Classics

Candide is an innocent young nobleman who leads an idyllic, sheltered life and has adopted the optimistic mindset promoted by his tutor Dr Pangloss. But after committing an indiscretion and being expelled from his family home, Candide finds himself on a journey that will take him to Portugal, Argentina, Britain and Turkey and expose him to torture, war, shipwreck and natural disasters, leading him to question whether he is really living in the "best of possible worlds". Published in 1759, when it became a best-seller and stirred up much controversy, Candide is an exhilarating picaresque romp and a biting satire by one of the Enlightenment's major figures that still resonates to this day.

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During the German advance through Belgium into France in 1940, Captain de Reixach is shot dead by a sniper. Three witnesses, involved with him during his lifetime in different capacities – a distant relative, an orderly and a jockey who had an affair with his wife – remember him and help the reader piece together the realities behind the man and his death. A groundbreaking work, for which Claude Simon devised a prose technique mimicking the mind’s fluid thought processes, The Flanders Road is not only a masterpiece of stylistic innovation, but also a haunting portrayal – based on a real-life incident – of the chaos and savagery of war.

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Raised in the idyllic setting of Dorlcote Mill, the wild and wilful Maggie Tulliver adores her elder brother Tom and is forever trying to gain the approbation of her parents. Yet, as she grows older and the family struggle under the weight of severe pecuniary difficulties, she becomes increasingly caught between the divergent expectations of the four men in her life: a doting father, an obdurate and vengeful brother, a good-looking and frivolous suitor and an earnest old playmate who happens to be the son of her father and brother’s sworn enemy. Tragic and affecting, and drawing heavily on George Eliot’s own rural upbringing and relationship with her brother, The Mill on the Floss is one of literature’s finest evocations of childhood and adolescence, and introduces, in Maggie Tulliver, one of the most beloved heroines in the English canon.

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A riveting selection of short stories in Spanish alongside their English translations This new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from The Penguin Book of Spanish Short Stories celebrates some of the very best twentieth-century literature from Spain. Each story appears in Spanish alongside an expert English translation, providing unique cultural insight and literary inspiration for language learners. Ranging from a poignant tale of betrayal to a darkly humorous exchange between wedding guests, this captivating collection includes works from authors such as Leopoldo Alas (Clarín), Cristina Fernández Cubas, Medardo Fraile, Carmen Martín Gaite, Karmele Jaio, Carmen Laforet, Javier Marías, Carme Riera, Manuel Rivas, and Esther Tusquets.

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Oscar Wilde's only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Now, distinctively packaged with a beautifully designed jacket by noted illustrator Malika Favre. When handsome young Dorian Gray sees a painter's stunning portrait of him, he is transfixed by its reflection of his own beauty. He is also troubled by the knowledge that the image in the painting will remain forever youthful and handsome while he himself will grow older and less desirable. He wishes aloud that the roles were reversed, saying that he would give his soul if only the painting would suffer the ravages of time and he were to remain forever young. From that point on, Dorian lives a life of hedonistic indulgence, knowing that only the painting will show his moral corruption.

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Through a series of connected monologues, The Waves tells the story of six very different friends – Bernard, Louis, Neville, Jinny, Susan and Rhoda – as they progress from childhood to middle age. Interspersed with evocative descriptions of the seaside at different times of day, the poignant personal histories coalesce into a poetic tapestry of human experience. A commercial and critical success when it was first published in 1931, and now considered by some to be Virginia Woolf’s most ambitious novel, showcasing her Modernist narrative techniques at their finest, The Waves casts a visionary and lyrical light on everyday life.

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Angel Pavement is one of the great London novels. First published in 1930, it is a social panorama of the city of London seen largely through the eyes of the employees of the firm Twigg & Dersingham, on the first floor of No. 8, Angel Pavement (a small cul-de-sac in the heart of London's commercial district). Angel Pavement provides readers with a vivid picture of ordinary London life before the war and the blitz changed everything dramatically and is set against the background of the great depression. The story centres on the arrival of a mysterious Mr. Golspie from the Baltic region. Business at the firm has been struggling but Mr. Golspie looks set to change its fortunes. His arrival turns life upside down for everyone connected with the firm, but all is not what it seems with Mr. Golspie...

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In an examination of his laudanum addiction and the dreams and visions the drug engendered, Thomas De Quincey lays bare the celestial pleasures and infernal lows of an existence dependent on “subtle and mighty opium”. At once moving and rhapsodic, and suffused with a poetic and lyrical beauty, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater hauntingly evokes frightful scenes and phantasmagorical night-time wanderings, while reality, dream and memory blur and intertwine in a nebulous and protean haze. Published anonymously in The London Magazine, the Confessions were an immediate success, and soon speculation was rife as to the identity of the mysterious Opium-Eater. The work, which introduced the literary world to De Quincey’s unique “impassioned prose”, is now widely deemed to be De Quincey’s masterpiece.

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Living overseas but writing, always, about his native city, Joyce made Dublin unforgettable. The stories in Dubliners show us truants, seducers, gossips, rally-drivers, generous hostesses, corrupt politicians, failing priests, amateur theologians, struggling musicians, moony adolescents, victims of domestic brutishness, sentimental aunts and poets, patriots earnest or cynical, and people striving to get by. In every sense an international figure, Joyce was faithful to his own country by seeing it unflinchingly and challenging every precedent and piety in Irish literature.

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Prize-winning author Petina Gappah's tale of Dr Livingstone's epic journey through nineteenth-century Africa is 'incredible' (Yaa Gyasi), 'powerful' (Jesmyn Ward), and 'beautiful' (Anthony Doerr).'A fine writer.' J.M. Coetzee 'Wonderful.' The Times 'Captivating.' GuardianThis is the story of the body of Bwana Daudi, the Doctor, the explorer David Livingstone - and the sixty-nine men and women who carried his remains for 1,500 miles across the African interior so that he could be borne across the sea and buried in his own country. This is the story of those in the shadows of history: those who saved a white man's bones, his dark companions, who became his faithful retinue on an epic funeral march - little knowing that his corpse carried the maps that sowed the seeds of the continent's brutal colonisation and enslavement. This is the story of how human bravery, loyalty, and love can triumph over darkness - and it is Petina Gappah's radical masterpiece.'Incredible.' Yaa Gyasi'Beautiful.' Anthony Doerr'Powerful.' Jesmyn Ward

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Exam board: OCR, EduqasLevel & Subject: GCSE English LiteratureFirst teaching: September 2015Next exams: 2024 This edition of The War of the Worlds is perfect for GCSE-level students, with the complete novel, engaging introduction written by a teacher and a handy glossary at the back of the book. Fantastic value for H G Wells The War of the Worlds book Easy to read font in an accessible format A new introduction provides context Bespoke glossary explains key terms

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To mark the publishing centenary of Freeman Wills Crofts, ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’, this is one of six classic crime novels being issued in 2020 featuring Inspector French, coming soon to television. Work on the widening of the Southern Railway’s route along the Dorset coast is halted when a man is hit in the path of a train. At the inquest, the tragedy becomes a dark and sinister mystery when a witness swears to seeing a man running away from the scene of the accident – a statement that results in the intervention of Inspector French. But when the apparent solution to the case turns into an even deeper mystery, French faces the most complex problem he has ever encountered.

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Botchan is a modern young man from the Tokyo metropolis, sent to the ultra-traditional Matsuyama district as a Maths teacher after his the death of his parents. Cynical, rebellious and immature, Botchan finds himself facing several tests, from the pupils - prone to playing tricks on their new, naïve teacher; the staff - vain, immoral, and in danger of becoming a bad influence on Botchan; and from his own as-yet-unformed nature, as he finds his place in the world. One of the most popular novels in Japan where it is considered a classic of adolescence, as seminal as The Catcher in the Rye, Botchan is as funny, poignant and memorable as it was when first published, over 100 years ago.Translated by J. Cohn

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When Evie's father falls desperately ill, she finally returns to the family home on Orkney and the wild landscape she left as a teenager, swearing never to return. Not everyone is happy at her arrival, particularly her estranged sister Liv, their relationship broken after a childhood trauma.  As Evie clears out her father's neglected house to prepare it for sale, lonely Evie finds herself drawn to a group of cold-water swimmers led by her old friend Freya, who find calmness beneath the waves. Together they help Evie face up to the mistakes in her past, unlocking a treasure of truths that will reverberate through the community, and shake her family to its core.  Inspired by her passion for the Orkney islands and its people, The Island Swimmer is the captivating debut novel about the importance of being true to yourself from broadcaster Lorraine Kelly.

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An unnamed young governess is sent to a country house to take charge of two orphans, Miles and Flora. Yet she is soon oppressed by a sense of foreboding and deep disquiet, becoming convinced that something dark is menacing her young charges. But are supernatural forces at work, or is the danger something altogether more earthly? Henry James's masterpiece, and widely considered to be the greatest ghost story ever written, The Turn of the Screw remains the apogee of suspenseful, haunting writing in the English language. This new edition of The Turn of the Screw offers students the definitive text and extensive appendices.

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Inspired by real events and centring on the figure of Pelageya Vlasova – the mother of the title – and her son Pavel, Gorky’s masterpiece describes the brutal life of ordinary Russian factory workers in the years leading to the 1905 Revolution and explores the rise of the proletariat, the role of women in society and the lower classes’ struggle for self-affirmation. A book of the utmost importance, in the words of Lenin, and a landmark in Russian literature, The Mother – here presented in a brilliant new version by Hugh Aplin, the first English translation in almost a century – will enchant modern readers both for its historical significance and its intrinsic value as a work of art.

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Rabindranath Tagore published his first volume of poetry at the age of thirteen. He went on to become a towering figure in Bengali and world literature.Tagore was remarkably productive over his long life; his complete works fill 32 large volumes and include 60 collections of verse and more than 2,000 songs, two of which have become the national anthems of India and of Bangladesh. In both his poetry and prose he was a great innovator, continually breaking with tradition, endlessly changing his own style, so this volume is full of variety and surprise. If lyric poetry was the anchor of Tagore's creativity, he also wrote devotional, satirical, humorous and even nonsense verse.His themes were as varied as his forms - love, the beauty of nature; philosophy, politics, his hopes and fears for his country, and for the future of mankind. In his fiction he showed profound sympathy for the perspectives of women, children and the poor. This selection - a substantial 900+ pages - offers a representative overview of his work, including his best-known novel, The Home and the World, and his best-known play, Red Oleander, as well as many short stories, novellas, essays, poems and songs.Rudrangshu Mukherjee has drawn on the work of various translators, from early renderings by Surendranath Tagore, the author's nephew, to modern ones by William Radice, Kaiser Haq and Madhuchchhanda Karlekar. Tagore translated some of his work himself, and all the essays and lectures were composed in English

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'You only see clearly with your heart. The most important things are invisible to the eyes.'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. This edition features a specially commissioned translation by Ros and Chloe Schwarz, as well as the charming original illustrations by Saint-Exupéry himself, coloured by Barbara Frith.After crash-landing in the Sahara Desert, a pilot encounters a little prince who is visiting Earth from his own planet. Their strange and moving meeting illuminates for the aviator many of life's universal truths, as he comes to learn what it means to be human from a child who is not. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's delightful The Little Prince has been translated into over 180 languages and sold over 80 million copies.

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One of the masters of the short story' Guardian I have to tell you you see, this is just about the strangest experience I have been through...'These six stories of obsession, secrets, delusions and desires from one of the greatest European writers show individuals caught up in forces beyond their control whether an art dealer agreeing to a heartbreaking deception, a soldier destroyed by war, a servant infatuated with her employer or a young boy witnessing illicit adult passions. Portraying innocence lost and lives crushed by history, each tale is a psychologically acute, startling human drama.Translated by Jonathan Katz

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Little treasures, the FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library. Each stunning, gift edition features deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a Glossary of Victorian and Literary terms produced for the modern reader. This beautiful collection compiles Edgar Allan Poe’s most terrifying and otherworldly works. Included are the very first modern detective stories, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget and The Purloined Letter. As well as these are the most famous of Poe’s works, including The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Premature Burial and The Tell-Tale Heart.

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Little treasures, the FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library. Each stunning, gift edition features deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a Glossary of Victorian and Literary terms produced for the modern reader. Two other tales are included: The Chimes and The Haunted Man. Ebenezer Scrooge hates everyone and everything. Especially children. Especially Christmas. He’s greedy, wealthy and cold-hearted, which has harrowed his features, giving him a pointy nose and thin, blue lips. On Christmas Eve Scrooge is visited by the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come – but can they make him change his ways? A Christmas Carol is a novella by Charles Dickens. It was first published on 19 December 1843 and the first edition had sold out by Christmas Eve. The story of the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge has only continued to grow in popularity since then and it is now one of the most widely known stories in the world. The FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library.

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AS CELEBRATED ON BBC FRONT ROW'This breathtaking collection is a marvel.' Tayari Jones'Astute, brilliantly observed, timeless:' Jackie Kay'Exquisite ... These stories are all gems.' Mendez'You hold your breath, completely at her mercy.' Lucy CaldwellAnd she was becoming frightened too, looking at all those white faces pressed against the windowpanes.One Black family comes under attack as their little boy prepares to start at an all-white school.Friends plan a protest sit-in at the Rose Crest Tea Room, only to be arrested.The first Black student - always the 'Experiment' - retreats into her closet at a newly integrated college.And when a social worker enters a secluded woodland cabin, she meets the fate of all visitors . . .Tragically killed aged twenty-two in 1966, Diane Oliver's masterly stories resonate today with renewed urgency. Steeped in the nightmarish horror of life for the Black community in the Jim Crow-era American South, these chilling tales explore toxic racism and the human toll of activism for 'the cause' with heartbreaking empathy and wisdom. Depicting African American families whole and broken, daily injustices and life-threatening political struggle, Neighbors restores a lost star to the twentieth-century literary canon.

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Rose Macaulay takes a lively and perceptive look at three generations of women within the same family and the 'dangers' faced at each of those stages in life. The book opens with Neville celebrating her 43rd birthday and contemplating middle age now that her children are grown. Her mother, in her sixties, seeks answers to her melancholy in Freudianism. Her sister, Nan, 33, a writer who has hitherto led a single and carefree life in London, experiences the loss of love and with it her plan for the future. And Neville's principled daughter Gerda, who is determined not to follow her mother's generation into the institute of marriage, finds herself at an impasse with the man she loves.

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Delight in the most wonderful time of the year with a collection of heartwarming and heartfelt Christmas classics in this beautiful, giftable Christmas collection.In this beautifully packaged anthology, discover lesser-known and tender stories and poems from classic authors you know and love. Each selection honors the spirit of the season and celebrates the beauty, mystery, and joy found this time of year.From O. Henry’s iconic story “The Gift of the Magi” to L. Frank Baum’s quaint and clever history of Santa Claus and his reindeer, the stories gathered in A Timeless Christmas honor the yuletide tales and traditions passed down through generations.Christina Rossetti’s beautiful poetry, L. M. Montgomery’s charming short stories, and many other classic works will bring warmth to the fireside this season and remind us all that Christmas is a time for joy. With additional pieces from Louisa May Alcott, George MacDonald, and more, A Timeless Christmas will become a cherished keepsake for friends and family to enjoy this year and for years to come—a reminder that the heart of the holiday never changes. Hardcover, giftable size Perfect as a stocking stuffer and host or hostess gift Filled with heartwarming and joyful Christmas stories and poems Makes a lovely keepsake companion to A Classic Christmas and A Vintage Christmas

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Northanger Abbey tells the story of a young girl, Catherine Morland who leaves her sheltered, rural home to enter the busy, sophisticated world of Bath in the late 1790s. Austen observes with insight and humour the interaction between Catherine and the various characters whom she meets there, and tracks her growing understanding of the world about her.

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The gripping tale of sabotage at sea, from the acclaimed master of action and suspense. In the heart of the Aegean Sea, a luxury yacht is on fire and sinking fast. Minutes later, a four-engined jet with a fire in its nose-cone crashes into the sea. Is there a sinister connection between these two tragedies? And is it an accident that the Ariadne, a NATO spy ship, is the only vessel in the vicinity – the only witness? Only Commander Talbot of the Ariadne can provide the answers as he uncovers a deadly plot involving drugs and terrorism – leading to the heart of the Pentagon.

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'There's something of everything there, the best and the worst, the vulgar and the sublime, flowers, muck, tears, laughter, the river of life itself' Pascal Rougon has served as a doctor in the rural French town of Plassans for thirty years. He lives a quiet life with his faithful servant Martine and young niece Clotilde. Pascal is a man of science, striving to find the ultimate cure for all diseases. This puts him at odds with his niece, who is horrified by his denial of religious faith. Clotilde also distrusts Pascal's lifelong ambition to create a family tree on scientific principles, based upon his theories of heredity. Tensions in the household are fuelled by Pascal's scheming mother, Félicité, as the final episode in the great Rougon-Macquart saga plays out. Dr Pascal is the passionate conclusion to Zola's twenty-novel sequence, and the most eloquent expression of the ideas on heredity and human progress that have underpinned it. Human relations are at its heart, as Pascal and Clotilde are bound ever closer by ties of family and love.

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"Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart…” Crime and Punishment is one of the greatest and most readable novels ever written. From the beginning we are locked into the frenzied consciousness of Raskolnikov who, against his better instincts, is inexorably drawn to commit a brutal double murder. From that moment on, we share his conflicting feelings of self-loathing and pride, of contempt for and need of others, and of terrible despair and hope of redemption: and, in a remarkable transformation of the detective novel, we follow his agonised efforts to probe and confront both his own motives for, and the consequences of, his crime. The result is a tragic novel built out of a series of supremely dramatic scenes that illuminate the eternal conflicts at the heart of human existence: most especially our desire for self-expression and self-fulfilment, as against the constraints of morality and human laws; and our agonised awareness of the world’s harsh injustices and of our own mortality, as against the mysteries of divine justice and immortality.

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Animal Farm is George Orwell’s brilliant political satire and allegorical fable about the corrupting effects of power. Published in 1945 it is, to this day, one of the most famous and influential works of fiction ever written.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. This edition features an introduction by journalist, award-winning writer and editor of the New Statesman, Jason Cowley.When the old Major, a highly respected white boar, gathers his fellow farm animals to preach about freedom, rebellion and the evils of man, he incites a revolution that has been brewing for years. The animals drive out their drunken farmer and create their own society – with the promise of equality for all, two scheming pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, appoint themselves leaders. What begins as a supposedly equalitarian community descends into an increasingly violent and hierarchical society, permeated by lies and corruption. Years after publication, Orwell's words remain a stark warning against the lure of fascist populism.

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In Burmese Days, George Orwell, one of the most famous writers in the English language, draws on his own experience of living and working in Burma to write an unflinching novel about the dark side of imperialism. 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 journalist and writer David Eimer.John Flory is a disillusioned timber merchant based in the remote town of Kyauktada in 1920s Burma. Whilst his English peers gather night after night to drink and gossip in their exclusive club, Flory has embraced local life – his best friend is Dr Veraswami and his mistress is Ma Hla May. The slow, sticky, hot days are interrupted by the arrival of the young and beautiful Elizabeth. And when the club is forced to elect a non-white member, Flory is caught up in an increasingly hostile and dangerous feud.

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Brideshead Revisited is Evelyn Waugh's stunning novel of duty and desire set amongst the decadent, faded glory of the English aristocracy in the run-up to the Second World War.The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian Flyte at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognise his spiritual and social distance from them.Evelyn Waugh (1903-66) was born in Hampstead, second son of Arthur Waugh, publisher and literary critic, and brother of Alec Waugh, the popular novelist. In 1928 he published his first work, a life of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and his first novel, Decline and Fall, which was soon followed by Vile Bodies (1930), A Handful of Dust (1934) and Scoop (1938). In 1939 he was commissioned in the Royal Marines and later transferred to the Royal Horse Guards, serving in the Middle East and in Yugoslavia. In 1942 he published Put Out More Flags and then in 1945 Brideshead Revisited. Men at Arms (1952) was the first volume of 'The Sword of Honour' trilogy, and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize; the other volumes, Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender, followed in 1955 and 1961.If you enjoyed Brideshead Revisited, you might like Waugh's Vile Bodies, also available in Penguin Classics.'Lush and evocative ... Expresses at once the profundity of change and the indomitable endurance of the human spirit'The Times

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In 2014, The New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft was published and devoured by the Lovecraft community and general readers alike. The landmark volume included twenty-two stories but there are many others worthy of attention, including Lovecraft’s favourites. In this follow-up, twenty-five more Lovecraft stories are re-presented as well as a number of never-before-seen revisions and collaborations with other authors. Included are “Rats in the Wall”, a post–First World War story about the terrors of the past and the newly contextualised “The Horror at Red Hook”, which has been adapted recently by Victor LaValle. The stories magnify the creative ideas and writing processes of the literary genius. Best-selling author and editor Klinger reanimates Lovecraft with clarity and historical insight, offering a revelatory volume in which the author’s story-writing method is uncovered, his vivid dreams are recorded and first drafts of stories are seen in immaturity. In addition to his ground-breaking writing, we glimpse a personal side of Lovecraft: his favourite stories are highlighted and his vulnerability as a young writer is obvious. With hundreds of annotations and dozens of rare images, Beyond Arkham provides the complete picture of Lovecraft’s achievements in fiction. No lover of Gothic literature will want to be without this literary keepsake.

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Introducing 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-SmithCelebrating 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.A group of passengers on a cruise ship challenge the world chess champion to a match. At first, they crumble, until they are helped by whispered advice from a stranger in the crowd - a man who will risk everything to win. Stefan Zweig's acclaimed novella Chess is a disturbing, intensely dramatic depiction of obsession and the price of the past.

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For fans of true crime and of classic crime fiction, The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey is a gripping thriller featuring detective Alan Grant and a masterful exposé of the powerful connections between media, the establishment and what people choose to believe. Based on a true story.Complete and unabridged. 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 introduced by writer David Stuart Davies.Fifteen-year-old Betty Kane has never put a foot wrong. Naturally, everyone is shocked and horrified to hear her story – that she was kidnapped, tortured and held prisoner by Marion Sharpe and her elderly mother, owners of the mysterious old house, The Franchise. But are the two women really guilty of such a horrendous crime? Every page resonates with tension as the story unfolds – did they or didn’t they take a young girl prisoner? And whose story can you trust?

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'Juicy, shocking, witty, and almost continually brilliant' COSMOPOLITAN'A brilliant novel: honest, engaging and sharp as a tack' SARAH WATERS'Lively, vivid and exceedingly entertaining' SUNDAY TIMESThis groundbreaking novel celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2023. One of the first novels to frankly depict friendship, sex and women's lives. It was a revelation and continues to inspire today.WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY MONICA ALIMary McCarthy's most celebrated novel portrays the lives and aspirations of eight Vassar graduates. 'The group' meet in New York following graduation to attend the wedding of one of their friends - and reconvene seven years later at her funeral. The women, fresh from college, vowed not to become stuffy and frightened like their parents, but to lead fulfilling, emancipated lives. Who really achieved this - and what sacrifices and compromises had to be made?'McCarthy's characters confront many of the same issues as their modern counterparts: sex and contraception, career and marriage, love and lust, fidelity to one's husband versus loyalty to one's friends and the attempt to carve out a place for oneself unconstrained by the gender limitations of previous generations. Its continuing relevance is one of the book's most extraordinary attributes' ELIZABETH DAY, GUARDIAN

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A new Penguin English Library edition of Jane Austen's tantalizing final work - set to be a major Andrew Davies ITV adaptation this autumnWritten in the last months of Austen's life, Sanditon features a glorious cast of hypochondriacs and speculators in a newly established seaside resort, and shows the author contemplating a changing society with scepticism and amusement. It tells the story of Charlotte Heywood, who is transported by a chance accident from her rural hometown to Sanditon, where she is exposed to the intrigues and dalliances of a small town determined to reinvent itself - and encounters the intriguingly handsome Sidney Parker.This edition also includes the early epistolary novel Lady Susan and the delightful fragment The Watsons.

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'It is singular, that my having spent a winter with one of the most dissipated women in England should have sobered my mind so completely.' Maria Edgeworth's 1801 novel, Belinda, is an absorbing, sometimes provocative, tale of social and domestic life among the English aristocracy and gentry. The heroine of the title, only too conscious of being 'advertised' on the marriage market, grows in moral maturity as she seeks to balance self-fulfilment with achieving material success. Among those whom she encounters are the socialite Lady Delacour, whose brilliance and wit hide a tragic secret, the radical feminist Harriot Freke, the handsome and wealthy Creole gentleman Mr Vincent, and the mercurial Clarence Hervey, whose misguided idealism has led him into a series of near-catastrophic mistakes. In telling their story Maria Edgeworth gives a vivid picture of life in late eighteenth-century London, skilfully showing both the attractions of leisured society and its darker side, and blending drawing-room comedy with challenging themes involving serious illness, obsession, slavery and interracial marriage.

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An often overlooked collection in Arthur Conan Doyle's career, these tales actually track the vital moment in his life when he decided to shift careers from provincial medic to celebrated London author Detailed introduction, notes and scholarly apparatus Appendixes that collect extra medical tales, Conan Doyle's early contributions to the medical press and the two one-act plays that he produced from two of the stories, including one of his greatest successes for the stage, Waterloo Introduction provides the medical context to help understand its place in Conan Doyle's career This is a scholarly edition of Arthur Conan Doyle's controversial collection of medical tales, first published in 1894 in the first flush of his fame. Conan Doyle had trained in medicine at Edinburgh University in the 1870s, and then spent eight years as a General Practitioner in Southsea, before deciding to become a professional author in 1890. The stories he collected in Round the Red Lamp are gathered from his medical training and incidents in his life as a provincial GP. Some of the stories are daring dealing explicitly with child birth, sexually transmitted diseases and malpractice. Some are sentimental or comic vignettes. Some are Gothic horrors. On publication the shades of dark and light bewildered some of his readers and the medical realism outraged others. Round the Red Lamp is a vital collection in understanding Conan Doyle's shift of profession from medic to author.

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