From Austen to Zola, from medieval to the modern day - all genres are catered for between the covers of these coveted classics.
Classics Books
The Literary Map Company A Walk with Charles Dickens through A Christmas Carol: The Good Old City: 2019
£9.49
Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd. Selected Stories H. Rider Haggard
Book SynopsisA new series of handpicked classics from the world''s most renowned short fiction writers. The Masterpieces of World Fiction series brings together the bestoved short stories by the great masters of the genre - from Chekov and Maupassant, Kipling and Wilde, to O. Henry and Saki and Tolstoy and Conrad. Thoughtfully compiled by the bestselling author Terry O'' Brien, this series is a great way for readers to revisit old favourites and for introducingiterary masterpieces to newer, younger readers.
£12.00
Ediciones SM Coleccion Clasicos de SM: El Quijote
Book Synopsis
£20.21
Double 9 Booksllp The Wendigo
Book Synopsis
£9.86
Double 9 Booksllp The Alchemist
Book Synopsis
£15.19
Double 9 Booksllp The Circular Staircase
Book Synopsis
£13.59
Double 9 Booksllp Carnacki, the Ghost Finder
Book Synopsis
£10.44
Double 9 Booksllp Blind Love
£17.99
Double 9 Booksllp In The Days Of The Comet
Book Synopsis
£15.29
EduCart The Emerald City of Oz
Book Synopsis
£12.34
Double 9 Books Famous Men Of The Middle Ages
Book Synopsis
£11.39
Double 9 Books A History Of The Warfare Of Science With Theology
Book Synopsis
£37.49
Double 9 Books Dear Brutus
Book SynopsisJ. M. Barrie's fantasy drama Dear Brutus from 1917 depicts the characters' transition through alternate universes and eventual return to the real world. The phrase The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves is taken from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and is referenced in the title. Between 17 October 1917 and 24 August 1918, the drama was presented at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End for 363 performances. The play's central question is whether people might benefit from living their lives over again and making new decisions. The characters are unhappy spouses who all believe their lives have gone in the wrong direction. The group is escorted to the residence of an elderly man with the Shakespearean name Lob, who is referred to as all that is left of Merry England. The philanderer is found trying a new conquest, much to the amusement of his wife and his mistress; an elderly man who had yearned for a second youth proposes again to his faithful spouse; the artist and his wife are reconciled; and the dream child of Act 2 has almost become real to both of them and lives on in their hearts.
£10.46
Double 9 Booksllp Before Adam
Book SynopsisBefore Adam is a novel written by Jack London in 1906. It is entirely different from London's other books. It rotates around the fantasies of a young man, dreams that include racial recollections and the information on his earlier presence as a manlike animal named Big Tooth living in ancient times. It has given a vivid picture view of prehistoric man's life, transformation of man's selfdom to cave dwellers. To show the advancement of life, fire people and animal like tree people are also describe in the novel. Uniqueness of the novel is sharing fears, struggles and adventures of prehistoric man's life. The author admirably mixes science and literature and inspires to learn something new.
£9.99
Double 9 Booksllp The Rustlers Of Pecos County
Book Synopsis
£14.39
Double 9 Booksllp The Picture Of Dorian Gray
Book Synopsis
£14.39
Double 9 Booksllp Time And The Gods
Book SynopsisTime and the Gods is a collection of fantasy short stories written by the Irish author Lord Dunsany, first published in 1906. The book consists of fifteen short stories, each of which takes place in a different mythical world and explores various themes related to time, destiny, and the supernatural. The stories are set in imaginary lands, where gods and other supernatural beings interact with mortals. The book is divided into four parts, each focusing on a different aspect of time and its relation to the gods. In the first part, The Gods of Pegana, the gods create the universe and the world of Pegana. In the second part, Time and the Gods, the stories explore the nature of time and how it affects the lives of mortals and gods alike. Finally, in the fourth part, A Legend of the Dawn, the stories explore the origins of the universe and the gods. Dunsany's writing is known for its poetic language and vivid imagery. His stories often involve larger-than-life characters and epic battles between good and evil. Time and the Gods is considered one of his most influential works and helped to establish the genre of modern fantasy literature. The book has been praised for its originality, imaginative world-building, and the timeless themes it explores.
£11.07
Double 9 Books Castle Richmond
Book SynopsisCastle Richmond is a novel by British author Anthony Trollope. The story is set in Ireland and follows the lives of two families, the Desmonds and the Fitzgeralds, who are bound together by a tragic event. The novel begins with the death of Herbert Fitzgerald, the heir to Castle Richmond, the ancestral home of the Fitzgerald family. The Desmonds, who are close friends of the Fitzgeralds, are also affected by this event as their daughter, Clara, was engaged to Herbert. As the story unfolds, it is revealed that Herbert's death was caused by his own father, who had mistakenly thought that his son was having an affair with Clara. This event leads to a series of tragedies and conflicts between the two families, as they struggle to come to terms with their loss and deal with the fallout from this event. The novel provides a poignant portrayal of the social and political climate of Ireland during the 19th century, as well as exploring themes of family, love, and betrayal. It is considered one of Trollope's finest works and a classic of Victorian literature.
£17.84
Double 9 Booksllp Northanger Abbey
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£13.59
HarperCollins Publishers The Fall of Númenor
Book SynopsisJ.R.R. Tolkien’s writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth, collected for the first time in one deluxe slipcased edition.Trade Review‘Physically beautiful and sometimes overwhelming in its power, this book is a grand compendium of all Tolkien said about the period when the foundations of The Lord of the Rings are laid’John Garth, THE GUARDIAN ‘It brings a Biblical grandeur to Tolkien’s fictional history’WINTER IS COMING ‘A trove of source material about one of Middle-earth’s most intriguing and central back stories. The book is beautifully illustrated by Alan Lee and nimbly edited by Brian Sibley’WASHINGTON POST ‘For those wishing to expand their understanding of Middle-earth and the incredible legend crafted by Tolkien, this is an essential piece to complete that puzzle’BOOK REPORTER ‘How, given little over half a century of work, did one man become the creative equivalent of a people?’THE GUARDIAN ‘Demanding to be compared with English mythologies… at times rises to the greatness of true myth’FINANCIAL TIMES ‘A creation of singular beauty… magnificent in its best moments’WASHINGTON POST ‘With this most recent volume, The Fall of Númenor, Sibley has beautifully and brilliantly done for Tolkien’s Second Age what Christopher Tolkien did for the First Age’NATIONAL REVIEW
£56.25
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Rob Roy
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by David Blair. From its first publication in 1816 Rob Roy has been recognised as containing some of Scott's finest writing and most engaging, fully realised characters. The outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor was already a legendary, disputed figure by the time Scott wrote - a heroic Scottish Robin Hood to some, an over-glamorised, unprincipled predator to others. Scott approaches Rob Roy indirectly, through the adventures of his fictional hero, Frank Osbaldistone, amid the political turmoil of England and Scotland in 1715. With characteristic care Scott reconstructs the period and settings so as to place Rob Roy and the Scotland he inhabits amid conflicting moral, economic and historical forces. This edition features, besides a new critical introduction and extensive explanatory notes, an essay outlining clearly the novel's historical context and a glossary of Scottish words and phrases used by Scott's colourful, vernacular characters.
£6.23
Pan Macmillan The Daughter of Time
Book SynopsisVoted the top crime novel of all time by the UK Crime Writers’ Association, The Daughter of Time is Josephine Tey’s last and most successful book.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.Inspector Alan Grant is laid up in hospital with a spinal injury and he’s bored. Renowned for his ability to read a face, he passes the time looking at old portraits and one which particularly grabs his attention is of Richard III, the supposed arch villain who killed his own nephews, ‘the princes in the tower’. But Grant doesn’t accept the face in the portrait is the face of a villain so he sets out to investigate what really happened. An unusual premise for a crime novel perhaps, but nevertheless an extremely clever and engrossing one, brilliantly plotted and written with enormous charm and erudition.Trade ReviewA detective story with a very considerable difference. Ingenious, stimulating and very enjoyable * The Sunday Times *
£10.44
Cornerstone Thank You, Jeeves: (Jeeves & Wooster)
Book Synopsis'My only problem with Wodehouse is deciding which of his enchanting books to take to my desert island' Ruth Dudley Edwards'The most industrious, prolific and beneficent author ever to have sat down, scratched his head and banged out a sentence' Stephen Fry--'Your tea will be here in a moment, sir.' 'No, Jeeves. This is no time for tea. I must concentrate."When his incomparable valet Jeeves suddenly resigns, how will the hapless Bertie Wooster get by?Bertie's dedicated but somewhat untuneful playing of the banjo has driven Jeeves, his otherwise steadfast gentleman's gentleman, to give notice. Looking for respite, Bertie disappears to the country as a guest of his chum Chuffy, only to find his peace shattered by the arrival of his ex-fiancée Pauline Stoker, her formidable father and the eminent loony-doctor Sir Roderick Glossop. It seems Bertie cannot survive for long without Jeeves - and soon a situation arises which only Jeeves can solve.
£9.49
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Metamorphoses
Book SynopsisOvid's Metamorphoses gains its ideal twenty-first-century herald in Stanley Lombardo's bracing translation of a wellspring of Western art and literature that is too often treated, even by poets, as a mere vehicle for the scores of myths it recasts and transmits rather than as a unified work of art with epic-scale ambitions of its own. Such misconceptions are unlikely to survive a reading of Lombardo's rendering, which vividly mirrors the brutality, sadness, comedy, irony, tenderness, and eeriness of Ovid's vast world as well as the poem’s effortless pacing. Under Lombardo's spell, neither Argus nor anyone else need fear nodding off.The translation is accompanied by an exhilarating Introduction by W. R. Johnson that unweaves and reweaves many of the poem’s most important themes while showing how the poet achieves some of his most brilliant effects.An analytical table of contents, a catalog of transformations, and a glossary are also included.Trade ReviewStanley Lombardo successfully matches Ovid's human drama, imaginative brio, and irresistible momentum; and Ralph Johnson’s superb Introduction to Ovid's 'narratological paradise' is a bonus to this new and vigorous translation that should not be missed. Together, Introduction and text bring out the delightful unpredictability of Ovid's 'history of the world' down to his times.--Elaine Fantham, Giger Professor of Latin, Emerita, Princeton UniversityLombardo's translation is the most readable I’ve seen. . . . Its language is modern, accessible, and unpretentious. . . . I can imagine reading all the way through this version with students. I also admire the catalog of transformations . . . and, as usual, an Introduction by Ralph Johnson is worth the price of the book.--Margaret Musgrove, University of Central OklahomaA superb teaching text. The translation is readable, witty, and very accessible to today’s students. The glossary is useful, and Johnson’s essay is a great introduction to Ovid.--John Makowski, Loyola University, Chicago
£15.19
Pan Macmillan Uncle Tom's Cabin
Book SynopsisUncle Tom’s Cabin brought the evils of slavery to the hearts and minds of the American people by its moving portrayal of slave experience.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 Pat Righelato.Harriet Beecher Stowe shows us, in scenes of great dramatic power, the human effects of a system in which slaves were property. When a Kentucky farmer falls on hard times he is forced to sell his slaves, and among them is Uncle Tom, who’s bought by a brutal plantation owner. The novel describes the horror of plantation labour and Tom’s fight for his freedom and his life. A rallying cry to end slavery in America and one of the most influential American novels, Uncle Tom’s Cabin remains, to this day, controversial and abrasive in its demand for change.
£10.44
Wordsworth Editions Ltd Under the Greenwood Tree
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Dr Claire Seymour, University of Kent at Canterbury. Under the Greenwood Tree is Hardy's most bright, confident and optimistic novel. This delightful portrayal of a picturesque rural society, tinged with gentle humour and quiet irony, established Hardy as a writer. However, the novel is not merely a charming rural idyll. The double-plot, in which the love story of Dick Dewey and Fancy Day is inter-related with a tragic chapter in the history of Mellstock Choir, hints at the poignant disappearance of a long-lived and highly-valued traditional way of life.
£6.23
Andrews McMeel Publishing Wuthering Heights: Illustrations by Marjolein
Book SynopsisGems of literature in a luxurious and unique design by Marjolein Bastin.The Marjolein Bastin Classics Series is a chance to rediscover classic literature in collectible, luxuriously illustrated volumes. For the first time ever, the internationally celebrated artwork of Marjolein Bastin graces the pages of a timeless classic, Wuthering Heights, the story of Heathcliff and Catherine. Beyond bringing these stories to life, Bastin’s series adds elaborately designed ephemera, such as four-color maps, letters, family trees, and sheet music. Whether an ideal gift for a Brontë devotee or a treat to yourself, the Marjolein Bastin Classics Series, as a set or individually purchased, is perfect for anyone who feels a connection to these enduring literary gems.Discover anew the dramatic world of Wuthering Heights. The Earnshaw family estate of Wuthering Heights lies in the rough moorland of West Yorkshire; it is here that orphan boy Heathcliff finds a permanent home with Mr. Earnshaw, his son Hindley, and his daughter Catherine. While Hindley torments his new brother, Catherine welcomes him into the family, and the two become inseparable. After Mr. Earnshaw’s death, however, Heathcliff becomes an outcast and Hindley squanders his inheritance. Catherine feels compelled to marry the wealthy neighbor, Edgar Linton, instead of her true love. Heathcliff is crushed, vowing to seek revenge on both families. Torn by his conflicting passions, Heathcliff risks everything for love, and neither time nor space—not even death—will stop him.
£27.19
Pan Macmillan The Three Musketeers
Book SynopsisNow a major film directed by Martin Bourboulon.It is 1625 and France is under threat. D’Artagnan, a young nobleman, sets off to Paris to seek his fortune as a member of the King's Guard and befriends three musketeers - the mysterious Athos, ambitious and romantic Aramis, and bumbling Porthos. Together the friends must use all their guile and ingenuity to outwit the dastardly schemes of Cardinal Richelieu and the glamorous spy, Milady.As fresh and entertaining today as when it was first written, Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers is a gripping adventure story of daring sword fights, romances, espionage and murder.This sensitively abridged Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of The Three Musketeers features an afterword by playwright, screenwriter and actor, Peter Harness.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.
£10.79
Wordsworth Editions Ltd The Way We Live Now
Book SynopsisWith an Introduction and Notes by Peter Merchant. Canterbury Christ Church College. The tough-mindedness of the social satire in and its air of palpable integrity give this novel a special place in Anthony Trollope's Literary career. Trollope paints a picture as panoramic as his title promises, of the life of 1870s London, the loves of those drawn to and through the city, and the career of Augustus Melmotte. Melmotte is one of the Victorian novel's greatest and strangest creations, and is an achievement undimmed by the passage of time. Trollope's 'Now' might, in the twenty-first century, look like some distant disenchanted 'Then', but this is still the yesterday which we must understand in order to make proper sense of our today.
£8.06
Little, Brown Book Group High Rising: A Virago Modern Classic
Book SynopsisSuccessful lady novelist Laura Morland and her boisterous young son Tony set off to spend Christmas at her country home in the sleepy surrounds of High Rising. But Laura's wealthy friend and neighbour George Knox has taken on a scheming secretary whose designs on marriage to her employer threaten the delicate social fabric of the village. Can clever, practical Laura rescue George from Miss Grey's clutches and, what's more, help his daughter Miss Sibyl Knox to secure her longed-for engagement?Utterly charming and very funny, High Rising is irresistible comic entertainment.Trade ReviewCharming, very funny indeed. Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth-century author, after Pym herself -- Alexander McCall SmithAppealing * Glasgow Sunday Herald *A smart new edition . . . A terrific holiday story * The Lady *A delightfully entertaining comedy of manners. Full of period charm and witty authorial comment * Good Book Guide *To be so witty and charming yet also so brilliantly brusque and practical as Laura Morland is my new year's resolution -- Pippa Wright, author of The Foster HusbandCharming, very funny indeed. Angela Thirkell is perhaps the most Pym-like of any twentieth-century author, after Pym herself. -- Alexander McCall SmithAppealing. * Glasgow Sunday Herald *A smart new edition . . . A terrific holiday story. * The Lady *A delightfully entertaining comedy of manners. Full of period charm and witty authorial comment. * Good Book Guide *To be so witty and charming yet also so brilliantly brusque and practical as Laura Morland is my new year's resolution -- Pippa Wright, author of The Foster Husband
£9.49
Alma Books Ltd The Portrait of a Lady: Annotated Edition (Alma
Book SynopsisHaving travelled from her native New York to London to meet her relatives, Isabel Archer, a young, independently minded young woman, rejects the marriage proposals of two suitors in her determination to stay in control of her destiny. When she suddenly comes into a large legacy, Isabel believes that this windfall will finally ensure the freedom that she yearns for and embarks on an exhilarating journey through France and Italy, only to find her endeavours thwarted by the sinister plotting of some of her acquaintances. Considered by many to be Henry James’s finest novel, The Portrait of a Lady is a subtle examination of Victorian society and power relations, providing a groundbreaking psychological study of its protagonist. This volume is based on the authoritative New York Edition, and includes the author’s seminal preface.Trade ReviewHenry James’s great, humane masterpiece. -- Hermione Lee
£8.65
Alma Books Ltd Silas Marner
Book SynopsisHaving been accused of theft and hounded out of a religious community many years previously, the weaver Silas Marner now lives alone in the village of Raveloe, hoarding the precious wealth he earns. But when Silas's beloved gold is stolen, and an orphaned girl finds her way into his home, he is given the opportunity to transform his selfish and embittered life. George Eliot's favourite novel - rich in symbolism, humour and social criticism - Silas Marner is one of the great nineteenth-century portrayals of rural life. Based on the most authoritative edition and edited using a fresh, intelligent editorial approach, this edition contains extensive notes on the text together with extra material about the author's life and works.Trade Review"A great novel of unquenchable optimism and boundless humanity" The Guardian
£6.99
Andrews McMeel Publishing The Great Gatsby
Book SynopsisA poetic portrait of the Roaring Twenties in New York City brought to dazzling life in this stunning collectors edition of a classic in American literature. Set in the unique atmosphere of the 1920's Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby explores the lure of decadence, superficiality, and the ever-elusive American Dream through the eyes of narrator Nick Carraway and the longings and obsessions of mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. Watch the classic come to life in a whole new way with this beautiful Art Deco-style designed edition, complete with true-to-style and -time illustrations, maps, and fold-out pages elaborately designed by artist Robert Nippoldt.
£25.59
Vintage Publishing The Cry of the Owl
Book Synopsis'Extraordinary... one of her finest novels' Guardian"If everybody in the world didn't keep watching to see what everybody else did, we'd all go berserk."Jenny believes that sighting an owl is a portent of death. When she spots a stranger looking in through her window one night, she believes that he is an omen too. But fate doesn't work in the way that either of them expect.This novel of suspense and paranoia draws on Highsmith's own experience of being a stalker.Trade ReviewPatricia Highsmith has an extraordinary talent for the sinister, and this is well revealed in The Cry of the Owl, one of her finest novels -- Robert Nye * Guardian *Patricia Highsmith is a craftsman who has made the suspense novel her own domain * The Times *The basic nightmare situation - to be accused of a crime you did not commit and be unable to prove your innocence- is the subject of The Cry of the Owl... It's Kafka with a vengeance... compulsive * Spectator *A rare talent, a remarkable novelist... her books are written in elegant and lucid prose -- John Mortimer
£9.49
Pushkin Press The Captain's Daughter: Essential Stories
Book SynopsisAs complex as they are gripping, Pushkin's stories are some of the greatest and most influential ever written. Foundational to the development of Russian prose, they retain stunning freshness and clarity, more than ever in Anthony Briggs's finely nuanced translations. These are stories that upend expectations at every turn: in The Captain's Daughter, Pushkin's masterful novella of love and rebellion set during the reign of Catherine the Great, a mysterious encounter proves fatally significant during a brutal uprising, while in 'The Queen of Spades' a man obsessively pursues an elderly woman's secret for success at cards, with bizarre results.Trade Review'In any language, The Captain's Daughter would be a miniature masterpiece' - Daily Telegraph'The Captain's Daughter is one of the stories in which Pushkin created Russian prose... It is true poet's prose, absolutely clear, objective, unpretentious and penetrating' - Spectator
£10.80
Vintage Publishing Babi Yar: The Story of Ukraine's Holocaust
Book SynopsisThis gripping story of Kyiv during the Second World War told by a young boy who saw it all.'Rightly hailed a masterpiece' Daily Mail'So here is my invitation: enter into my fate, imagine that you are twelve, that the world is at war and that nobody knows what is going to happen next...'When the German army rolled into Kyiv in 1941 the young Anatoli was just twelve years old. He began writing down what he saw in his journals.Within ten days of the invasion, the Nazis had begun their campaign of fear and murder in Ukraine. Babi Yar (Babyn Yar in Ukrainian) was the place where the executions of Jews and many others took place. It was one of the largest massacres in the history of the Holocaust. Anatoli could hear the machine guns from his house.Anatoli’s clear, compelling voice, honesty and determination guide us through the horrors of that time. Babi Yar has the compulsion and narration of fiction but everything recounted here is true.'Extraordinary' Orlando Figes, Guardian'A vivid first-hand account of life under one of the most savage of occupation regimes... A book which must be read and never forgotten' The TimesThis is the complete, uncensored version of Babi Yar - its history written into the text. Parts shown in bold are those cut by the Russian censors, parts in brackets show later additions.Trade ReviewRead it and weep... Nothing I have read about that barbaric time has been as affecting as this gripping, disturbing book - rightly hailed a masterpiece -- Tony Rennell * Daily Mail *Babi Yar is one of the classic accounts of life under Nazi rule in occupied Europe and a depiction of man's inhumanity to man... [a] masterpiece -- Henry Marsh * New Statesman *A masterpiece . . . Every bit the peer of the canonical works of witness [such as] Anne Frank's diary . . . Wiesel's Night . . . Solzhenityn's Gulag Archipelago -- George Packer * The Atlantic *Absolutely stunning. A raw, devastating account of one of the greatest tragedies of WW2. Babi Yar provides a painfully intimate look at life during the Nazi occupation in Ukraine through the eyes of one resilient young boy. Told in poetic yet unflinching prose, this compelling book should be necessary reading for anyone looking to not only understand Ukrainian history, but humanity -- Erin LittekenMoving and shaking in a way that links it with the works of Solzhenitsyn * Times Literary Supplement *
£11.69
Alma Books Ltd The Devil’s Dictionary: The Complete Edition: The
Book SynopsisA celebrated journalist in his lifetime, Ambrose Bierce’s began circulating his own sardonic, mischievous definitions of words in his various columns for San Francisco newspapers. Over several years these were then compiled and expanded into entries for a mock dictionary originally published as The Cynic’s Word Book. One of the most popular satirical works of American literature, The Devil’s Dictionary – here published in its most complete 1911 version – brilliantly lays bare the hypocrisies of American society and displays a razor-sharp wit to rival that of Bierce’s contemporary Mark Twain.Trade ReviewThe corrosive insights of Bierce seem as bitter and fresh as ever. He handles words with delicious precision. * The Daily Telegraph *
£8.65
Pan Macmillan Northanger Abbey
Book SynopsisJane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is a comedic and brilliantly postmodern lampoon of gothic romance novels.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 David Pinching.Catherine Morland is a naive young woman whose perceptions of the world around her are greatly influenced by the romantic gothic novels to which she is addicted. When she moves to Bath she sees mystery and intrigue all around her – not least of all in Northanger Abbey itself, the home of General Tilney and his handsome son Henry, where Catherine suspects a sinister crime has occurred . . .Trade ReviewThe work of a great writer flexing her creative muscles . . . As well as being a deft comedy of manners, Northanger Abbey also fools entertainingly with the slippery relationship of fact and fiction. -- Robert McCrum * Guardian *Austen’s Northanger Abbey was in part a playful response to what she considered ‘unnatural’ in the novels of her day: Instead of perfect heroes, heroines and villains, she offers flawed, rounded characters who behave naturally and not just according to the demands of the plot. -- Jo Baker * New York Times *
£10.44
Canongate Books A Scots Quair: Sunset Song: Cloud Howe: Grey
Book SynopsisChris Guthrie, torn between her love of the land and her desire to escape the narrow horizons of a peasant culture, is the thread that links these three works. In them, Gibbon interweaves the personal joys and sorrows of Chris' life with the greater historical and political events of the time.Sunset Song, the first and most celebrated book of the trilogy, covers the early years of the twentieth century, including the First World War. Chris survives, with her son Ewan, but the tragedy has struck and her wild spirit is subdued. In Cloud Howe, as the minister's wife, Chris learns to love again, and we witness the cruel gossip and high comedy of small village life until, once again, Chris suffers a terrible loss. Grey Granite focuses on her son Ewan and his passionate involvement with justice for the common man. For Chris, with her intuitive strength, nothing lasts - only the land endures.Trade ReviewThis book may be read with delight the world over. * * New York Times * *It would be impossible to overestimate Lewis Grassic Gibbon's importance . . . A Scots Quair is a landmark work; it permeates the Scottish literary consciousness and colours all subsequent writing of its kind. -- David Kerr CameronA Scots Quair is a lyrical achievement still unparalleled in British writing. -- Ali SmithGibbon's style is one of the great achievements of the trilogy and should be seen . . . in the context of mordernist innovators such as James Joyce, Gerturde Stein and William Faulkner. -- Tom Crawford
£9.99
Oxford University Press The Story of an African Farm Oxford Worlds
Book SynopsisLyndall, Schreiner''s articulate young feminist, marks the entry of the controversial New Woman into nineteenth-century fiction. Raised as an orphan amid a makeshift family, she witnesses an intolerable world of colonial exploitation. Desiring a formal education, she leaves the isolated farm for boarding school in her early teens, only to return four years later from an unhappy relationship. Unable to meet the demands of her mysterious lover, Lyndall retires to a house in Bloemfontein, where, delirious with exhaustion, she is unknowingly tended by an English farmer disguised as her female nurse. This is the devoted Gregory Rose, Schreiner''s daring embodiment of the sensitive New Man. A cause célèbre when it appeared in London, The Story of an African Farm transformed the shape and course of the late-Victorian novel. From the haunting plains of South Africa''s high Karoo, Schreiner boldly addresses her society''s greatest fears - the loss of faith, the dissolution of marriage, and women''s social and political independence. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Dancer at the GaiMoulin
Book SynopsisThe city of Simenon''s youth comes to life in this new translation of this disturbing novel set in Liège, book ten in the new Penguin Maigret series.In the darkness, the main room is as vast as a cathedral. A great empty space. Some warmth is still seeps from the radiators. Delfosse strikes a match. They stop a moment to catch their breath, and work out how far they have still to go. And suddenly the match falls to the ground, as Delfosse gives a sharp cry and rushes back towards the washroom door. In the dark, he loses his way, returns and bumps into Chabot.Maigret observes from a distance as two boys are accused of killing a rich foreigner in Liège. Their loyalty, which binds them together through their adventures, is put to the test, and seemingly irrelevant social differences threaten their friendship and their freedom.Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret at the Gai-Moulin.''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray''One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century'' Guardian ''A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness'' IndependentTrade ReviewPraise for Georges Simenon:“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —The Guardian “These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —The Washington Post “Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals.” —People “I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.” —William Faulkner “The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature.” —André Gide “A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness.” —The Independent (London) “Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales.” —The Observer (London) “Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” —John Gray “A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable—lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates.” —Muriel Spark “A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it.”lle —Peter Ackroyd “Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century.” —John Banville"Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor" ― Times (London)"Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it's the food that counts." ― Margaret Atwood"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere." ― Financial Times"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn."-- Stig Abell ― The Sunday Times (London)
£8.99
HarperCollins Publishers Glamorous Powers
Book SynopsisReissue of the author's most famous and well-loved work, the Starbridge series, six self-contained yet interconnected novels that explore the history of the Church of England through the 20th century.Jon Darrow, a man with psychic powers, is a man who has played many parts: a shady faith-healer; a naval chaplain, a passionate husband, an awkward father, an Anglo-Catholic monk.In 1940 Darrow returns to the world he once renounced, but faced with many unforeseen temptations he fails to control his psychic, most glamorous powers. Corruption lies in wait for him, and threatens not only his future as a priest but his happiness with Anne, the young woman he has come to love.Trade Review'Glamorous Powers is a brave and welcome new direction for Susan Howatch to take' Observer 'An intriguing and wholly involving story' New York Times Book Review 'This novel marks a remarkable departure for Susan Howatch' Today 'Howatch writes thrillers of the heart and mind … everything in a Howatch novel cuts close to the bone and is of vital concern' New Woman 'A mesmerising storyteller' Daily Telegraph 'One of the most original novelists writing today' Cosmopolitan 'She is a deft storyteller, and her writing has depth, grace and pace' Sunday Times
£10.79
Alma Books Ltd Jude the Obscure: Annotated Edition (Alma Classics Evergreens)
"Jude Fawley, an intelligent and sensitive young Wessex schoolboy, dreams of studying at the famous university in Christminster, Hardy’s fictional representation of Oxford. He embarks on years of private study, but his plans are thrown into disarray when he is deceived into marriage and then deserted by the duplicitous Arabella Donn. Jude, still hoping to earn a place at the university, travels to Christminster to work as a stonemason. Here, he falls for his freethinking cousin Sue, but with the pair living together out of wedlock, the pressures of poverty and social disapproval soon threaten to ruin their lives. Full of passion, anger, fatalism and tragedy, Jude the Obscure attacks the inequalities and hypocrisies inherent within Victorian society’s attitudes towards marriage, social mobility, education and the role of women. The novel, which caused an immediate uproar on its publication, is now widely considered to be one of the great works of the nineteenth century, and the apotheosis of Hardy’s fiction."
£5.99
Vintage Publishing Native Son
Book SynopsisReissued to mark the 80th anniversary of Native Son's publication - discover Richard Wright's brutal and gripping masterpiece this black history month. '[Native Son] possesses an artistry, penetration of thought, and sheer emotional power that places it into the front rank of American fiction' Ralph EllisonReckless, angry and adrift, Bigger Thomas has grown up trapped in a life of poverty in the slums of Chicago. But a job with the affluent Dalton family provides the setting for a catastrophic collision between his world and theirs. Hunted by citizen and police alike, and baited by prejudiced officials, Bigger finds himself the cause célèbre in an ever-narrowing endgame.First published in 1940, Native Son shocked readers with its candid depiction of violence and confrontation of racial stereotypes. It went on to make Richard Wright the first bestselling black writer in America.'The most important and celebrated novel of Negro life to have appeared in America' James BaldwinWITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY GARY YOUNGE
£10.44
Pan Macmillan The Call of the Wild & White Fang
Book SynopsisExtraordinary both for the vividness of their descriptions and the success with which they imagine life from a non-human perspective, these two classics of children’s literature are two of the greatest and most popular animal stories 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 books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This beautiful Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of The Call of the Wild & White Fang features an afterword by Sam Gilpin.The Call of the Wild tells the story of Buck, a domestic dog who is kidnapped from his home in California and forced to pull sleds in the Arctic wasteland. White Fang, by contrast, is the tale of a crossbreed who is three-quarters wolf and a quarter dog, and who must endure considerable suffering in the wilderness before being tamed by an American and taken to live in California.
£10.44
Penguin Books Ltd The Grand Banks Café
Book Synopsis''The father of contemporary European detective fiction'' Ann Cleeves It was indeed a photograph, a picture of a woman. But the face was completely hidden, scribbled all over in red ink. Someone had tried to obliterate the head, someone very angry. The pen had bitten into the paper. There were so many criss-crossed lines that not a single square millimetre had been left visible.On the other hand, below the head, the torso had not been touched. A pair of large breasts. A light-coloured silk dress, very tight and very low cut.Sailors don''t talk much to other men, especially not to policemen. But after Captain Fallut''s body is found floating near his trawler, they all mention the Evil Eye when they speak of the Ocean''s voyage.Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations. This novel has been published in a previous translation as The Sailors'' Rendezvous.''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray''One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century'' Guardian ''A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness'' IndependentTrade Review‘One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century…Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.’ — The Guardian'I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.' — William Faulkner'The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature' — André Gide‘A supreme writer…unforgettable vividness’ — The Independent 'Superb... The most addictive of writers... A unique teller of tales' — The Observer‘Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.’ — John Gray'A truly wonderful writer... marvellously readable - lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the workd he creates' — Muriel Spark'A novelist who entered his fictional world as it he were a part of it' — Peter Ackroyd'Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century' — John Banville
£999.99
Alma Books Ltd Humorous Tales: Annotated Edition
Book SynopsisFirst published in 1921, this volume collects some of the most comical stories Kipling published throughout his writing career. These tales derive their humour from absurd situations – a drunken Irish soldier waking up to find himself worshipped as a god in the Indian holy city of Benares, a monkey let loose in an English village – and from lampooning the attitudes and discourses of the time. While presenting many aspects which will be familiar to Kipling readers – rollicking adventures, exotic locales and an interest in the animal world – these Humorous Tales explore the more light-hearted and amusing side to the great master’s work.Trade Review[Kipling] is still an author who can inspire passionate disagreement … as the age of the European empires recedes, he is recognised as an incomparable, if controversial, interpreter of how empire was experienced. That, and an increasing recognition of his extraordinary narrative gifts, make him a force to be reckoned with. -- Douglas KerrTable of ContentsContains: The Legend of Mirth, The Taking of Lungtungpen, Moti Guj Mutineer, The Rout of the White Hussars, The First Sailor, Judson and the Empire, Namgay Doola, My Sunday at Home, Pig, Alnaschar and the Oxen, The Bull That Thought, A Flight of Fact, Private Learoyd's Story, The Finances of the Gods, Prologue to the Master Cook's Tale, His Gift, The Press, The Village That Voted the Earth Was Flat, The Puzzler (Poem), The Puzzler (Tale), The Incarnation of Krishna Mulvaney, Gallio's Song, Little Foxes, My Lord the Elephant, Brugglesmith, The Sending of Dana Da, The Fabulists, The Vortex, The Song of Seven Cities, The Necessitarian.
£7.59
Quercus Publishing The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories (riverrun
Book SynopsisA man and woman fall in love in a seaside town. The only trouble is, they're both married to other people. A schoolmaster is scandalized by his sweetheart riding a bicycle.A woman falls in love with a series of men, each of whom leave her in different ways. Chekhov's stories capture Russian provincial life in the late nineteenth century while Garnett's translations make these classic works feel as vivid as if they were written yesterday. This exclusive selection by New Yorker writer Janet Malcolm is unmissable for the enthusiast and a brilliant introduction for anyone interested in one of the nineteenth century's greatest writers.
£9.49
