subterfuge and shifty goings-on are afoot to reunite the lovebirds, with the help of an unbeatable cast of misfits and society schmoozers including Pongo Twistleton, Lord Tilbury, Lavender Briggs and of course, amiably vague Lord Emsworth and his trusty 'man-mountain' butler Beach.Read by the fantastic, critically-acclaimed Martin Jarvis.Trade ReviewMartin Jarvis carries it all off once again with the consummate ease of the great entertainer he is. * * audiobooksreview.co.uk * *No one can do the milky, imperious voice of a marriage-brokering aunt like Martin Jarvis. What a good egg he is! * * The Observer * *Wodehouse brightens up the dullest day and lightens the heaviest heart. * * audiobooksreview.co.uk * *This delightfully finny audiobook is not to be missed * * Publishers Weekly * *

    1 in stock

    £22.67

  • Very Good, Jeeves: Volume 2

    Canongate Books Very Good, Jeeves: Volume 2

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe second installment of this wonderful collection of unabridged short stories sees Bertie Wooster in the proverbial soup as usual and Jeeves invariably shimmering to the rescue. Love, comic reunions and errant Uncles are all on the agenda, plus bucketloads of laughter. Where would Wooster be without his infinitely brainy valet? Where would audio listeners be without Wodehouse's sparkling comic invention? Bereft!Reader Martin Jarvis is an award-winning actor who has received international acclaim for his masterful performances of Wodehouse characters.Trade ReviewNo one can do the milky, imperious voice of a marriage-brokering aunt like Martin Jarvis. What a good egg he is! * * The Observer * *Wodehouse brightens up the dullest day and lightens the heaviest heart. So give yourself a tonic by listening to this comedy classic. * * audiobooksreview.co.uk * *Martin Jarvis brings the madcap world of Bertie Wooster and his brilliant valet Jeeves to life with canny comedic timing. * * Publishers Weekly * *Table of ContentsFull story listings: "Jeeves and the Kid Clementina" "The Love That Purifies" "Jeeves and the Old School Chum" "The Indian Summer of an Uncle" "The Ordeal of Young Tuppy"

    1 in stock

    £19.71

  • The Inimitable Jeeves: Volume 2

    Canongate Books The Inimitable Jeeves: Volume 2

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe second instalment of Jeeves and Wooster's bally spiffing adventures is chock-full of unabridged stories of sparkling brilliance. Martin Jarvis is on top form, voicing a whole range of colourful characters, including the hapless incurable romantic Bingo Little, superbly.From money-making schemes involving placing wagers on the lengths of vicars' sermons to poor Bingo producing the village school Christmas entertainments, every one of Wodehouse's celebrated short stories is guaranteed to raise chortles from even the most stony-faced listener!Martin Jarvis is a leading British actor, whose acclaimed audiobook reading is always a delight to hear.Trade ReviewNo one can do the milky, imperious voice of a marriage-brokering aunt like Martin Jarvis. What a good egg he is! * * The Observer * *Wodehouse brightens up the dullest day and lightens the heaviest heart. So give yourself a tonic by listening to this comedy classic. * * audiobooksreview.co.uk * *Martin Jarvis brings the madcap world of Bertie Wooster and his brilliant valet Jeeves to life with canny comedic timing. * * Publishers Weekly * *Table of Contentscontains # "The Great Sermon Handicap" # "The Purity of the Turf" # "The Metropolitan Touch" # "The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace" # "Bingo and the Little Woman" # "All's Well"

    1 in stock

    £19.71

  • Canongate Books A Christmas Carol

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisChristmas would not be the same without the most famous Christmas story ever written. A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, commonly shortened to A Christmas Carol, is a true classic. Its central character, Ebeneezer Scrooge, is the meanest, most miserly and most miserable person in the whole world. However, he is surrounded by many other characters who veritably bubble over with life, warmth and the cheery spirit of Christmas. These include Bob Cratchit, the kindest and most forgiving of men, and various 'ghosts of Christmas' who come to visit Scrooge in the night and endeavour to show him the error of his ways...but will he heed their lessons?Trade ReviewThe enduring popularity of the tale is fully vindicated in this gloriously spirited (no pun intended) production. * * audiobooksreview.co.uk * *

    1 in stock

    £17.74

  • Something Fresh

    Canongate Books Something Fresh

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWhen a valuable scarab belonging to an American millionaire is absent-mindedly stolen by Lord Emsworth, young writers Ashe Marson and Joan Valentine are tasked with infiltrating Blandings Castle to retrieve it. Meanwhile, vacuous Freddie Threepwood worries that some compromising letters may scupper his engagement to the millionaire's daughter. Wodehouse's comic masterpiece combines above and below stairs pretensions with all the fun of a romantic thriller.Martin Jarvis is an award-winning British actor and the 'Olivier of audiobooks'.Trade ReviewOn Summer Lightning: Get it soonest, Jarvis is the lick * * The Guardian * *On Service with a Smile:Martin Jarvis carries it all off once again with the consummate ease of the great entertainer he is * * audiobooksreview.co.uk * *

    1 in stock

    £22.67

  • Fantom Films Limited The Phantom of the Opera

    Out of stock

    Book Synopsis

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • Great Expectations: Quick Text

    Classical Comics Great Expectations: Quick Text

    2 in stock

    'I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them'. No classical collection would be complete without this well-loved Dickens title. The wonderful tale of Pip, Miss Havisham, and the spiteful Estella is retold here with fresh enthusiasm contained within rich Victorian ambience, for a wonderful reading experience.

    2 in stock

    £9.49

  • Mary Paterson, or, the Fatal Error

    Association for Scottish Literary Studies Mary Paterson, or, the Fatal Error

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisMary Paterson, or, The Fatal Error is a high-Victorian tale of the tragic life, and sorry end, of poor Mary Paterson: her fall from grace, her unhappy loves - and her final grisly demise at the hands of Burke and Hare, who kept Edinburgh''s anatomists supplied with freshly manufactured corpses. But the melodrama doesn''t stop with Mary lying cold upon the dissecting slab: David Pae''s galloping novel, originally serialised in the Dundee People''s Journal in 1864 and 1865, hounds Burke and Hare to their capture and trial, leads Burke to the gallows, and thereafter follows Hare and his accomplices to their various just deserts. The Scottish writer David Pae was one of the most successful serial novelists of his day. Edited by Caroline McCracken-Flesher, this new edition of Pae''s original and unexpurgated tale not only provides a fascinating window into the popular Victorian imagination but is also a highly entertaining novel in its own right.

    1 in stock

    £11.88

  • Marriage: A Novel

    Association for Scottish Literary Studies Marriage: A Novel

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £14.20

  • The Great God Pan, The Shining Pyramid and The

    Parthian Books The Great God Pan, The Shining Pyramid and The

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisAn experiment into the sources of the human brain through the mind of a young woman has gone horribly wrong. She has seen the great god Pan and will die giving birth to a daughter. Twenty years later feted society hostess Helen Vaughan becomes the source of much fevered speculation. Many men are infatuated with her beauty, but great beauty has a price, sometimes you have to pay with the only thing you have left. The Great God Pan was a sensation when first published in 1894. Its author, Arthur Machen, was a struggling unknown writer living in London. He had translated Casanova's memoirs and was living on a small inheritance. He immediately became one of the most talked-about writers of the last years of the nineteenth century, while the publication marked the start of his ongoing influence on modern fantasy and horror. Machen's dark imaginings of the reality behind ancient beliefs feature again in the acclaimed, mesmerising short story 'The White People' and the curious tale 'The Shining Pyramid', also in this volume.Trade Review'One of the greatest horror stories ever written.' Stephen King 'Machen is a genius right enough but I won't take him to bed with me again.' Arthur Conan Doyle 'Arthur Machen...is a mystic, who knew that there exists a threshold which, if it is stepped over, will show us a subtly altered reality.' Clive Barker 'For ability to create an atmosphere of nameless terror I can think of no author living or dead who comes near to him.' Jerome K. JeromeTable of ContentsThe Great God Pan The Shining Pyramid The White People

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • Improper Stories

    Daunt Books Improper Stories

    3 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    3 in stock

    £9.25

  • Yesterday

    Peirene Press Ltd Yesterday

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn San Agustín de Tango, you can never be sure what’s waiting around the corner. Over the course of a single day – the day before today – the hero of this novel and his adored wife embark on a journey through the absurd and the surreal, encountering a choir of monkeys and a carnivorous ostrich, travelling from the studio of an artist obsessed with the colour green to the waistcoat pocket of a pot-bellied man. All the while, the tolling of the bell in the city square pushes their whirlwind adventure towards its fateful conclusion.Trade Review'The legacy left behind by this literary forerunner [...] is a vivid world marked by unreality which is forever inseparable from the enduring world we live in.' - Pablo Neruda; 'For his extraordinary genius [...] he should have been recognised as the greatest Chilean novelist of his century.' - Jose Miguel Ibanez; 'Emar's writing incorporates popular forms, elements of rhetoric, and literary allusions in carefully wrought language reminiscent of Borges at its most brilliant moments.' - Luis Inigo Madrigal, Letra Sobre Letras.

    1 in stock

    £10.80

  • Marie Grubbe

    Dedalus Ltd Marie Grubbe

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £9.49

  • Mystery of the Sintra Road

    Dedalus Ltd Mystery of the Sintra Road

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Mystery of Sintra road begins when two friends are kidnapped by several masked men, who, to judge by their manners and their accent are men of the best society. One of the friends is a doctor, and the masked men say that they need him to assist a noblewoman, who is about to give birth. When they reach the house, they find no such noblewoman, only a dead man. Ea de Queiroz wrote this spoof ''mystery'' with his friend Ramalho OrtigÆo, publishing it in the form of a series of anonymous letters in the Dirio de Notcias in 1870.

    1 in stock

    £11.78

  • Barbara

    Dedalus Ltd Barbara

    3 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    3 in stock

    £9.49

  • Barbara

    Norvik Press Barbara

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisBarbara, originally written in Danish, was the only novel by the Faroese author Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen (1900–1938), and yet it quickly achieved international best-seller status and is still one of the best-loved twentieth century classics in Danish and Faroese literature. On the face of it, Barbara is a straightforward historical novel in the mode of many a so-called 'romance'. It contains a story of passion in an exotic setting with overtones of semi-piracy; there is a powerful erotic element, an outsider who breaks up a marriage, and a built-in inevitability resulting from Barbara's own psychological make-up. She stands as one of the most complex female characters in modern Scandinavian literature: beautiful, passionate, innocent, devoted, amoral and uncomprehending of her own tragedy. Jørgen-Frantz Jacobsen portrays her with a fascinated devotion.

    1 in stock

    £13.25

  • Little Lord

    Norvik Press Little Lord

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWilfred - alias Little Lord - is a privileged young man growing up in upper-class society in Kristiania (Oslo) during the halcyon days before the First World War. Beneath the strikingly well-adjusted surface, however, runs a darker current; he is haunted by the sudden death of his father and driven to escape the stifling care of his mother for risky adventures in Kristiania's criminal underworld. The two sides of his personality must be kept separate, but the strain of living a double life threatens breakdown and catastrophe. This best-selling novel by one of Norway's most talented twentieth-century writers is also an evocative study of a vanished age of biplanes, variety shows, and Viennese psychiatry.

    1 in stock

    £14.20

  • The Misadventures of the New Satan

    Norvik Press The Misadventures of the New Satan

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisSatan has a problem: God has come to the conclusion that it is unfair to send souls to hell if they are fundamentally incapable of living a decent life on earth. If this is the case, then hell will be shut down, and the human race written off as an unfortunate mistake. Satan is given the chance to prove that human beings are capable of salvation - thus ensuring the survival of hell - if he agrees to live as a human being and demonstrate that it is possible to live a righteous life. St Peter suggests that life as a farmer might offer Satan the best chance of success, because of the catalogue of privations he will be forced to endure. And so Satan ends up back on earth, living as Jurka, a great bear of a man, the put-upon tenant of a run-down Estonian farm. His patience and good nature are sorely tested by the machinations of his scheming, unscrupulous landlord and the social and religious hypocrisy he encounters. The Misadventures of the New Satan is the last novel by Estonia's greatest twentieth-century writer, Anton Tammsaare (1876-1940), and it constitutes a fitting summation of the themes that occupied him throughout his writing: the search for truth and social justice, and the struggle against corruption and greed. Tammsaare combines a satire on the inequalities of rural life and absurdly rigid social attitudes with biblical themes, mythology, and bawdy folklore. The novel has proved to be an enduring classic of European literature.

    1 in stock

    £13.25

  • Norvik Press The Emperor of Portugallia

    5 in stock

    Book SynopsisFor poverty-stricken farm labourer Jan, the birth of his daughter Klara gives life a new meaning; his devotion to her develops into an obsession that excludes all else. We are taken from the miracle of a newborn child and a father's love of his baby girl into a fantasy world emerging as a result of extreme external pressures, in which Jan creates for himself the role of Emperor of Portugallia. Yet this seemingly mad world generates surprising insights and support. Described as 'perhaps the most private of Selma Lagerlöf's books', the novel takes us deep into a father-daughter relationship that carries the seeds of tragedy within it almost from the start. Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940) quickly established herself as a major author of novels and short stories, and her work has been translated into close to 50 languages. Most of the translations into English were made soon after the publication of the original Swedish texts and have long been out of date. This Norvik Press series, 'Lagerlöf in English', provides English-language readers with high-quality new translations of a selection of the Nobel Laureate's most important texts.

    5 in stock

    £14.20

  • Norvik Press Betrayed

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWith high hopes, Captain Riber embarks with his young bride Aurora on a voyage to exotic destinations. But they are an ill-matched pair; her naive illusions are shattered by the realities of married life and the seediness of society in foreign ports, whilst his hopes of domestic bliss are frustrated by his wife's unhappiness. Life on board ship becomes a private hell, as Aurora's obsession with Riber's adventures as a carefree bachelor begins to undermine his sanity. Ultimately both are betrayed by a hypocritical society which imposes a warped view of sexuality on its most vulnerable members. Amalie Skram was a contemporary of Henrik Ibsen, and like him a fierce critic of repressive social mores and hypocrisy. Many of her works make an impassioned statement on the way women of all classes are imprisoned in their social roles, contributing to the great debate about sexual morality which engaged so many Nordic writers in the late nineteenth century. Her female characters are independent, rebellious, even reckless; but their upbringing and their circumstances combine to deny them the fulfilment their creator so painfully won for herself.

    1 in stock

    £13.25

  • Penwoman

    Norvik Press Penwoman

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisPenwoman is the classic novel about the Swedish women's suffrage movement. Originally published in 1910, this was Elin Wägner's second novel. Having begun her career as a journalist, she went on to become one of Sweden's leading writers, her prolific output developing radical feminist and feminist-pacifist tendencies. The novel, whose central character is a young female journalist, offers exceptional insights into the dedicated work and strong sense of sisterhood uniting a group of women campaigning for suffrage. But it also explores a range of other issues affecting the situation of women in Sweden at the time, from the role of paid work to matters of morality, eroticism and love. The refreshingly disrespectful and witty style has helped make the novel one of Wägner's most enduringly popular.

    Out of stock

    £999.99

  • The Colonel's Family

    Norvik Press The Colonel's Family

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisOften referred to as Sweden's Charlotte Bronte, Fredrika Bremer (1801-1865) was widely translated during her lifetime and became internationally acclaimed as the author of an impressive series of novels and travel books. The Colonel's Family first appeared in two parts in 1830-31 as part of a series which she called Sketches from Daily Life - a title which at an early stage declared her lifelong preoccupation with the details of her domestic day. What was less immediately apparent to her contemporaries was her courage in abandoning the prevailing conventions of insipid romantic fiction in order to explore more profound social and moral problems. Her novel is now recognised as a sensitive exploration of the problems of a frustrated, silenced woman, a creature of strong repressed passions, in an era of highly constrictive marital conventions. The striking narrative style is a combination of the picaresque, the sentimental, the realistic, the comic and even the farcical. This translation of a classic of Swedish literature preserves the freshness and idiosyncratic flavour of the original. Sarah Death has over thirty years' experience as a translator from Swedish and has won the George Bernard Shaw Prize three times. In 2014 she was awarded the Royal Order of the Polar Star for services to Swedish literature. She has translated books in a wide variety of genres including children's stories, crime fiction, literary criticism, novels by Nobel laureate Selma Lagerloef and the work of many contemporary writers. She lives and works in Kent.

    1 in stock

    £14.20

  • Memoirs of a Child

    Norvik Press Memoirs of a Child

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn this second part of her notionally autobiographical trilogy, Selma Lagerloef broadens the perspective from the farm where she grew up to include the people and places around Lake Fryken in her beloved Varmland county. The personal creation myth which she began in Marbacka continues here with a focus on the self-discipline and imagination needed to fulfil a childhood ambition to become an author. It is hard work that sometimes means taking a stand against convention but also a deeply enriching process in a home steeped in storytelling and books. The mature author reveals the roots of the young bibliophile's growing skill in deploying fiction to manipulate and embellish reality, producing a wryly charming, tongue-in-cheek account that we should beware of taking at face value.Table of ContentsSeries Preface Aline Laurell Bible Interpretation The Vow Gardsjoe Herrestad Fear The Game of Cards The Marseillaise Forty Below Maja Rad The Church Visit The Kiss The Sunne Ball Elin Laurell Pastor Unger The Easter Witch Anna Lagerloef Uncle Schenson The Pond Agrippa Prastberg At the Jetty The Well At Fair Time Earthquake Notes Translator's Afterword Bibliography

    1 in stock

    £14.20

  • Mansfield Park

    Pan Macmillan Mansfield Park

    1 in stock

    Book SynopsisWith psychological insight and sparkling wit, Jane Austen paints an irresistibly lifelike portrait of shifting values and split loyalties in Mansfield Park.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful hardbacks make perfect gifts for book lovers, or wonderful additions to your own collection. Gorgeously illustrated by the celebrated Hugh Thomson, this edition also includes an afterword by historian and author Nigel Cliff.Aged ten, Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthier relations, the Bertrams, at Mansfield Park. However, life there is not as she imagined. Treated with disdain by three of her cousins, she finds her only comfort in the kindness of the fourth, Edmund. As they grow, their friendship develops into romantic love - until the arrival of Henry Crawford and his charming sister Mary causes an emotional upheaval that no one in the family expects.Trade ReviewI can’t leave Mansfield Park alone. When driving or washing dishes or folding laundry, I turn on an audio version and listen, and I keep the little speckled copy of the text near me at all times. -- Anna Keesey * LA Review of Books *Mansfield Park highlights, as no other Austen novel does, the role that class and class privilege play in determining the popular qualities for a heroine’s charm and wit. -- Tara Isabella Burton * The Paris Review *

    1 in stock

    £10.44

  • Just So Stories

    Pan Macmillan Just So Stories

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisThese twelve magical tales tell, among other things, how the camel got his hump; the leopard his spots; the elephant his trunk; how the alphabet was made; and how a butterfly caused mayhem at the court of King Solomon. Rightfully considered one of the enduring classics of children's literature, Just So Stories is an enchanting collection that still delights and illuminates over a century after it was first published.Beautifully illustrated throughout by Kipling himself, this Macmillan Collector's Library edition also contains an afterword by editor Marcus Clapham.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.

    4 in stock

    £10.44

  • The House of Mirth

    Pan Macmillan The House of Mirth

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton gives us a witty and piercingly insightful dark satire about the privileged society of early twentieth-century New York. It a world that inspired the lavish costume drama The Gilded Age, written by Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey.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 features an introduction by novelist Danuta Reah.Lily Bart is twenty-nine, beautiful and charming. She has expensive tastes, loves to gamble and socializes with the wealthy upper-class families of New York. But her meagre finances are dwindling and her place in society is slipping away from her. Her only hope of security is to find a suitable husband. However, Lily has an independence of spirit that stands in the way of her committing to the suitors available to her. As her options diminish, her friends become her enemies and her situation grows increasing perilous.

    4 in stock

    £11.39

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    Book Synopsis

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    Book Synopsis

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    Book Synopsis

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    Book Synopsis"A Dissertation Upon Second Fiddles", first published in 1902 is a collection of four, slightly interconnected, stories. O'Sullivan's characters flit between the stories, all of which have a slightly moralistic purpose. However, O'Sullivan's macabre sense of humour ensures that the tales do not preach, and he puts his black wit to good use in this hard-to-find collection. "Of Kindred" describes a mysterious German stranger proffering advice to the large and corpulent Sir Hugh Anger so that he can resolve his hypochondria and live a longer, healthier life. "Of Accomplices" is the story of Shawlcoat Vellery, a good and virtuous man, who rather bored with his righteousness, comes across the anarchical and nihilistic Labour Argan. Vellery decides to act as Argan's henchman in various schemes but the results are not as anticipated. "Of Friends" describes Nicolas and his wife Hester. The pompous Nicolas is persuaded to make a speech for a local politician but it ends disastrously when Nicolas is attacked and beaten by ruffians. While Nicolas is recovering in bed, the MP, a portly gentleman of some 50 years, who has admired Nicolas's russet-haired wife with her "strong white neck, and the perfect and most pleasing harmony of her whole frame", takes his chance to try "to beat down the guard" of the unfortunate Hester. "Of Enemies" is the tale of a flighty, yet pretty, novelist, Mrs Ardour, who comes across a short story in an obscure magazine. She decides to steal the plot and sets on writing a novel based on the story. When the original writer discovers this plagiarism, Mrs Ardour uses all her skills and wiles to ruin him completely.Table of ContentsSection I: Of Kindred Section II: Of Accomplices Section III: Of Friends Section IV: Of Enemies

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    Persephone Books Ltd The Rector's Daughter

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    Book Synopsis

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    Parthian Books We Live

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    Book SynopsisThe second of Lewis Jones' two epic industrial novels of the 1930s. Len, son of Big Jim and dynamic political organiser, takes centre stage in Lewis Jones' sequel to Cwmardy. Along his journey, he is influenced by Mary, a teacher, and the Communist Party, which becomes central to his work both underground and in union politics, and to his decision to leave and fight in the Spanish Civil War. We Live paints a graphic portrait of the casual exploitation, tragedy and violence as well as the political hope and humanity of South Wales industrial workers from the 1900s to the 1930s.

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    Merlin Unwin Books Ovington's Bank

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    Book SynopsisA forgotten masterpiece from consummate story-teller Stanley Weyman (1855-1928) who was once the Charles Dickens of his day yet 25 years ago all his books were out of print. Graham Greene described Weyman's novels as key books in my life'.

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    Parapara Books Heart of Darkness/Herz der Finsternis: Bilingual

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    Book Synopsis

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