From Austen to Zola, from medieval to the modern day - all genres are catered for between the covers of these coveted classics.
Classics Books
Penguin Books Ltd Payment Deferred
Book SynopsisDiscover the new Penguin Crime and Espionage seriesThere is nothing more dangerous than a desperate manBank clerk William Marble is facing financial ruin - until a visit from a wealthy young relative, a bottle of Cyanide and a shovel offer him an unexpected solution. But there is no such thing as the perfect murder. Gradually Marble becomes poisoned by guilt and fear, and his entire family corrupted. Sooner or later his deed will catch up with him, as events spiral out of control in the most unpredictable of ways...Trade ReviewThe unsung godfather of English noir. -- Andrew TaylorCompelling. * Sunday Times *
£9.49
Penguin Books Ltd The Hound of the Baskervilles
Book Synopsis''Mr. Holmes, they were the footprints of a gigantic hound!''The death, quite suddenly, of Sir Charles Baskerville in mysterious circumstances is the trigger for one of the most extraordinary cases ever to challenge the brilliant analytical mind of Sherlock Holmes. As rumours of a legendary hound said to haunt the Baskerville family circulate, Holmes and Watson are asked to ensure the protection of Sir Charles'' only heir, Sir Henry - who has travelled all the way from America to reside at Baskerville Hall in Devon. And it is there, in an isolated mansion surrounded by mile after mile of wild moor, that Holmes and Watson come face to face with a terrifying evil that reaches out from centuries past . . .Trade ReviewSherlock Holmes's best ... remains a classic -- Marcel Berlins * The Times *
£8.54
Penguin Books Ltd Conan Doyle A CaseBook of Sherlock Holmes
Book Synopsis''When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.''In this, the final collection of Sherlock Holmes adventures, the intrepid detective and his faithful companion Dr Watson examine and solve twelve cases that puzzle clients, baffle the police and provide readers with the thrill of the chase.These mysteries - involving an illustrious client and a Sussex vampire; the problems of Thor Bridge and of the Lions Mane; a creeping man and the three-gabled house - all test the bravery of Dr Watson and the brilliant mind of Mr Sherlock Homes, the greatest detective we have ever known.Trade ReviewThe world's greatest detective * Independent *
£8.54
Transworld Publishers Ltd Four Sisters
Book SynopsisA powerful story about the bond of sisterhood and how it can triumph against any adversity, from the Sunday Times bestselling author Val Wood.Hull, 1852. Matty has had to care for her three younger sisters ever since their mother's death ten years ago.
£9.49
British Library Publishing The Chianti Flask
Book SynopsisFirst published in 1934, this exquisitely crafted novel blends the tenets of a traditional mystery with an exploration of the psychological impact of death, accusation, guilt and justice in the aftermath of murder.
£8.54
Little, Brown Book Group The Enchanted April Virago Modern Classics
Book Synopsis''An enchanting novel, witty, touching and very perceptively written, which will sweep you into wisteria and sunshine'' Santa MontefioreA discreet advertisement in ''The Times'', addressed to ''Those who Apppreciate Wisteria and Sunshine...'' is the impetus for a revelatory month for four very different women. High above the bay on the Italian Riviera stands San Salvatore, a mediaeval castle. Beckoned to this haven are Mrs. Wilkins, Mrs Arbuthnot, Mrs Fisher and Lady Caroline Dester, each quietly craving a respite. Lulled by the Mediterranean spirit, they gradually shed their skins and discover a harmony each of them has longed for but never known.First published in 1922, this delightful novel is imbued with the descriptive power and light-hearted irreverence for which Elizabeth von Arnin is renowned.''Filled with hazy hills and fragrant flora, the novel is a dreamily sensuous description of the glories of Italian spring'' Adam Nicolson, Mail on Trade ReviewAn enchanting novel, witty, touching and very perceptively written, which will sweep you into wisteria and sunshine -- Santa MontefioreFilled with hazy hills and fragrant flora, the novel is a dreamily sensuous description of the glories of Italian spring -- Adam Nicolson * Mail on Sunday *Elizabeth von Armin's most charming novel in every sense: it casts a spell...a sun-washed fairytale * Observer *At one level an escapist fantasy, at another a parable about the liberation of the spirit, this delicious confection will work its magic on all. * 'The Daily Telegraph' *
£9.49
Little, Brown Book Group Lizas England
Book Synopsis''A modern-day masterpiece'' SUNDAY TIMES''The third, Liza''s England, in many ways the most moving of the trilogy, tracks the life of a northern working-class woman from the beginning of the century to well into Thatcher''s reign, exploding feminist myths as readily as political ones'' BELINDA WEBB, GUARDIAN Dauntless Liza Jarrett, born at the dawn of the twentieth century, is now in her eighties, frail and facing eviction with her cantankerous parrot Nelson, when she is visited by Stephen, a young gay social worker. As she learns to trust him, she recalls her life - her embittered, exhausted mother, her shell-shocked spiritualist husband, her beloved son and chaotic daugter. Their friendship, deepening with the unfolding of their stories, comes to sustain Liza through her last battle and brings new courage to Stephen.Trade ReviewA modern-day masterpiece * Sunday Times *The third, Liza's England, in many ways the most moving of the trilogy, tracks the life of a northern working-class woman from the beginning of the century to well into Thatcher's reign, exploding feminist myths as readily as political ones. Barker's women do not want equality with men - their men are just as powerless as they are, seeking solace only in drinking, fighting and fucking -- Belinda Webb * Guardian *Readers turn to Barker's novels for their plain truths and clear-eyed sense of our history and creation stories * Sunday Times *
£9.49
Legare Street Press The Lost Princess of Oz
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£17.06
WW Norton & Co Dom Casmurro
Book SynopsisA masterpiece of realism, Machado de Assis's Dom Casmurro probes the mind of a distrustful husband with delusions of grandeurTrade Review"It is one of the unexpected services of Margaret Jull Costa and Robin Patterson’s new translation of DOM CASMURRO that they have helped me solve the mystery of my first impression. As I was reading their translation, I pulled out the first one I had read, one of the many that came before. I saw that the difficulty of translating Machado is not that his language is so precise and clear: That would seem to make the task easy. The challenge for the translator is that the writer uses precise and clear phrases (“Good morning!”) in a way that turns their precision and clarity against them and suggests something else. Rather than letting these lines stand, slyly winking and furtively smiling, the earlier translator had tried to nudge the reader too firmly toward that something else . . . More than perhaps any book I know, “Dom Casmurro” has to be read more than once. It teaches us to read in much the same way that Vermeer teaches us to see — by looking, and then looking again." -- Benjamin Moser - The New York Times Book Review
£22.79
CreateSpace Jekyll and Hyde
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£10.24
Pan Macmillan The Little Prince
Book SynopsisWith an introduction by Kate MosseTranslated by Ros SchwartzAll grown-ups were children once (but most of them have forgotten).A pilot who has crash landed in the desert awakes to see an extraordinary little boy. 'Please,' asks the stranger, 'will you draw me a little lamb!' Baffled by the little prince's incessant questioning, the pilot pulls out his pencil, and starts to draw. As the little prince's curiosity takes them further on their journey together, the pilot is able to piece together an understanding of the tiny planet from which the prince has come and of his incredible travels across the universe. First published in 1943, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry has been translated into more than 250 languages, becoming a global phenomenon. Heart-breaking, funny and thought-provoking, it is an enchanting and endlessly wise fable about the human condition and the power of imagination. A book about both childhood and adulthood, it can be read as a parable, a war story, a classic children's fairy-tale, and many more things besides: The Little Prince is a book for everyone; after all, all grown-ups were children once. 'The Little Prince moves from asteroid to desert, from fable and comedy to enigmatic tragedy, in order to make one recurrent point: You can't love roses. You can only love a rose' Adam Gopnik, New YorkerTrade ReviewThe Little Prince moves from asteroid to desert, from fable and comedy to enigmatic tragedy, in order to make one recurrent point: You can't love roses. You can only love a rose -- Adam Gopnik * New Yorker *Ros Schwartz's translation is beautifully judged * Financial Times *
£8.54
Pan Macmillan Gate of Lilacs: A Verse Commentary on Proust
Book SynopsisBlending the critical essay with poetry, Gate of Lilacs is a collection of verse written by Clive James in response to – and profoundly inspired by – the work of Marcel Proust.'James picks out the characters, the motifs and the moments that set his memory ablaze, just as Marcel was able to conjure such visions from a tisane-infused madeleine' – Literary ReviewOver a period of fifteen years Clive James learned French by almost no other method than reading À la recherche du temps perdu – commonly translated as In Search of Lost Time, or Remembrance of Things Past. Then he spent half a century trying to get up to speed with Proust's great novel in two different languages. Gate of Lilacs is the unique product of James's love of and engagement with Proust's masterpiece. With À la recherche du temps perdu, Proust, in James's words, 'followed his creative instinct all the way until his breath gave out', and now James has done the same. In Gate of Lilacs, James, a brilliant critical essayist and poet, has blended the two forms into one.I had always thought the critical essay and the poem were closely related forms . . . If I wanted to talk about Proust's poetry beyond the basic level of talking about his language – if I wanted to talk about the poetry of his thought – then the best way to do it might be to write a poem.In the end, if À la recherche du temps perdu is a book devoted almost entirely to its author's gratitude for life, for love, and for art, this much smaller book is devoted to its author's gratitude for Proust.Clive James (1939–2019) was a broadcaster, critic, poet, memoirist and novelist. His acclaimed poetry includes the collection Sentenced to Life and a translation of Dante's The Divine Comedy, both Sunday Times bestsellers. His passion for and knowledge of poetry are distilled in his book of criticism on the subject, Poetry Notebook, and, written in the last year of his life, his personal annotated anthology of favourite poems, The Fire Of Joy. Praise for Clive James:'He will be seen, I think, as one of the most important and influential writers of our time' – Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times'Wise, witty, terrifying, unflinching and extraordinarily alive' – A.S. Byatt, critic and author of Possession: A Romance'Clive James is a true poet' – Peter Porter, London Review of BooksTrade ReviewJames writes with exquisite perception and surgical precision; he is a poet of powerful argument and emotional force * The Times *A writer whose commanding voice contains a constant variety of colour and tone -- Robert McCrum * Observer *After writing poems for 50 years, his technique is deft and assured * Independent on Saturday *He is a unique figure, a straddler of genres and a bridger of the gaps between high and low culture. He will be seen, I think, as one of the most important and influential writers of our time -- Bryan Appleyard * Sunday Times *Part of a great burst of late fruition . . . graceful in its thought, moving in its insights, and often written with a fluidity that makes me wish he had done more of this sort of thing. I'll also put it on my students' reading list to remind them that, whatever the universities tell us, we can't understand something until we have responded to it creatively * New Statesman *James picks out the characters, the motifs and the moments that set his memory ablaze, just as Marcel was able to conjure such visions from a tisane-infused madeleine * Literary Review *
£17.00
Pan Macmillan Dr Finlay's Casebook
Book SynopsisDr Finlay's Casebook brings together Adventures of a Black Bag and Dr Finlay of Tannochbrae, A. J. Cronin's two hugely popular collections featuring his most famous creation, Dr Finlay.Set in and around the fictional Scottish town of Levenford and village of Tannochbrae during the inter-war years, the stories found here are heart-warming, funny and touching, full of fascinating characters and unforgettable encounters. Made famous by the much-loved adaptations for radio and television, this edition features all the classic tales of Dr Finlay, his senior colleague Dr Cameron, and their unruffled housekeeper Janet, remain as fresh and entertaining now as they were upon first publication.
£9.49
Pan Macmillan Aesop's Fables
Book SynopsisThis timeless collection brings together three hundred of the most enduringly popular of Aesop’s fables in a volume that will delight young and old readers alike. Here are all the age-old favourites - the wily fox, the vain peacock, the predatory cat and the steady tortoise - just as endearingly vivid and relevant now as they were for their very first audience. 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. This elegant Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Aesop's Fables features an afterword by publisher and editor Anna South and illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
£10.44
Pan Macmillan The Awakening & Other Stories
Book SynopsisReaders and critics were scandalized by The Awakening when it was first published, but it is now regarded as among the boldest and earliest examples of feminist fiction. It is published here with a selection of Chopin’s strikingly perceptive short stories and introduced by Dr J. Michelle Coghlan, a specialist in American literature.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. In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier is on holiday with her husband and two young children at a sleepy resort town on the Louisiana Gulf Coast. There, she is pursued by the charming and unmarried Robert Lebrun. Edna doesn’t play by the rules; flirtation turns into an affair that awakens in Edna her desire to break away from her passionless marriage, her children and the strict conventions of nineteenth-century society.Trade ReviewFrom the first pages of The Awakening we are pulled into territory that feels utterly current and familiar, with an undercurrent more dangerous than romantic comedy * Guardian *Kate Chopin is a pioneer in the treatment of sexuality in American literature . . . She does not speak only to women, but she speaks most powerfully about them * The Times *A Creole Bovary is this little novel of Miss Chopin’s -- Willa CatherChopin’s deceptively slight novel is the kind of book revolutions are made of * Harper’s Bazaar *This landmark feminist novel, first published in 1899, remains startlingly relevant -- Judy BlumeTable of ContentsIntroduction - i: Introduction by Michelle Coughlan Chapter - 1: The Awakening Chapter - 2: The Storm Chapter - 3: Lilacs Chapter - 4: Fedora Chapter - 5: Her Letters Chapter - 6: A Respectable Woman Chapter - 7: The Kiss Chapter - 7: A Shameful Affair Chapter - 8: Suzette Chapter - 9: A Mental Suggestion Chapter - 10: A Point at Issue! Chapter - 11: A Vocation and a Voice Chapter - 12: Madame Célestin's Divorce Chapter - 13: A No-Account Creole Chapter - 14: A Pair of Silk Stockings Chapter - 15: An Egyptian Cigarette Chapter - 16: Miss Witherwell's Mistake Chapter - 17: Wiser Than a God Chapter - 18: Elizabeth Stock's One Story Chapter - 19: A Matter of Prejudice Chapter - 20: Ozème's Holiday Chapter - 21: Miss McEnders Chapter - 22: The Story of an Hour Chapter - 23: The Recovery Chapter - 24: Désirée’s Baby Chapter - 25: La Belle Zoraïde Chapter - 26: Regret Chapter - 27: The Locket Chapter - 28: Athénaïse
£11.39
Graphic Arts Books Erewhon
Book SynopsisErewhon, an anagram for “nowhere,” is a faraway land where citizens follow a unique set of rules disregarding conventional beliefs about money, health and science. Beneath the surface, Erewhon is fueled by hypocrisy and inhabitants are riddled with fear. A traveler stumbles across a remote country that appears to be a peaceful paradise. It’s a utopian society that doesn’t use or value money in a traditional way. Criminals are considered sick and treated as patients, while the ill are imprisoned and labeled as criminals. There’s also an overwhelming distrust of machines, which are outlawed due to their potential to evolve and overthrow their masters. Erewhon’s superficial qualities grow to become a source of contempt and distrust. Erewhon illustrates a world where an attempt to correct the ills of society causes more harm than good. It’s a profound examination of Victorian ethics, benefiting a minority over the majority. Butler’s groundbreaking novel has significantly influenced multiple writers in literature and beyond. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Erewhon is both modern and readable.
£11.39
Graphic Arts Books Crome Yellow
Book SynopsisCrome Yellow (1921) is a novel by English author Aldous Huxley. Inspired by his stay at Garsington Manor with members of the Bloomsbury Group, Crome Yellow, Huxley’s debut novel, satirizes the society of England’s intellectual and political elite. In addition to its autobiographical content, the novel investigates such themes as spirituality, the nature and composition of art, and the fear of a dystopian future. Invited to spend part of the summer at Crome, a country estate owned by Priscilla and Henry Wimbush, Denis Stone arrives by train carrying a draft of his first novel, which he intends to complete during his stay. There, he is introduced as a poet, and quickly falls in love with the young Anne Wimbush, herself enthralled with the painter Gombauld. Faced with disillusionment and disappointment, Stone struggles to write while being subjected to pseudointellectual conversations, lengthy public readings, and devastating characterizations by the guests and hosts of Crome. Memorable characters include Mary Bracegirdle, an adventurous and amorous flapper; Mr. Barbecue-Smith, a hack writer; and Mr. Scogan, a doomsayer with an elaborate dystopian vision. Crome Yellow, a biting work of satire, has earned comparisons to The Great Gatsby continues to be recognized as an important early work from one of England’s most visionary writers. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Aldous Huxley’s Crome Yellow is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.
£8.21
Graphic Arts Books The Talisman
Book SynopsisWhen King Richard the Lionheart’s health began to decline, the English leader organized a truce with the leader of the Islamic forces, Saladin. Agreeing to cease the battles on the condition that Jerusalem would be under Muslim control, the two leaders gave orders to their troops to return to their homes. However, Sir Kenneth, a Scottish knight, was in the search of a certain monk rather than his home when he encounters Emir, a cavalryman for Saladin’s forces. At first distrustful of each other and used to warfare, the two soldiers engage in a one-on-one battle. But when both refuse to surrender, the men realize that they are equally matched, and with the truces between their leaders, there was no reason to fight. Apon this realization, Amir and Kenneth become friends. When Kenneth later mentions that he is on a quest to find a Christian monk, Emir offers to accompany him, as he knows the terrain better than Kenneth. After happily accepting the offer, the two fighters set off on their journey, facing villains, deception, romance, and duels. Admired for its rich prose and skillfully portrayed plotline, Sir Walter Scott’s The Talisman is an intricate and theatrical work of literary art. With well-presented characters and an engrossing setting, The Talisman offers the rare depiction of a friendship between an Arabic and English soldier in the 11th century as well as the seldomly portrayed time of peace during the crusades. With themes of chivalry, virtue, and violence paired with compelling representation and a well-executed plot, Sir Walter Scott’s The Talisman exceeds high expectations. This edition of The Talisman by Sir Walter Scott now features a new, eye-catching cover design and is printed in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition of The Talisman crafts an accessible and pleasant reading experience for modern audiences while restoring the original mastery and drama of Sir Walter Scott’s literature.
£10.44
Graphic Arts Books The Odd Women
Book SynopsisThe Odd Women (1893) is a novel by George Gissing. Inspired by a report of over one million more women living in Britain than men, Gissing sought to explore the societal and personal implications of unmarried life while exploring the demands of the growing feminist movement. The Odd Women is a story of romance, independence, and the pressures of society that poses important questions about convention in Victorian England while proving surprisingly relevant for our own times. After moving together to London, the unmarried Madden sisters rekindle their relationship with Rhoda, a neighbor and friend from their childhood in Clevedon. Rhoda, also unmarried, lives with Mary Barfoot, with whom she runs a secretarial school for young women. While Monica, the youngest Madden sister, is bullied into marrying Edmund Widdowson, a middle-aged brute, Rhoda rejects the advances of Mary’s cousin Everard. Opposed to marriage altogether, Rhoda is initially able to avoid the fate of Monica, who suffers in her stifling relationship with Edmund and longs for a younger, romantic man named Bevis. Striking up an affair, Monica meets secretly with Bevis while attempting to avoid the suspicions of her jealous, overbearing husband. When a detective hired by Edmund sees Monica knock on the door of Everard’s apartment, Edmund sets out to smear the innocent man’s name just as he has secured an engagement with the reluctant Rhoda. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of George Gissing’s The Odd Women is a classic work of English literature reimagined for modern readers.
£12.34
Graphic Arts Books Ninety-Three
Book SynopsisNinety-Three (1874) is the final novel of Victor Hugo. As a work of historical fiction, the story is set during the period of conflict between the newly formed French Republic and the Royalists who sought to reverse the gains of the revolution. Praised for its morality and honest depiction of the horrors of war, Ninety-Three influenced such wide-ranging political thinkers as Joseph Stalin and Ayn Rand. “The soldiers forced cautiously. Everything was in full bloom; they were surrounded by a quivering wall of branches, whose leaves diffused a delicious freshness. Here and there sunbeams pierced these green shades.” Advancing through the countryside, a band of Republican soldiers discovers a family of refugees, a mother and two children who fled for their lives during the insurrection of Royalists in Brittany. Taken in, they are swept up in an attack by the merciless Marquis de Lantenac, a counterrevolutionary leader who has just landed with a unit of Royalist troops. Separated from her children, Michelle is protected by a local beggar who hides her from Lantenac and his men. Meanwhile, Robespierre, Marat, and Danton have sent Commander Gauvain from Paris to stamp out the Royalist threat in Brittany, knowing all too well that Lantenac is his distant relative. As families are torn apart in the name of political struggle, as mercy gives way to death and betrayal, Hugo examines the human cost of war without losing sight of the gravity of the historical moment. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Victor Hugo’s Ninety-Three is a classic work of French literature reimagined for modern readers.
£11.39
University of Minnesota Press Olav Audunssøn: IV. Winter
Book SynopsisThe fourth and final volume in the Nobel Prize–winning writer’s epic of one man’s fateful life in medieval Norway Set in thirteenth-century Norway, a land racked by political turmoil, bloody family vendettas, and rising tensions between secular powers and an ascendant church, Sigrid Undset’s spellbinding masterpiece now follows the fortunes of Olav Audunssøn to the final, dramatic chapter of his life as it unfolds in Winter, the last volume of the tetralogy. When the orphaned Olav and his foster sister Ingunn became betrothed in their youth, a chain of events was set in motion that eventually led to violence, banishment, and a family separation lasting years. The consequences fracture their marriage and threaten the lineage for generations. Now, at the end of his life, Olav continues to grapple with the guilt of his sins as he watches his children, especially Eirik, make disastrous choices and struggle to find their rightful place in a family haunted by the past. With its precise details and sweeping vision, Olav Audunssøn summons a powerful picture of Northern life in medieval times, as noted by the Swedish Academy in awarding Undset the Nobel Prize in 1928. Conveying both the intimate drama and the epic proportions of Olav’s story at its conclusion, Winter is a moving and masterly recreation of a vanished world tainted by bloodshed and haunted by sin and retribution—yet one that might still offer a chance for redemption. As with Kristin Lavransdatter, her earlier medieval epic, Sigrid Undset wrote Olav Audunssøn after immersive research in the legal, religious, and historical writings of the time to create an astoundingly authentic and compelling portrait of Norwegian life in the Middle Ages. And as in her translation of Kristin Lavransdatter, Tiina Nunnally does full justice to Undset’s natural, fluid prose—in a style by turns plainspoken and delicately lyrical—to convey the natural world, the complex culture, and the fraught emotional territory against which Olav’s story inexorably unfolds. Trade Review "An enjoyable read if you are looking for medieval period historical fiction. The characters and story are memorable and the prose easy reading and yet descriptive."—Nicki Markus Table of Contents Contents Translator’s Note Map of Olav Audunssøn’s Norway Genealogy and Kinship Part I. Winter Arrives Part II. The Avenging Son Holy Days and Canonical Hours Notes
£14.24
Createspace Independent Publishing Platform The Tempest: Large Print
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£10.24
Pan Macmillan Prelude & Other Stories
Book SynopsisRadical, witty and inventive, Katherine Mansfield is one of the twentieth century’s most accomplished short-story writers and this selection of stories showcases her dazzling skill. 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. Prelude & Other Stories is edited and introduced by Professor Meg Jensen.This selection of stories by Katherine Mansfield showcases her remarkable ability to delve into the human mind; in stories such as ‘The Garden Party’ she reveals the tension between innocence and corruption, the dark side of love and romance are explored in ‘Bliss’ and ‘Love à la Mode’, and in the title story, ‘Prelude’, inspired by her own childhood, her concern is for the isolated and the lonely. Collected together for the first time, this selection of short stories by Katherine Mansfield showcase her remarkable ability to delve deep into human psychology.Trade ReviewHer writing was as impenetrable as she was: romantic, excitable, sharp-edged, malicious and cold, charming and funny, lonely, proud, vulnerable, a wearer of masks * Guardian *Mansfield’s work displays a quick, sardonic wit that sharply interrogates romantic concepts of genius and ironizes naïve expectation * The Paris Review *
£10.44
Pan Macmillan Kidnapped
Book SynopsisRobert Louis Stevenson's classic, swashbuckling novel about a young boy who is forced to go to sea and who is then caught up in high drama, daring adventure and political intrigue. 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 Louise Welsh and features black and white illustrations.Headstrong David Balfour, orphaned at seventeen, sets out from the Scottish Lowlands to seek his fortune in Edinburgh. Betrayed by his wealthy Uncle Ebenezer, he is carried away to sea to be sold into slavery in the Carolinas. On board, he secures a timely alliance with Jacobite adventurer Alan Breck, and together they make an epic escape across the western Highlands. Inspired by real events, Kidnapped is a swashbuckling adventure of bizarre encounters, political assassination and wild carousings with Robert Louis Stevenson’s unique counterpoint of low morals and high comedy threaded throughout.Trade ReviewStevenson’s ability to create other worlds is at the heart of his writing * Scottish Review of Books *
£10.44
Quercus Publishing The Death Ivan Ilych and other stories (riverrun
Book Synopsis'How truth thickens and deepens when it migrates from didactic fable to the raw experience of a visceral awakening is one of the thrills of Tolstoy's stories'Sharon Cameron in her preface to The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other StoriesTolstoy wrote in many genres for different audiences. In this, the first of three volumes of his shorter fiction chosen and introduced by the critic Sharon Cameron, we see works originally written for children, like 'God Sees the Truth But Waits', and 'A Prisoner in the Caucasus'. They stand alongside others which show his range and accomplishment, including an early story based on his experiences in the Crimean war, 'Sevastopol in May', and the visceral intensity of one of his greatest works, 'The Death of Ivan Ilych'.This riverrun edition reissues the translation of Louise and Aylmer Maude, whose influential versions of Tolstoy first brought his work to a wide readership in English.
£9.49
Quercus Publishing The Man Who Loved Islands: Sixteen Stories
Book Synopsis'Everyone who met him commented on the arresting power of Lawrence's bright and sharp blue eyes, and the beard he later grew would be as red as a fox's brush, but it was not his appearance that Ford was describing. It was his menace' Frances Wilson, from her Introduction to The Man Who Loves Islands------------------------------------------------The Man Who Loved Islands presents Lawrence's skilled, intimate and lively portraits of humanity. In the title story a man buys a ninety-nine year lease on an island and finds himself cast off in its timeless world; in 'The Last Laugh' a couple are confronted with uncanny spectral visions, and an eerie faceless laugh; in 'The Fox' two women maintaining a farm feel the dark shadows of war, and a cunning creature threatens to destroy their livelihood. The stories in this collection are about what the characters know and do not know - about themselves, one another, and the circumambient universe.
£9.49
Broadview Press Ltd The Island of Doctor Moreau
Book SynopsisA classic of science fiction and a dark meditation on Darwinian thought in the late Victorian period, The Island of Doctor Moreau explores the possibility of civilization as a constraint imposed on savage human nature. The protagonist, Edward Prendick, finds himself stranded on an island with the notorious Doctor Moreau, whose experiments on the island’s humans and animals result in unspeakable horrors.The critical introduction to this Broadview Edition gives particular emphasis to Wells’s hostility towards religion as well as his thorough knowledge of the Darwinian thought of his time. Appendices provide passages from Darwin and Huxley related to Wells’s early writing; in addition, excerpts from other writers illustrate late-nineteenth-century anxieties about social degeneration.Trade Review“The Broadview Edition of The Island of Doctor Moreau restores this greatest of all post-Darwinian island fables to its original context. In his introduction, Mason Harris provides a lively account of the evolutionary debates that influenced the novel’s construction and an informative overview of criticism to date. Appendices show the controversy generated by Moreau’s publication, situate the final text alongside early drafts and Wells’s journalism, and reprint scientific and literary sources crucial to understanding the novel. This edition will appeal to both those in the academy and the general reader, and is to be strongly recommended.” — Steven McLean, H. G. Wells Society“Mason Harris provides the reader with essential connections between The Island of Doctor Moreau and the scientific and philosophical debates that raged in the Victorian world. This edition provides vital insight that allows the reader to slice through the shadows of Moreau’s House of Pain and emerge into the true turn-of-the-century horror that H.G. Wells constructed. The appendices, including samples of Wells’s scientific journalism, help bring focus to the complexity of the author’s vision.” — Eric Cash, Abraham Baldwin College, Editor, The Undying Fire: The Journal of The H.G. Wells Society, the Americas, 2001–2005Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionH.G. Wells: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextThe Island of Doctor MoreauAppendix A: Wells on WellsAppendix B: Wells on Moreau and Science Fiction From Arthur H. Lawrence, “The Romance of the Scientist: An Interview with Mr. H.G. Wells” (1897) From H.G. Wells, “Preface,” The Works of H.G. Wells, Vol. 2 (1924) From H.G. Wells, “Preface,” The Scientific Romances of H.G. Wells (1933) Appendix C: Contemporary Reviews Chalmers Mitchell, Saturday Review (11 April 1896) Letter from H.G. Wells replying to Chalmers Mitchell, Saturday Review (1 November 1896) [R.H. Hutton], Spectator (11 April 1896) Manchester Guardian (14 April 1896) The Guardian (3 June 1896) The Times (17 June 1896) The Review of Reviews (July–December 1895) Appendix D: Evolution and Struggle I: Classical Darwinism From Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam (1850) From Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species (1859, 1872) From Thomas H. Huxley, Man’s Place in Nature (1863) From Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871) From Charles Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) From H.G. Wells, Text–Book of Biology (1893) From H.G. Wells, “The Rediscovery of the Unique” (1891) From H.G. Wells, “The Mind in Animals” (1894) Appendix E: Evolution and Struggle II: Later Huxley and Wells From Thomas H. Huxley, “The Struggle for Existence in Human Society” (February 1888) From Thomas H. Huxley, “An Apologetic Irenicon” (November 1892) From Thomas H. Huxley, “Evolution and Ethics” (1893, 1894) From H.G. Wells, “Bio–Optimism” (29 August 1895) From H.G. Wells, “Human Evolution, an Artificial Process” (October 1896) From H.G. Wells, “The Acquired Factor” (9 January 1897) From H.G. Wells, “Morals and Civilization” (February 1897) From H.G. Wells, “Human Evolution: Mr. Wells Replies” (April 1897) Appendix F: Degeneration and Madness From Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871) From H.G. Wells, “The Problem of the Birth Supply” (1903) From H.G. Wells, A Modern Utopia (1905) From Gina Lombroso–Ferrero, Criminal Man According tothe Classification of Cesare Lombroso (1911) From Cesare Lombroso, Crime: Its Causes and Remedies (1899) From William James, Psychology: The Briefer Course (1892) From Jacques–Joseph Moreau, La Psychologie Morbide (1859) From Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind(1895, 1896) From H.G. Wells, The Croquet Player (1936) Appendix G: The Vivisection Controversy From Claude Bernard, Report on the Progress and Development of General Physiology in France (1867) From Michael Foster, Claude Bernard (1899) From Claude Bernard, An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine (1865) From George Hoggan (and R.H. Hutton), Letter, The Spectator (1875) From R.H. Hutton’s Testimony in Report of the Royal Commission on the Practice of Subjecting Live Animals to Experiments for Scientific Purposes (1876) From Dr. Emanuel Klein’s Testimony in Report of the Royal Commission on the Practice of Subjecting Live Animals to Experiments for Scientific Purposes (1876) From Frances Power Cobbe, Life of Frances Power Cobbe. By Herself (1894) From H.G. Wells, Text–Book of Biology (1893) From H.G. Wells, “Popular Feeling and the Advancement of Science. Anti–Vivisection” (1928) Appendix H: Wells Explains: Two Essays Relating to Moreau’s Argument From H.G. Wells, “The Province of Pain” (February 1894) From H.G. Wells, “The Limits of Individual Plasticity”(19 January 1895) Appendix I: “The Terrible Medusa Case”: An Historical Source for Prendick’s Shipwreck (1818)Appendix J: Wells’s First Draft of MoreauSelect Bibliography
£16.10
The New York Review of Books, Inc Tyrant Banderas
Book SynopsisAn NYRB Classics OriginalThe first great twentieth-century novel of dictatorship, and the avowed inspiration for García Márquez’s The Autumn of the Patriarch and Roa Bastos’s I, the Supreme, Tyrant Banderas is a dark and dazzling portrayal of a mythical Latin American republic in the grip of a monster. Ramón del Valle-Inclán, one of the masters of Spanish modernism, combines the splintered points of view of a cubist painting with the campy excesses of 19th-century serial fiction to paint an astonishing picture of a ruthless tyrant facing armed revolt. It is the Day of the Dead, and revolution has broken out, creating mayhem from Baby Roach’s Cathouse to the Harris Circus to the deep jungle of Tico Maipú. Tyrant Banderas steps forth, assuring all that he is in favor of freedom of assembly and democratic opposition. Meanwhile, his secret police lock up, torture, and execute students and Indian peasants in a sinister castle by the sea where even the sharks have tired of a diet of revolutionary flesh. Then the opposition strikes back. They besiege the dictator’s citadel, hoping to bring justice to a downtrodden, starving populace. Peter Bush’s new translation of Valle-Inclán’s seminal novel, the first into English since 1929, reveals a writer whose tragic sense of humor is as memorably grotesque and disturbing as Goya’s in his The Disasters of War.
£12.59
The New York Review of Books, Inc Agostino
Book SynopsisThirteen-year-old Agostino is spending the summer at a Tuscan seaside resort with his beautiful widowed mother. When she takes up with a cocksure new companion, Agostino, feeling ignored and unloved, begins hanging around with a group of local young toughs. Though repelled by their squalor and brutality, and repeatedly humiliated for his weakness and ignorance when it comes to women and sex, the boy is increasingly, masochistically drawn to the gang and its rough games. He finds himself unable to make sense of his troubled feelings. Hoping to be full of manly calm, he is instead beset by guilty curiosity and an urgent desire to sever, at any cost, the thread of troubled sensuality that binds him to his mother. Alberto Moravia’s classic, startling portrait of innocence lost was written in 1942 but rejected by Fascist censors and not published until 1944, when it became a best seller and secured the author the first literary prize of his career. Revived here in a new translation by Michael F. Moore, Agostino is poised to captivate a twenty-first-century audience.
£14.39
Enchanted Lion Books Advice to Little Girls
Book SynopsisYou should ever bear in mind that it is to your kind parents that you are indebted for your food, and for the privilege of staying home from school when you let on that you are sick. Therefore you ought to respect their little prejudices, and humor their little whims, and put up with their little foibles until they get to crowding you too much. When Mark Twain wrote the sparky short story "Advice to Little Girls" in 1865, he probably didn't mean for it to be shown to them. Or maybe he did, since we all know Twain was a rascal. Now, author and illustrator Vladimir Radunsky has created a picture book based on Twain's text that adds all the right outlandish touches. Born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri, Samuel L. Clemens wrote under the pen name Mark Twain. He wrote two major classics of American literature, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He was also a riverboat pilot, journalist, lecturer, entrepreneur, and inventor. Whether or not it was Mark Twain's actual intention for little girls to read this humorous short story, it's clear that he did not talk down to children, but rather expected them to stretch themselves in order to grasp sophisticated, adult meaning. Vladimir Radunsky has illustrated many books to great acclaim. Recently, Radunsky has been moving farther and farther away from the traditional picture book and into other more innovative forms. The most recent example is a work published by HarperCollins of hip-hop poetry for children, where the graffiti art has migrated from the walls into a printed book. Radunsky has published more than thirty books for children, mostly in the United States. Many of them were translated and published in France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, and Japan.Trade ReviewBrain Pickings' Top 13 Children's, Illustrated, and Picture Books of 2013 "Crisply satirical and a little subversive, Twain's short, acerbic sendup slyly exhorts little girls to take a calculating approach to manipulating friends, brothers and elders. [...] An elegant curiosity for admirers of Twain, Radunsky or both." -- Kirkus Review "Radunsky's ink flourishes and adorable, lumpy figures steal the stage." -- Publishers Weekly "Twain did not squat down to be heard and understood by children, but asked them to stand on their tiptoes--to absorb the kind of language and humor suitable for adults." -- New York Review of Books "While frolicsome in tone and full of wink, the story -- like the most timeless of children's books -- is colored with subtle hues of grown-up philosophy on the human condition, exploring all the deft ways in which we creatively rationalize our wrongdoing and reconcile the good and evil we each embody." -- Brain Pickings "it is sharp, a pointed set of admonitions urging girls to think for themselves, which is a message as essential today as it was a century-and-a-half ago." -- The Los Angeles Times "a sharp, charming story suitable for smart girls (and grown ups!) everywhere, and Radunsky's illustrations bring it to scribbled, red-cheeked life. It may just be the best picture book we've ever read." -- Flavorwire
£10.44
The Library of America F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby, All The
Book Synopsis
£27.19
Readerlink Distribution Services, LLC Selected Works of H. G. Wells
Book Synopsis
£10.44
G&D Media Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions
Book SynopsisAT ONCE A PLAYFUL BRAINTEASER ABOUT GEOMETRY, A POINTED SATIRE OF VICTORIAN MANNERSAND A STRANGELY COMPELLING ARGUMENT ABOUT THE GREATEST MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE. The Wall Street JournalThis highly entertaining satirical novella, written by English schoolmaster Edwin A. Abbott was first published in 1884, and for more than 100 years has continued to charm readers.A masterpiece of science fiction, it is in actuality a social commentary told through a mathematical framework offering pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture. Abbott recounts the journeys of A. Square, a mathematician and resident of the two-dimensional Flatland, where women, represented by thin, straight lines are the lowliest of shapes, and where men may have any number of sides, depending on their social status.Through unusual occurrences, A. Square, has his perspective transformed forever as he comes into contact with a host of geometric forms, including those of one dimension in Lineland, three dimensions in Spaceland, and no dimensions in Pointland. He is returned to his two-dimensional world after he entertains a revolutionary idea of visiting a land of four dimensions.Flatland is not only fascinating book, but it is also a first-rate fictional introduction to the concept of the multiple dimensions of space. Einstein's 1915 publication of the theory of relativity made Flatland popular as a prophet of four dimensions. It is still popular today amongst mathematics, physics, and computer science students. This brilliantly eccentric classic is an invitation to see beyond our own reality and influenced writers from Carl Sagan to Stephen Hawking.
£12.34
Orion Publishing Co Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Dog
Book SynopsisFirst the young schoolboy, gloriously immersed in make-believe in a shabby farmyard; then the budding poet with his thrilling friendships and dreams of fortune. Finally, the neophyte reporter roaming suburban Swansea for momentous material. In ten wonderfully evocative short stories, Dylan Thomas conveys the exuberance and enthusiasm of youth as he fictionalises events from his childhood. Adolescent sexuality and male friendship are two of the themes that pervade this collection, along with the more familiar topics of love, death and religion.Featuring a bold new livery in celebration of the Dylan Thomas centenary.
£8.54
Birlinn General Para Handy: The Complete Collected Stories
Book SynopsisPara Handy has been sailing his way into the affections of generations of Scots since he first weighed anchor in the pages of the Glasgow Evening News in 1905. The master mariner and his crew - Dougie the mate, Macphail the engineer, Sunny Jim and the Tar - all play their part in evoking the irresistible atmosphere of a bygone age when puffers sailed between West Highland ports and the great city of Glasgow. This definitive edition contains all three collections published in the author's lifetime, as well as those that were unpublished and a new story which was discovered in 2001. Extensive notes accompany each story, providing fascinating insights into colloquialisms, place-names and historical events. This volume also includes a wealth of contemporary photographs, depicting the harbours, steamers and puffers from the age of the Vital Spark.
£13.49
Fantom Films Limited Moby Dick
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£999.99
Fantom Films Limited The Bronte Sisters Collection: Wuthering Heights
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£19.71
Canongate Books The Weatherhouse
Book SynopsisThe women of the tiny town of Fetter-Rothnie have grown used to a life without men, and none more so than the tangle of mothers and daughters, spinsters and widows living at the Weatherhouse. Returned from war with shellshock, Garry Forbes is drawn into their circle as he struggles to build a new understanding of the world from the ruins of his grief.In The Weatherhouse Nan Shepherd paints an exquisite portrait of a community coming to terms with the brutal losses of war, and the small tragedies, yearnings and delusions that make up a life.Trade ReviewSpellbinding -- ALI SMITHA blazingly brilliant writer . . . She's so far ahead of us - we're always only starting to catch Nan up. Philosophically and stylistically, she was extraordinary -- ROBERT MACFARLANEPressingly modern . . . Pinpoints timeless philosophical debates about the naming of things and our relationship to the environment -- AMY LIPTROTShepherd is a fierce looker. And like many fierce lookers, she is also a mystic * * Guardian * *Largely unrecognised during her lifetime, Nan Shepherd is finally being acclaimed for her literary legacy - and her books are influencing a whole new generation of writers . . . The Weatherhouse - Shepherd's second novel . . . widely considered her best -- Chitra Ramaswamy * * The Scotsman * *
£9.49
Pushkin Press The Coral Merchant: Essential Stories
Book SynopsisJoseph Roth's sensibility-both clear-eyed and nostalgic, harshly realistic and tenderly humane-produced some of the most distinctive fiction of the twentieth century. This collection of his most essential stories, in exquisite new translations by Ruth Martin, showcases the astonishing range and power of his short stories and novellas. In prose of aching beauty and precision, Roth shows us isolated souls pursuing lost ideals and impossible desires. Forced to remove a bust of the fallen Austrian emperor from his house, an eccentric old count holds a funeral for it and intends to be buried in the same plot himself; a humble coral merchant, dissatisfied with his life and longing for the sea, chooses to adulterate his wares with false coral, with catastrophic results; young Fini, just entering the haze of early sexuality, falls into an unsatisfying relationship with an older musician. With the greatest craft and sensitivity, Roth unfolds the many fragilities of the human heart.Trade Review‘One of the greatest writers of the first half of the tormented 20th century’ — Simon Schama, Financial Times 'Roth is Austria's Chekhov'--William Boyd 'Joseph Roth is counted among the great novelists of the twentieth century'--TLS‘What Roth sees and hands on is a unique essence, conveying the fragility of what is truly human in us, the ridiculous and the tragic' — Nadine Gordimer
£10.80
Pushkin Press The Looking-Glass: Essential Stories
Book SynopsisMachado de Assis is one of the most enigmatic and fascinating story writers who ever lived. What seem at first to be stately social satires reveal unanticipated depths through hints of darkness and winking surrealism. This new selection of his finest work, translated by the prize-winning Daniel Hahn, showcases the many facets of his mercurial genius. A brilliant scientist opens the first asylum in his home town, only to start finding signs of insanity all around him. A young lieutenant basks in praise of his new position, but in solitude feels his identity fray into nothing. The reading of a much-loved, respected elder statesman's journals reveals hidden thoughts of merciless cruelty.Trade Review'The greatest writer ever produced in Latin America' - Susan Sontag'If Borges is the writer who made Garcia Marquez possible then it is no exaggeration to say that Machado De Assis is the writer who made Borges possible' - Salman Rushdie'Another Kafka' - Allen Ginsberg'A great writer who chose to use deadly humor where it would be least expected to convey his acute powers of observation and his penetrating insights into psychology. In superbly funny books he described the abnormalities of alienation, perversion, domination, cruelty and madness. He deconstructed empire with a thoroughness and an esthetic equilibrium that place him in a class by himself' - New York Times'Machado de Assis was a literary force, transcending nationality and language, comparable certainly to Flaubert, Hardy or James' - New York Times Book Review
£10.80
Pushkin Press Swann in Love
Book SynopsisStunning edition of the standalone novella from Proust's great masterpiece, in a new translation When Charles Swann first lays eyes on Odette de Crécy, he is indifferent to her beauty. Their paths continue to cross in the drawing rooms and theatres of Parisian high society, and the seeds of desire in Swann begin to flourish. What follows is a journey through self-delusion, jealousy and delirious fantasy, which will take Swann far from the sedate comfort of his society life. A standalone novella from Proust's monumental masterpiece, Swann in Love is a sublimely witty and poignant story of the illusions of love and desire. Full of the rich social satire and penetrating insight that distinguish Proust's style, it is the perfect introduction to one of the world's great novelists.Trade Review “Where to start with... Marcel Proust.” --Lucy Raitz, The Guardian “If you can’t handle 1.5 million words of Proust, try Swann in Love.” --The Washington Post “Surely the greatest novelist of the 20th century.” --Sunday Telegraph “One of the miracles of European literature.” --Guardian
£11.69
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Last Good Kiss
Book Synopsis'As sweetly profane a poet as American noir could have asked for' Ian Rankin'A friggin' masterpiece' Dennis Lehane'The stunner that reinvigorated the genre and jacked up a generation of future crime novelists' George PelecanosMeet Private Detective C. W. Sughrue. Private detectives are supposed to find missing persons and solve crimes. But more often than not Sughrue is the one committing the crimes – everything from grand theft auto to criminal stupidity. All washed down with a hearty dose of whiskey and regret.At the end of a three-week hunt for a runaway bestselling author, Sughrue winds up in a ramshackle bar, with an alcoholic bulldog. The landlady’s daughter vanished a decade ago and now she wants Sughrue to find her. His search will take him to the deepest, darkest depths of San Francisco’s underbelly, a place as fascinating, frightening and flawed as he is. Welcome to James Crumley’s America.Trade ReviewCrumley writes like an angel on speed * Time Out *The poet laureate of American hard-boiled literature, superior even to James Lee Burke in his ability to evoke extreme melancholy, gruesome violence and an acute sense of landscape * Guardian *Reading Crumley is like hurtling through an assault course...funny, salty and ruthless...one of the marvels of contemporary crime writing * Literary Review *Like James Ellroy, he is a master of American vernacular, turning tough-guy slang into something like poetry * Independent *James Crumley, a critically acclaimed crime novelist whose drug-infused, alcohol-soaked, profanity-laced, breathtakingly violent books swept the hard-boiled detective from the Raymond Chandler era into an amoral, utterly dissolute, apocalyptic post-Vietnam universe * New York Times *
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Frankenstein
Book SynopsisA beautiful new edition of Mary Shelley's Gothic horror classic, FrankensteinINCLUDES A CULTURAL HISTORY OF FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER BY JEANETTE WINTERSONNavigating the Arctic, the captain of a ship rescues a man wandering near death across the ice caps. How the man got there reveals itself a story of ambition, murder and revenge. As a young scientist, Victor Frankenstein pushed moral boundaries in order to cross the final frontier and create life. But his creation is a monster stitched together from grave-plundered body parts who has no place in the world, and his existence can only lead to tragedy.**One of the BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**Trade ReviewA masterpiece -- Philip PullmanA haunting, melancholy work of gothic beauty * Independent *The most famous of all horror stories still packs a punch * Daily Mail *Frankenstein launched an entire genre of dystopian fiction, and a legacy of horror at the consequences of unbridled experimentation * Daily Telegraph *More relevant today than ever -- Benjamin Zephaniah
£7.59
Vintage Publishing Ripley Under Ground
Book Synopsis"You're always good on ideas, Tom..."An American art collector is claiming that the expensive masterpiece he bought is a fake. He wants to meet with the artist - but Tom Ripley knows that artist no longer exits.Ripley needs to hide his role in the fraud, and keep his colleague's mouth shut. But not everyone's nerves are as steady as his, especially when it comes to murder.The second in Highsmith's Ripley series, Ripley Under Ground is set six years after the events of The Talented Mr Ripley.'Patricia Highsmith is unrivalled' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewIn Ripley Under Ground Patricia Highsmith is in her most brilliant form * Daily Telegraph *The No.1 Greatest Crime Writer * The Times *Ripley Under Ground is Highsmith back on top of her most enjoyable humour-and-horrors form * Sunday Telegraph *By her hypnotic art Highsmith puts the suspense story into a toweringly high place in the hierachy of fiction * The Times *The Ripley books are marvellously, insanely readable * The Times *
£8.54
Vintage Publishing The Outsider
Book Synopsis'Powerful as [Richard Wright] was - is - as a writer, nobody can surpass him in doing certain kinds of writing... He is courageous - he was able to look into areas that nobody at that time was willing to look at' Toni Morrison Cross Damon is disenchanted. At odds with society, and with himself, his idealism and sense of alienation have driven him to drink and incessant reflection. But when Cross is mistakenly reported to have died, he is suddenly free to put his ideals to the test - and a reign of terror and destruction ensues. A counterpart to Wright's 1940 novel, Native Son, The Outsider is Wright's existential masterpiece. An epic exploration of criminality and oppression its publication established Wright as America's most daring, and damning writers.
£10.44
Vintage Publishing Enbury Heath
Book Synopsis'Don't show proper feelin', does it, not turnin' up for 'is dad's funeral?'Siblings Sophia, Harry and Francis have lost both their parents in the last six months. Attending the funeral for their estranged father, they wonder what will become of them now that the last connection to their difficult childhood has been severed. What have they inherited - financially and emotionally - to guide them to adulthood, and build a new home together? Enbury Heath is a semi-autobiographical account of the years which Gibbons and her brothers spent living in a cottage in Hampstead Heath: a wonderfully astute, bittersweet novel about family, grief, money, and the pleasures of London.
£9.49
Vintage Publishing The Ways of White Folks
Book SynopsisTHE CELEBRATED SHORT STORY COLLECTION FROM THE AMERICAN POET AND WRITER OFTEN CALLED THE 'POET LAUREATE OF HARLEM'A black maid forms a close bond with the daughter of the cruel white couple for whom she works. Two rich, white artists hire a black model to pose as a slave. A white-passing boy ignores his mother when they cross each other on the street.Written with sardonic wit and a keen eye for the absurdly unjust, these fourteen stories about racial tensions are as relevant today as the day they were penned, and linger in the mind long after the final page is turned.'Powerful, polemical pieces' New York Times'Some of the best stories that have appeared in this country in years' North American ReviewTrade Review'Powerful, polemical pieces' * New York Times *'Some of the best stories that have appeared in this country in years' * North American Review *
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Middlemarch: The 150th Anniversary Edition
Book Synopsis150th ANNIVERSARY GIFT EDITION WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ZADIE SMITH Discover one of the most admired, best loved and influential novels in the history of English literature. 'If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life...'Dorothea is bright, beautiful and rebellious. Lydgate is the ambitious new doctor in town. Both of them long to make a positive difference in the world. But their stories do not proceed as expected and both they, and the other inhabitants of Middlemarch, must struggle to reconcile themselves to their fates and find their places in the world.Middlemarch contains all of life: the rich and the poor, the conventional and the radical, literature and science, politics and romance, but above all it gives us a vision of what lies within the human heart.VINTAGE CLASSICS 150th ANNIVERSARY GIFT EDITIONGeorge Eliot's novel was first published in eight instalments, in an innovative new style of serialisation. The earliest part, entitled MIDDLEMARCH, Book 1 - Miss Brooke, was published on 1st December 1871. It was an instant commercial and critical success, and continues to captivate readers 150 years later.**One of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**Trade ReviewPerhaps the greatest novel of them all... An enormous canvas and a vast and poignant range of character...a marvellous portrait of nineteenth-century provincial life -- Joanna Trollope * Guardian *In Middlemarch George Eliot's serious intelligence produced a novel that no one else could have been capable of - a picture of society as an organic, living, breathing synthesis - order and disorder, hope and hopelessness, pride and humility, charity and greed -- Kate AtkinsonMiddlemarch, the magnificent book which with all its imperfections, is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people -- Virginia WoolfAnother great romantic story, in which the adorable intellectually pretentious heroine makes a disastrous marriage to a desiccated fossil before finding true love with a penniless somebody -- Jilly CooperShe had such power, and she knew she had. And such courage -- A. S. Byatt * Guardian *
£17.09
