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Book SynopsisThe Vinland Viking Saga: Book 1History set her fate in stoneMurderer. Mercenary. Temptress.Trickster. Traitor. Thief.But under a hammer that falls like thunder, stone will always shatter.So with her voice she lights the forge.The Voyage of Freydis sings the silenced tale of Freydis Eiriksdottir, the first and only woman to lead a Viking voyage across the Atlantic in this tempestuous retelling of an ancient Icelandic saga set at the dawn of the 11th century.Content notice: spousal abuse.Praise for The Voyage of Freydis:Anyone who loves Vikings and historical fiction definitely should pick up this book' Emily, NetGalley reviewerVery lyrically written, I felt as if I was reading a song' Tiffany, NetGalley reviewerAs a lover of mythology and historical fiction I knew immediately I was going to like this book and I'm pleased to say I not only liked it but I LOVED it!' Libby, NetGalley reviewerTamara Goranson's writing really shines here. I felt the cold, heard the wind, flinched with the blTrade Review‘Anyone who loves Vikings and historical fiction definitely should pick up this book’ Emily, NetGalley reviewer ‘Very lyrically written, I felt as if I was reading a song’ Tiffany, NetGalley reviewer ‘As a lover of mythology and historical fiction I knew immediately I was going to like this book – and I’m pleased to say I not only liked it but I LOVED it!’ Libby, NetGalley reviewer ‘Tamara Goranson’s writing really shines here. I felt the cold, heard the wind, flinched with the blows – that takes a lot of skill’ Dawn, NetGalley reviewer ‘Took me on a rollercoaster of emotions’ Charlotte, NetGalley reviewer

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Book SynopsisFantomina, or, Love in a Maze is a novella by Eliza Haywood which charts an unnamed female protagonist’s pursuit of the charming, shallow Beauplaisir. Dealing with major themes such as identity, class and sexual desire, and first published in 1725, Fantomina subverts the popular ‘persecuted maiden’ narrative, and reaches a climax which would have shocked its contemporary readership. Moving to London, a young woman – let’s call her Fantomina – meets a dashing man at the theatre. After a short, but intense, fling, Beauplaisir grows bored of Fantomina, and leaves her. Outraged that she should be so treated, Fantomina discards her disguise in favour of another, and sets off in hot pursuit of her victim, and a game of cat and mouse begins. This edition features an introduction by Dr Sarah R. Creel, Bethany E. Qualls and Dr Anna K. Sagal of the International Eliza Haywood Society.Trade Review'[It] is right to deplore "Haywood's invisibility to modern political historians", but now we see her in focus, she matters for the imaginative power of her writing.' (Thomas Keymer, London Review of Books) 'Haywood's place in literary history is equally remarkable and as neglected, misunderstood and misrepresented as her oeuvre.' (Paula R. Backscheider)Table of ContentsIntroduction; Fantomina, or, Love in a Maze; Note on the Text

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Book SynopsisNo longer a boy, not quite a man, Edwin Clayhanger stands on a canal bridge on his last day of school, and surveys the valley of Bursley and the Five Towns. Serious, good-natured and full of incoherent ambition, Edwin's hopes and dreams for the future are just taking shape, even as they are put to the test by challenges from Edwin's domineering father, the stifling constraints of society, and an unusual young woman.Trade ReviewCrammed with details of Victorian life, the first book in Bennett's trilogy about a Potteries family examines how one man, Edwin Clayhanger, is shaped by class, geography and ties of blood. * Guardian *Arnold Bennett writes marvelously on the stuff of life * New York Times *For Bennett...compassion is not soggy. It involves understanding. The core of his writing is psychological truth, clinically observed, crisply reported * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisRavaged by years of war and civil conflict, Britain has changed its name to Airstrip One and become part of Oceania – one of the three totalitarian blocks dominating the world – ruled by a mysterious leader called Big Brother who keeps the population in thrall through strict surveillance and brutal police repression. In a society where the individual is suppressed and turned into an “unperson” for not conforming, and where not only personal thought, but also historical record and language itself are constantly being manipulated by the ruling regime, Ministry of Truth worker Winston Smith tries to make sense of the rebellious thoughts and passions that are stirring inside him, and finds himself impotent against the inexorable machine that surrounds him and threatens to crush him at any time. Arguably the greatest dystopian novel of all time and the most influential post-war work of fiction – which enriched the English language with words such as “Newspeak”, “doublethink” and “thoughtcrime” – Nineteen Eighty-Four is a riveting read and a groundbreaking exploration of mass surveillance, censorship and mind control, which has a deep resonance with the world we live in.

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Book Synopsis'Knut Hamsun founded the modernist and postmodernist novel at once' writes James Wood in his introduction to this seminal work by a Nobel Prize-winning writer who has been recognised as one of the greatest literary figures of the twentieth century. A young man called John Nagel arrives to spend a summer in a small Norwegian coastal town, a stranger in a loud yellow suit who begins to behave very curiously. He shocks, bewilders and beguiles with his open defiance and erratic self-revelations. Nagel's presence acts as a catalyst for the hidden impulses, concealed thoughts and darker instincts of the townsfolk. Cursed with the ability to understand the human soul, especially his own, Nagel can foresee, but cannot prevent, his own destruction.Trade ReviewKnut Hamsun's writing is magical, his sentences are glowing, he could write about anything and make it alive. -- Karl Ove Knausgaardthe inventor of a certain kind of modern fictionality. Hamsun's development of the stream of consciousness becomes particularly beautiful, and extremely comic .... Mysteries is as great as Hunger. -- James WoodHamsun is one of the great writers of this century - his nearest British equivalent being I suspect Thomas Hardy. Hamsun's novels have a unique beauty of expression. * Sunday Times *Hamsun has the qualities that belong to the very great, the completest omniscience about human nature. -- Rebecca WestA rare understanding of human nature comes through, expressed in a measured, elegiac and lyrical prose. * Sunday Telegraph *With Mysteries, Hamsun rewrote the novel's rules * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisThe initial volume in the Nobel Prize–winning author’s tumultuous, epic story of medieval Norway—the first new English translation in nearly a century As a child, Olav Audunssøn is given by his dying father to an old friend, Steinfinn Toressøn, who rashly promises to raise the boy as his foster son and eventually marry him to his own daughter, Ingunn. The two children, very different in temperament, become both brother and sister and betrothed. In the turbulent thirteenth-century Norway of Sigrid Undset’s epic masterpiece, bloodlines and loyalties often supersede law, and the crown and the church vie for power and wealth. Against this background and the complicated relationship between Olav and Ingunn, a series of fateful decisions leads to murder, betrayal, exile, and disgrace. In Vows, the first book in the powerful Olav Audunssøn tetralogy, Undset presents a richly imagined world split between pagan codes of retribution and the constraints of Christian piety—all of which threaten to destroy the lives of two young people torn between desires of the heart and the dictates of family and fortune. As she did when writing her earlier and bestselling epic Kristin Lavransdatter, Sigrid Undset immersed herself in the legal, religious, and historical documents of medieval Norway to create in Olav Audunssøn remarkably authentic and compelling portraits of Norwegian life in the Middle Ages. In this new English edition, renowned Scandinavian translator Tiina Nunnally again captures Undset’s fluid prose, conveying in an engaging lyrical style the natural world, complex culture, and fraught emotional territory of Olav and Ingunn’s dramatic story.Trade Review"Sigrid Undset's gift was to take readers inside the hearts and minds of people who lived and worked, struggled and connived in the fjords, villages, farms, and estates of thirteenth-century Norway. Tiina Nunnally's gift is to bring these characters to today's readers in clear, lyrical prose. Here we have the story of Olav Audunssøn and Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter, betrothed as children and constantly challenged by people who turn their sweet and simple love story into a fraught, twenty-year journey to that final kiss. No one but Undset could have written Olav Audunssøn, and no one but Nunnally could do it justice in translation. Read it—and spend time in the thirteenth century as it really was."—Nicola Griffith, author of Hild"Tiina Nunnally is that rarest phenomenon: a translator whose translations sound entirely natural, idiomatic, and true. This new translation of the first volume of Sigrid Undset's Olav Audunssøn is a heroic undertaking, which Nunnally has accomplished with her accustomed elegance and flair."—John Banville, author of Mrs. Osmond"This tetralogy, less known and less beloved than Kristin Lavransdatter, may be Sigrid Undset’s masterwork. Arthur G. Chater’s translation is now nearly a century old. Calculatedly archaic and smoothly florid, it retains the charms of its time and place. This new version by Tiina Nunnally performs Undset in a blunter and terser style which would not be out of place in one of those Norse sagas whose grim ethos lives on in the midbrains of the characters. It is a style entirely in keeping with the bleakness of this story of an honorable man whose loving self-sacrifice calcifies his heart."—William T. Vollmann, author of The Lucky Star"Undset brings the setting to life with rich descriptions of the natural world, well-captured in Nunnally’s stunning translation. Those interested in Norse history will appreciate this modern classic of Norwegian literature."—Publishers Weekly"Vows is an unexpected gift in a year that would welcome more of them."—Lit Hub"Long out of print, the first volume [of Olav Audunssøn] now appears in a captivating new translation by Tiina Nunnally . . . This is an absorbing, psychologically rich tale that promises to grow deeper and more memorable in each successive volume."—Wall Street Journal"Undset matches the precision and force of her characters’ inner lives—lacerated by indecision, sunk in sorrow or transported by joy—with her evocation of a vanished age and depictions of the life-affirming beauty of nature. This is a novel you wish would never end—and it doesn’t, not yet: The following volumes will be appearing over the next three years."—Star Tribune"Thirteenth-century Norway is a blend of pagan and Christian. Women have no rights, and the male head of an extended family makes all decisions. It is a world we rarely are invited into, and if you have patience, you will be rewarded."—Pioneer Press "Tiina Nunnally’s new translation captures the dark imperatives of a land where clan loyalties and ancient codes of honor have become ensnarled in the struggle between rising powers: the church and the royal court."—Alida Becker, The New York Times Book ReviewTable of ContentsContentsTranslator’s NoteMap of the Gudbrandsdal RegionGenealogy and KinshipPart I. Olav Audunssøn MarriesPart II. Ingunn SteinfinnsdatterNotesList of Holy Days and Canonical Hours

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Book SynopsisAnimal 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.Trade ReviewIf you are looking for allegorical literature to understand today’s politics, Animal Farm is a great guidepost. * Observer *The Cold War Candide . . . Virtually every detail in Animal Farm allegorizes some incident in that history. * New Yorker *Animal Farm is moving, bitter and a warning from history . . . [it] is one of the greatest socio-political works of all time. * Fantasy Book Review *Animal Farm is a biting satire of totalitarianism . . . Orwell is unnervingly precise in the way he depicts each step on the road from revolution to tyranny. * Common Sense Media *

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Book SynopsisIn 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.Trade ReviewA scathing portrait of the imperious attitudes of the British. * New York Times *Of all the fictions about colonial rule – A Passage to India, The Raj Quartet, Out of Africa – Burmese Days is the angriest, rawest, most scathing and least sentimental. * The Times *A scathing indictment of imperialism, exposing the dark face of British rule in the subcontinent. * Hindu *Orwell draws on his own experience and what’s so striking is how the uncomfortable echoes of that time still reverberate today among some expatriate circles in the region . . . A vaguely Austen feel permeates the romantic subplot; the ending is devastating. * Travelfish *Orwell can write . . . in Burmese Days he has written a malodorous, realistic novel of the white man in the east, as he really is. * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book SynopsisAgnes Grey was one of a trio of novels that defined the 'governess novel' in 1847 and 1848. Alongside Jane Eyre and Vanity Fair, Agnes Grey may be the most radical of the three. Agnes Grey is the younger daughter of a clergyman and his wife of modest means, cherished but also infantilized. When her father's mercantile investment goes disastrously wrong, Agnes decides to contribute to the family's financial rebuilding by working as a governess, despite her mother and sister's misgivings about her fitness for such work. Her first position is indeed trying, as the parents and children are uncouth and even cruel. Her second position is slightly more congenial, but she is still manipulated and ignored. Still, Agnes perseveres and begins to build relationships outside the family, most importantly, with a kind, empathetic young curate. As life brings more trials to Agnes and her family, we watch her persevere in her steady path of hope and determination.This Broadview Edition provides extensive historical documents on the novel's reception, the role of the governess in Victorian England, and contemporary debates about the treatment of non-human animals.Trade Review“This engaging new edition makes a strong case for the radical nature of Anne Brontë’s novel and for its place as a seminal feminist work. It contains a wealth of important material for students, especially texts from the Victorian period about the plight of governesses and the issues of animal cruelty and animal rights—key historical contexts for the novel. The introduction provides an excellent grounding in the period and in the place of Anne Brontë’s novel in relation to its era and to the books of her more-famous sisters. It’s a timely and necessary contribution to Brontë studies.” — Deborah Lutz, University of Louisville“Anne Brontë has been the frequent recipient of barbed faint praise that inevitably positions her as ‘the other’ Brontë sister. But in this well-conceived and reader-friendly new edition of Anne’s debut 1847 novel, Agnes Grey, Robin Inboden lays out a persuasive case for why we should care about Brontë’s writing for its own sake. Even if we may not quite join late-Victorian Irish novelist George Moore in his startling judgment that Agnes Grey is ‘the most perfect prose narrative in English literature,’ Inboden’s resourcefully intelligent editorial work allows us to appreciate this novel for the rich and fascinating text that it is. Especially welcome here is the extensive appendix containing a range of materials contextualizing the novel in relation to the early-Victorian animal welfare movement.” — Ivan Kreilkamp, Indiana University“Broadview’s edition of Agnes Grey is a welcome contribution to the rehabilitation of Anne Brontë’s reputation and her place in Victorian literary and cultural studies.… Broadview’s editions are wonderfully affordable and feature a wealth of secondary sources, reception history, and criticism in their apparatus, making them extremely valuable and relevant for teaching and research. Robin Inboden’s new edition provides teachers, students, and literary scholars with a most welcome resource, well-timed to coincide with Anne’s bicentenary year.” — Deborah A. Logan, Victorians: A Journal of Culture and LiteratureTable of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Anne Brontë: A Brief Chronology A Note on the Text Agnes Grey Appendix A: Other Writings by and about Anne Brontë 1. From Charlotte Brontë to Ellen Nussey (letter, 15 April 1839) 2. From Anne Brontë, Diary Paper (30 July 1841) 3. From Charlotte Brontë to Ellen Nussey (letter, 7 August 1841) 4. From Anne Brontë, Diary Paper (31 July 1845) 5. Anne Brontë, “The Bluebell” (22 August 1840) 6. Acton Bell [Anne Brontë], “Appeal” (28 August 1840) 7. Anne Brontë, “Lines Written at [Thorp] Green” (19 August 1841) 8. Acton Bell [Anne Brontë], “Lines Composed in a Wood on a Windy Day” (30 December 1842) 9. From Ellen Nussey, “Reminiscences of Charlotte Brontë” (1871) 10. From Currer Bell [Charlotte Brontë], “Biographical Notice of Ellis and Acton Bell” (1850) Appendix B: Contemporary and Early Reviews and Responses 1. From Spectator (18 December 1847) 2. From Henry F. Chorley, Athenaeum (25 December 1847) 3. From Douglas Jerrold’s Weekly Newspaper (15 January 1848) 4. From New Monthly Magazine (January 1848) 5. From Atlas (22 January 1848) 6. From Portland [Maine] Transcript (5 January 1850) 7. From Graham’s Magazine [Philadelphia] (1 February 1850) 8. From W.C. Roscoe, “Miss Brontë,” National Review (July 1857) 9. From Mary Augusta Ward, “Introduction,” The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1900) 10. From George Moore, Conversations in Ebury Street (1910) Appendix C: The Governess in Society 1. Maria Smith Abdy, “A Governess Wanted,” Metropolitan Magazine (May 1836) 2. From George Stephen, The Guide to Service: The Governess (1844) 3. From “Hints on the Modern Governess System,” Fraser’s Magazine (November 1844) Appendix D: Humane Treatment of Animals 1. From Isaac Watts, A Discourse on the Education of Children and Youth (1725) 2. From Thomas Erskine, Speech … On … Preventing … Cruelty to Animals (1809) 3. From “Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,” Times (17 June 1824) 4. From Sarah Burdett, The Rights of Animals (1839) 5. From Charlotte Elizabeth [Tonna], Kindness to Animals (c. 1845) 6. C.S., “The Lost Nestlings,” A Mother’s Lessons in Kindness to Animals (c. 1862) Works Cited and Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisConflict between father and son is one of the oldest themes in literature, and in this open letter to his father - a letter which was never sent - Kafka tries to come to terms with one of the most deeply rooted obsessions of his troubled soul. Written as a long, tense and dramatic confession in which writer and man are gathered together in front of an ambivalent figure of authority, "Dearest Father" is a desperate attempt to retrace the origins of a turbulent and highly conflicted relationship between an unflinching parent and an extremely sensitive child. Both a merciless indictment of his father and an impassioned appeal to him, Kafka's inspired work is one of the most lucid and touching psychological documents of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisLark Rise to Candleford captures a piece of social history in this ever popular fictional account of an English rural upbringing between the wars. 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 contains all three books – Lark Rise, Over to Candleford and Candleford Green, with an introduction by Bill Gallagher, screenwriter of the hugely popular BBC television adaptation.Laura Timms spends her childhood in a country hamlet called Lark Rise. An intelligent and enquiring child, she is always attentive to the way of life around her – the lives of a farming community and nature as it transforms through the seasons, their working lives together and their celebrations. Whilst much is to be admired and cherished about her community, when she looks back on it as an adult she doesn’t shy away from describing hardship too. Laura attends the village school and leaves at the age of fourteen to work for the postmistress of the village of Candleford. There her eyes are opened to wider horizons.Trade ReviewLark Rise to Candleford is remarkable for its celebratory realism. It neither romanticises poverty nor underplays it -- Richard Mabey * Guardian *Thompson’s timing was perfect. The Second World War was looming and Englishness was being redefined in the face of modernity. -- Alice Spawls * London Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisJust like the best walks, The Joy of Walking takes you on a journey with lots to surprise and enjoy along the way. Through the best of classic writing, this inspiring anthology shows how the simple act of walking goes to the heart of life itself.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning pocket size classics, this edition is edited and introduced by Suzy Cripps.Whether walking through awe-inspiring countryside or weaving your way through crowds in the hustle and bustle of great cities, we take thousands of steps a day. Finding meaning in movement can be difficult in today’s frenetic world. This may seem like a modern problem, but putting one foot in front of the other is something that authors have been writing about for centuries. Some like Gaskell, Wordsworth and Whitman extol the virtues of walking in the countryside, be it on one’s own connecting with nature or as the means to really good conversation with friends. Others like Dickens and E. M. Forster explore the thrill and dangers of moving about the city, by day or by night. In The Joy of Walking you’ll find a wealth of essays, poetry and fiction celebrating and exploring the joy of walking.

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Book SynopsisAs Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.The Metamorphosis - the masterpiece of Franz Kafka -was first published in 1915 and is one of the seminal works of fiction of the twentiethcentury. The novel iscited as a key influence for many of today's leading authors; as Auden wrote:"Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man".Traveling salesman, Gregor Samsa, wakes to find himself transformed into a large, monstrous insect-like creature. The cause of Gregor''s transformation is never revealed, and as he attempts to adjust to his new condition he becomes a burden to his parents and sister, who are repelled by the horrible, verminous creature Gregor has become.A harrowing, yet strangely comic, meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation,The Metamorphosishas taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction.The Legend Classics series:Around the World in Eighty DaysThe Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Importance of Being EarnestAlice''s Adventures in WonderlandThe MetamorphosisThe Railway ChildrenThe Hound of the BaskervillesFrankensteinWuthering HeightsThree Men in a BoatThe Time MachineLittle WomenAnne of Green GablesThe Jungle BookThe Yellow Wallpaper and Other StoriesDraculaA Study in ScarletLeaves of GrassThe Secret GardenThe War of the WorldsA Christmas CarolStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeHeart of DarknessThe Scarlet LetterThis Side of ParadiseOliver TwistThe Picture of Dorian GrayTreasure IslandThe Turn of the ScrewThe Adventures of Tom SawyerEmmaThe TrialA Selection of Short Stories by Edgar Allan PoeGrimm Fairy TalesThe AwakeningMrs DallowayGulliver's TravelsThe Castle of OtrantoSilas MarnerHard Times

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Book SynopsisA book which inspired the creation of the NHS introduced by bestselling writer, Adam Kay.By former doctor A. J. Cronin, The Citadel is a moving story of tragedy, triumph and redemption. With a foreword by Adam Kay, the bestselling author of This is Going to Hurt.When newly qualified doctor Andrew Manson takes up his first post in a Welsh mining community, the young Scot brings with him a bagful of idealism and enthusiasm. Both are soon strained to the limit as Andrew discovers the reality of performing operations on a kitchen table and washing in a scullery, of unspeakable sanitation, of common infantile cholera and systemic corruption. There are no X-rays, no ambulances – nothing to combat the disease and poverty.It isn’t long before Andrew’s outspoken manner wins him both friends and enemies, but he risks losing his idealism when the fashionable, greedy world of London medicine claims him, with its private clinics, wealthy, spoilt patients and huge rewards.Trade ReviewA.J. Cronin was perhaps the most successful novelist of the 1930s … probably as significant a figure as J.B. Priestley * The English Historical Review *Immensely successful, utterly ruthless * The Spectator *Cronin was a master of melodrama * The Herald *One of the most popular authors in the English speaking world * New York Times *A grand story, well told, and better balanced than anything else he has done * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisComplete and unabridged.One of BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World.Dickens exposes the corrupting power of money in his last complete novel, Our Mutual Friend, with its expansive cast of characters and interweaving plots.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 has an afterword by Lucinda Dickens Hawksley and original illustrations by Marcus Stone.John Harmon made his fortune collecting ‘dust’. On his death his estranged son is due to inherit his wealth on the condition that he marry Bella Wilfer, a young woman who he has never even met. But when his son is presumed dead, John’s riches pass to his servants Mr. and Mrs. Boffin and they in turn take Bella into their own home. They hire a secretive young man, John Rokesmith, to be Mr. Boffin’s secretary – but what is this man’s real identity and what is his interest in Bella?Trade ReviewI find it irresistible: the autumn evening closing in, the crazy little boat afloat on the filthy Thames, the strong young woman plying the oars and a ragged, grizzled man, her father, busying himself with something towed in the water behind them. You are some way into the narrative before it dawns on you that it is a drowned body. -- Shirley Hughes * Independent *Dickens's last completed novel is a marvel of play-acting and posturing, of taking on roles through delusion, calculation and ambition -- Philip Hensher * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisBased on a true story The Invisible Mile tells the poignant story of five Australian and New Zealand cyclists who in 1928 formed the first English-speaking team to ride in the Tour de France. They were gallant, under-resourced and badly outnumbered but taken deep to the heart by the French nation. The novel describes in a wonderful poetic and visceral voice what it was like to ride in this race (the chaos, danger and rivalries), the extraordinary lengths to which the riders pushed themselves, suffering horrific injuries, riding through the night in pitch dark, and the ways they staved off the pain, through camaraderie, through sexual conquest, through drink, and through drugs (cocaine for energy, opium for pain).Added to the team is the fictional narrator who is cycling towards his demons in a northern France still scarred by the First World War. His brother was a fighter pilot damaged by his experiences in France, his sister has died, and this self-imposed test of endurance is slowly and painfully bringing him to his final, invisible mile where memory eventually comes to collide with the past

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Book SynopsisWidely accepted as Henry James' great masterpiece, The Portrait of a Lady is a poignant and intense exploration of freedom and identity. This edition is introduced by Costa Award-winning author Colm Tóibín.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. Intelligent, beautiful and vivacious, Isabel Archer fascinates and intimidates the elite society of Albany, New York. Fiercely protective of her independence, she travels to England with her aunt to escape a persistent suitor but, upon inheriting a considerable fortune, falls into the sway of the devious Mrs Merle who whisks her off to Italy. There she is seduced by the narcissistic Gilbert Osmond, an art collector who will stop at nothing to possess her, and whose connection to Mrs Merle is shrouded in mystery.

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Book SynopsisItâs taken seven years to reinvent herself, and sheâs ready to move on with her life. But Holly comes to realize that when you love someone, thereâs always one more thing to say.Trade Review'As this gorgeous novel illuminates, life does on, even in the wake of loss'Nicholas Sparks, bestselling author of The Notebook ‘A gorgeously hopeful, poignant story that is guaranteed to make readers weep but leave them with a warm heartl’ Irish Independent ‘Touching, full of humour…life-affirming. Ahern writes with honesty and empathy. I had a lump in my throat when I finished reading’ Irish Times ‘Explores one of the fundamentals of human experience with warmth, humour and pathos’ Sunday Independent ‘Cecelia Ahern is without a doubt an incredibly talented storyteller … heartbreaking, bittersweet and beautifully written’ RTE Guide ‘The book, like the first, spoke straight to my heart…perhaps it’s the realness and simplicity of Ahern’s observations that make it so impactful’ Irish News ‘Fans of PS, I Love You are in for a treat… Warmth emanates from the pages of this lovely, uplifting novel’ Good Housekeeping ‘A poignant, warm and hopeful novel’ Woman & Home ‘Wise and uplifting – but keep a box of tissues at the read. You’ll need it’ Sunday Express ‘I adored this uplifting story about hope and love’ Prima ‘Another weepy about grief and the enduring power of love’ Sunday Mirror ‘This is a novel to delight loyal fans and new readers alike’ Woman’s Weekly

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Book SynopsisLast night I dreamt I went to Manderley again... Working as a lady's companion, the orphaned heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Life begins to look very bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. Whisked from glamorous Monte Carlo to his brooding estate, Manderley, on the Cornish Coast, the new Mrs de Winter finds Max a changed man. And the memory of his dead wife Rebecca is forever kept alive by the forbidding Mrs Danvers... Not since Jane Eyre has a heroine faced such difficulty with the Other Woman. An international bestseller that has never been out of print, Rebecca is the haunting story of a young woman consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity.Trade ReviewFrom the opening sentence - "Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again" - to the final - "And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea" - I was hooked ... Rebecca is one of the underrated classics of the 20th century ... Rebecca is a masterpiece in which du Maurier pulls off several spectacular high-wire acts that many great writers wouldn't attempt * Guardian *One of the most influential novels of the twentieth century, Rebecca has woven its way into the fabric of our culture with all the troubling power of myth or dream. A stunning bookWith one of the most evocative first lines ever, Daphne du Maurier's fifth novel has everything a reader could ask for . . . Psychologically astute and disturbingly romantic, Rebecca was an immediate bestseller on publication in 1938 and has cast a sinister spell ever since * Marie Claire *Her masterpiece . . . Seldom has a dead woman exercised such power beyond the grave. Rebecca will live for ever because du Maurier touches a fearful nerve, buried deep in the unconscious * The Times *It's the perfect winter book, brooding, dangerous and engrossing -- Kit de Waal * Sainsbury's Magazine *Addictive and breathtaking. Its blending of melodrama and subtlety is ingenious. The Cornish setting never quite leaves the imagination * Independent *A brilliantly constructed novel - the ultimate in psychological suspense, instantly gripping and haunting, Rebecca will stay with you for ever. * Psychologies *A mesmerising novel which reveals more on each readingIt is the greatest psychological thriller of all time. I see du Maurier as a forerunner to Patricia Highsmith, Ruth Rendell, Gillian Flynn: she is the giant whose magnificent shoulders the rest of us stand uponWhat she did was build emotional landscapes that can be entered at will, in which difficult and untamable desires were given free rein. Maybe because of her relationship with gender, she was able to make worlds in which people and even houses are mysterious and mutable, not as they seem; haunted rooms in which disembodied spirits sometimes dance at absolute liberty * Guardian *I read this book more than twenty years ago, and must have read it a dozen times since. The characters are incredibly vivid, and the twists superb. It's the book every writer wishes they'd written -- Clare MackintoshThis 1930s gothic thriller is suspenseful and so well crafted. Its young, nameless heroine marries rich widower Maxim de Winter and returns with him to his mansion, Manderley, only to find the ghost of his first wife, Rebecca, still lingers * Good Housekeeping *I am reminded of how profoundly du Maurier changed the way I felt about myself, how she engaged and excited me with her writing. * Julie Myerson *The DAILY TELEGRAPH * ‘As a new generation of readers are introduced to the wicked housekeeper Mrs Danvers and learn Maxim de Winter’s terrible secret, this chilling, suspenseful tale is as fresh and readable as it was when it was first written, more than 60 years ago.’ *Excellent entertainment . . . du Maurier created a scale by which modern women can measure their feelings. * Stephen King *

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Book SynopsisAndres, an Estonian peasant, purchases a smallholding in a marshy part of the country, which the novel is named after. He takes his young wife, and an incident with their cow sets the tone for a life of struggle in which the family grows and gradually lifts itself out of extreme poverty. They don’t only have to strive against the elements, but also against their neighbour Pearu, a wily and ruthless man. This Tolstoyan epic amongst the peasantry and the restless city (in volumes 2 – 4) tells the story of how Tsarist Estonia developed into the First Republic through the experiences of a family and in particular the partly autobiographical character of Indrek, who leaves the land to get an education at the end of this volume. This monumental work by Estonia’s greatest writer is a European classic which has for too long been neglected in the English-speaking world.

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Book Synopsis'Mishima's greatest novel, and one of the greatest of the past century' The TimesA band of savage thirteen-year-old boys reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental, and train themselves in a brutal callousness they call 'objectivity'. When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship's officer, he and his friends idealise the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft and romantic. They regard this disillusionment as an act of betrayal on his part - and the retribution is deliberate and horrifying. VINTAGE JAPANESE CLASSICS - five masterpieces of Japanese fiction in gorgeous new gift editions.Trade ReviewMishima's greatest novel, and one of the greatest of the past century * The Times *Explores the viciousness that lies beneath what we imagine to be innocence * Independent *Told with Mishima's fierce attention to naturalistic detail, the grisly tale becomes painfully convincing and yields a richness of psychological and mythic truth * Sunday Times *Coolly exact with his characters and their honourable motives. His aim is to make the destruction of the sailor by his love seem as inevitable as the ocean * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisAn NYRB Classics OriginalSet just after World War I, An Ermine in Czernopol centers on the tragicomic fate of Tildy, an erstwhile officer in the army of the now-defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire, determined to defend the virtue of his cheating sister-in-law at any cost. Rezzori surrounds Tildy with a host of fantastic characters, engaging us in a kaleidoscopic experience of a city where nothing is as it appears—a city of discordant voices, of wild ugliness and heartbreaking disappointment, in which, however, “laughter was everywhere, part of the air we breathed, a crackling tension in the atmosphere, always ready to erupt in showers of sparks or discharge itself in thunderous peals.”

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Book SynopsisNo one has written more feelingly and more beautifully than Nescio about the madness and sadness, courage and vulnerability of youth: its big plans and vague longings, not to mention the binges, crashes, and marathon walks and talks. No one, for that matter, has written with such pristine clarity about the radiating canals of Amsterdam and the cloud-swept landscape of the Netherlands. Who was Nescio? Nescio—Latin for “I don’t know”—was the pen name of J.H.F. Grönloh, the highly successful director of the Holland–Bombay Trading Company and a father of four—someone who knew more than enough about respectable maturity. Only in his spare time and under the cover of a pseudonym, as if commemorating a lost self, did he let himself go, producing over the course of his lifetime a handful of utterly original stories that contain some of the most luminous pages in modern literature. This is the first English translation of Nescio’s stories.

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Book SynopsisMeaningful and moving the classic million-copy bestselling love story from Cecelia Ahern.Some people wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly and Gerry. Childhood sweethearts, they could finish each other's sentences. No one could ever imagine them without each other.When Gerry dies, Holly is devastated. But Gerry has left her a bundle of notes, one for each month of her year, each signed ''PS, I Love You''.As the notes are opened, the man who knows Holly better than anyone teaches her that life goes on. With some help from friends and family, Holly laughs, cries and finds that life is for living but it helps if there''s someone watching over you.Everyone LOVES PS, I Love You:Heartbreaking and uplifting'ExpressSensational'CosmopolitanGuaranteed to tug on your heartstrings'GlamourA moving, beautiful novel' Sunday TelegraphTrade Review ‘This exceptional novel about bereavement, friendship and lost love is both heartbreaking and uplifting’ Express ‘A sensational debut novel that proves true love never dies’ Cosmopolitan ‘Heartbreak, intrigue and love letters from beyond the grave – Ahern has a sure and sympathetic hand’Irish Times ‘A bittersweet storyline guaranteed to tug on your heartstrings’Glamour ‘A moving, beautiful novel’ Sunday Telegraph Acclaim for Cecelia Ahern:‘Bursting with narrative verve and ear for language…a writer hitting their prime’ Waterstones.com ‘Cleverly constructed, full of flavour and moving’ Daily Mail ‘Beautiful and unexpected … both thought-provoking and life-affirming’ Sunday Express ‘Intricate and emotional … really completely lovely’ Grazia

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Book SynopsisIn this Victorian tale, a young woman recuperating at her aunt’s house in a Scottish town is spending a good deal of time looking out at the world through an upstairs window. Across the way is a university library; one of its windows holds particular interest—but the things she sees there at one moment are gone the next. Is what she has seen real, or a figment of her adolescent imagination?In addition to an illuminating introduction, this edition includes a variety of background materials that help to set this extraordinary work of fiction in its literary and historical context.Trade Review“A timely edition of one of the Victorian era’s most brilliant—if hitherto under-read—ghost stories, at once a tale of frustrated romance and a haunting allegory of women’s marginal relation to male-defined spheres of learning and literary authority. Annmarie S. Drury’s introduction and the volume’s supplementary materials usefully situate the story in such relevant contexts as its place in its author’s career, Victorian debates about reading for girls, views on the supernatural, and issues of Scottish national identity.” — Tamar Heller, University of Cincinnati“This valuable edition of Oliphant’s supernatural tale ‘The Library Window’ will be a useful entryway into the work of one of Victorian literature’s most important and, until recently, critically ignored authors. Drury’s excellent introduction offers readers useful information about Oliphant’s career and life, while also situating Oliphant’s extensive oeuvre in the context of Victorian literary debates around women’s writing and professional authorship. … Drury offers useful information and background, without ever dictating readers’ interpretations of the story. This is an excellent edition for the college classroom.” — Elizabeth Meadows, Vanderbilt University“‘The Library Window’ is one of the finest Victorian ghost stories: a compelling mixture of psychological acuity, mystery, and tragic love which is at once a vivid portrait of adolescence and a sophisticated meditation on the experience of haunting. This new edition provides a helpful introduction and notes alongside a range of informative contextual material which situates Oliphant's story in Victorian considerations of the supernatural, women’s health, psychology, and the profession of authorship.” — Nick Freeman, Loughborough University“Margaret Oliphant’s ‘The Library Window’ is one of the most important ghost stories of the late nineteenth century. … This new edition helps to contextualize the story with well-chosen extracts from contemporary texts on the psychology of the adolescent and the social role of the library. …” — Penny Fielding, University of EdinburghTable of Contents Introduction The Library Window In Context from Sir David Brewster, Letters on Natural Magic, Addressed to Sir Walter Scott (1832) from Margaret Oliphant, “Scotland and Her Accusers” (1861) from Margaret Oliphant, “The Sisters Brontë,” in Women Novelists of Queen Victoria’s Reign (1897) from J. E. [Jane Ellen] Panton, A Gentlewoman’s Home: the Whole Art of Building, Furnishing, and Beautifying the Home (1896) [on libraries] from E. J. [Edward John] Tilt, On the Preservation of the Health of Women at the Critical Periods of Life (1851) from G. Stanley Hall, Adolescence: Its Psychology and its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion and Education, vol. 2 (1904) from Margaret Oliphant, The Autobiography and Letters of Mrs. M. O. W. Oliphant (1899) Images of Late Victorian Scottish Street Scenes

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Book SynopsisDiscover Thomas Mann's comic novel of deception and misplaced confidence - back in print for the first time in over twenty years. Waiter by day, man about Paris by night; the young and good looking Felix Krull has created for himself a personality to charm and deceive the world of wealth. When the Marquis de Venosta makes him a proposal that he can't refuse, the young Felix finds himself on the pathway that will elevate him into the world of riches.'The most astonishing work that Mann ever wrote and also one of the most perfect' Edwin Muir

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Book SynopsisThe second novel in Willa Cather’s Great Plains trilogy, is a lyrical coming-of-age story charting the struggles of an artists life. 'Lingers long in the memory' Joyce Carol Oates Thea Kronberg, gifted with a beautiful voice, defies her humble beginnings in Colorado and finds success far from her small hometown. But her achievements come with painful drawbacks. As the distance between Thea and her roots increases, she must fight to find her inner strength and reach her full potential. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY PENELOPE LIVELYTrade ReviewWilla Cather makes a world which is burningly alive, sometimes lovely, often tragic -- Helen DunmoreThe Song of the Lark illuminates all her work -- A. S. Byatt

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