Classics Books

Book SynopsisIntroducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world''s greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.Clare Kendry, elegant, fair-skinned and ambitious, is married to a white man who is unaware of her African-American heritage. When she reunites with childhood friend Irene, who has not hidden her origins, both women are forced to confront the secret fears they have buried within themselves. A taut exploration of race and gender, Passing is one of the Harlem Renaissance''s greatest works.''A tragic story rooted in inescapable facts of American life'' The New York Times

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Book SynopsisIntroducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world''s greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.A countess with a card trick; love letters filled with deception; a desperate man with a pistol.''The Queen of Spades'', one of Pushkin''s most popular and chilling stories, is accompanied here by the thrilling ''Dubrovsky'' and unforgettable ''Tales of Belkin''.''He is the lasting wonder of Russian literature'' - GuardianTrade ReviewA prophetic phenomenon of the Russian spirit -- Fyodor DostoevskyHe is the lasting wonder of Russian literature * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisLittle Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Emerging from their smoke-filled rooms at 21B Baker Street, Holmes and Watson grapple with the forces of crime that stalk the streets of London. From the first story, 'A Scandal in Bohemia' where Holmes is foiled by the quick-thinking of 'the woman', Irene Adler, to what was presumed to be the last, 'The Final Problem' where Holmes at last comes face to face with the diabolical Professor Moriarty, this selection is presents the very best of Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective. 'Arthur Conan Doyle is unique ... Personally, I would walk a mile in tight boots to read him to the milkman' Stephen Fry

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Book Synopsis''A thriller of the highest quality - ironic, witty, literate, ingenious, understated and unflaggingly suspenseful'' The New York Times Book ReviewThe last time anyone saw Lucia Bernardi, she was driving at top speed away from a Swiss villa - leaving the body of her murdered Iraqi lover behind. Now she has vanished, along with a potentially explosive set of papers, and disgraced journalist Piet Maas has been sent to follow her trail to the South of France. But finding her is just the start of his problems. Soon, amid a cast of con men, secret agents and revolutionaries, he must decide whether to land the scoop of his lifetime - or follow Lucia into ever more dangerous waters.Trade ReviewThe source on which we all draw -- John le CarréUnquestionably our best thriller writer ever -- Graham GreeneMr. Ambler is phenomenal -- Alfred HitchcockA thriller of the highest quality - ironic, witty, literate, ingenious, understated and unflaggingly suspenseful * New York Times Book Review *Ambler is, quite simply, the best * The New Yorker *

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Book Synopsis''The man who lit the way for us all'' Len DeightonAn Indian clerk, Girija Krishnan, sees the opportunity of his lifetime when he stumbles on an abandoned cache of arms hidden in the Malayan jungle. If he can sell the weapons, he will be able to achieve his lifelong dream of owning a bus company - although the penalty for gun-running is death. Soon his decision becomes the catalyst for a chain of events involving an entrepreneurial Chinese family, a corrupt Colonel and, finally, a naïve couple of American tourists who find themselves horribly out of their depth.Trade ReviewThe source on which we all draw -- John le CarréUnquestionably our best thriller writer -- Graham GreeneMr. Ambler is phenomenal -- Alfred HitchcockA taut and extraordinary piece of writing * Sunday Times *Ambler is, quite simply, the best * The New Yorker *

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Book Synopsis''He took the spy thriller out of the gentility of the drawing room and into the back streets of Istanbul, where it all really happened'' Frederick ForsythSmall-time hustler Arthur Abdel Simpson ekes out a living in Athens by robbing gullible tourists. But when an attempted theft backfires, he finds himself out-smarted and blackmailed into driving a highly suspicious car across the border to Istanbul. Then the Turkish secret police get involved, and Simpson becomes embroiled in something far deeper, and more dangerous, than he could imagine. Featuring a heart-stopping jewel heist, this compulsive, morally complex thriller became the basis for the classic film Topkapi.Trade ReviewThe source on which we all draw -- John le CarréUnquestionably our best thriller writerMr. Ambler is phenomenal -- Alfred HitchcockAmbler is, quite simply, the best * The New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisFor avid readers and the uninitiated alike, this is a chance to reengage with classic literature and to stay inspired and entertained.The concept of the magazine is simple: the first half is a long-form interview with a notable book fanatic and the second half explores one classic work of literature from an array of surprising and invigorating angles.

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Book SynopsisIntroducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world''s greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-SmithCelebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.Georges Simenon''s brilliant pipe-smoking detective, Jules Maigret, is one of the most beloved literary creations of the twentieth century. In this adventure, an officer from Scotland Yard is studying Maigret''s methods when a call from an island off the Côte d''Azure sends the two men off to an isolated community to investigate its eccentric inhabitants.

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Book Synopsis''The new crime and espionage series from Penguin Classics makes for a mouth-watering prospect'' Daily Telegraph1940. An unassuming English engineer has travelled to Turkey on business. And somebody wants him dead.It all began when Graham was taken to a nightclub in Istanbul and noticed a man in a crumpled suit, watching him. Then he narrowly missed being killed by gunfire on returning to his hotel room. Now, terrified, he has been helped to escape in secret on a passenger steamer home. But although Graham may try to run, he cannot hide from his pursuers forever, and soon he is caught up in a nightmare beyond his control.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewNot 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. -- Boyd Tonkin * The Times *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. * Guardian *One of Simenon's masterpieces ... Simenon's subject is how people who are pushed to the edge push themselves over it; the force of the sleuthing is that of psychoanalysis, not police interrogation. -- Adam Gopnik * The New Yorker *

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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 *

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Book SynopsisDiscover the new Penguin Crime and Espionage seriesFor two secret agents, there''s no such thing as a quiet life in the countryside...In a peaceful Kent village, Mr Behrens lives with his aunt at the Old Rectory, where he plays chess and keeps bees. His friend Mr Calder lives nearby with Rasselas, a golden deerhound of unnatural intelligence. No one would suspect that they are in fact working for British Intelligence, carrying out the jobs that are too dangerous for anyone else to handle - whether it''s wiping out traitors, Soviet spies or old Nazis - in these gloriously entertaining stories.

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Book SynopsisDiscover the new Penguin Crime and Espionage seriesA stolen weapon. A troubled young man. A race against time...Inspector Maigret receives a call from his wife to say he has a visitor at their apartment. But when he gets home, the young man has already gone, along with Maigret''s prized Smith and Wesson .45. The trail to find the culprit - and the woman who may become his victim - takes Maigret across Paris and all the way to the Savoy Hotel in London. But getting to the truth may be even more complicated than he had first imagined.Trade ReviewOne 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. -- GuardianA supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness. * Independent *

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Book SynopsisWe is in Dream Country,' the BFG said. This is where all dreams is beginning.'This beautiful edition of The BFG, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl's books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.

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Book SynopsisThose who don't believe in magic will never find it.This beautiful edition of Billy and the Minpins, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl's books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.

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Book SynopsisAh-ha, you see, the plot grows thicker,And Cindy's luck starts looking sicker.This beautiful edition of Revolting Rhymes, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl's books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.

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Book SynopsisI have secret plans and clever tricks.'This beautiful edition of The Enormous Crocodile, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl's books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.

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Book SynopsisNo book ever ends when it's full of your friends.'This beautiful edition of The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl's books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.

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Book SynopsisLast week, something very funny happened to the Gregg family.This beautiful edition of The Magic Finger, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl's books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.

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Book SynopsisMr Twit was a twit. He was born a twit. And, now at the age of sixty, he was a bigger twit than ever.This beautiful edition of The Twits, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .The Roald Dahl Classic Collection reinstates the versions of Dahl's books that were published before the 2022 Puffin editions, aimed at newly independent young readers.

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Book SynopsisAs far as children are concerned, a REAL WITCH is easily the most dangerous of all the living creatures on Earth.This beautiful edition of The Witches, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official archive material from the Roald Dahl Museum and is perfect for Dahl fans old and new.So, enter a world where invention and mischief can be found on every page and where magic might be at the very tips of your fingers . . .

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Book SynopsisIntroducing a beautifully designed collection of twenty-one short stories from some of the best American writers over two hundred years of history.''American literature and the short story might be said to have come of age at about the same time, and this, along with something in the bustling and energetic American temperament, might go some way towards explaining why the two go together as well as they do.'' Twenty-one short stories from some of the best American writers over the last two hundred years provide a mesmerizing, multi-faceted portrait of a country, a people and the unique literature produced by this most exuberant of nations.Featuring short stories from classic American authors including Mark Twain, Katherine Anne Porter, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and many more.

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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 *

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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 *

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Book Synopsis''You are a wronged woman and shall have justice. Do not bring police. If you do, all will be in vain. Your unknown friend.''When a beautiful young woman is sent a letter inviting her to a sinister assignation, she immediately seeks the advice of the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes. For this is not the first mysterious item Mary Marston has received in the post. Every year for the last six years an anonymous benefactor has sent her a large lustrous pearl. Now it appears the sender of the pearls would like to meet her to right a wrong. But when Sherlock Holmes and his faithful sidekick Watson, aiding Miss Marston, attend the assignation, they embark on a dark and mysterious adventure involving a one-legged ruffian, some hidden treasure, deadly poison darts and a thrilling race along the River Thames.Trade ReviewPerhaps the greatest of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries is this: that when we talk of him we invariably fall into the fancy of his existence -- T. S. Eliot

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Book Synopsis''So you need help. What''s your name and trouble?''Private Investigator Philip Marlowe''s latest client is Orfamay Quest. She''s come all the way from Manhattan, Kansas, to find her missing brother Orrin. Or at least that''s what she tells Marlowe, offering him just twenty dollars for his trouble. Feeling charitable, Marlowe accepts - though it''s not long before he wishes he hadn''t. Soon the trail leads to a succession of Hollywood starlets, uppity gangsters, suspicious cops and corpses with ice picks jammed into their necks . . .The Little Sister is Raymond Chandler''s fifth novel featuring laconic PI Philip Marlowe.''Marlowe remains the quintessential urban private eye'' Los Angeles Times''Chandler grips the mind from the first sentence'' Daily Telegraph ''One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain'' Sunday Times''Chandler is an original stylist, creator of a char

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Book SynopsisStep aboard C.S. Forester''s classic seafaring tale from the author of The Good Shepherd, now a major-motion picture starring Tom Hanks ''A joyous creation, a perfection in words. Young Hornblower is, simply, one of the most complete creations of character in fiction'' Conn Iggulden, The Independent_______One vital convoy can break Mussolini''s stranglehold on Malta - but it is intercepted in the Mediterranean by enemy warships . . . Five light British cruisers are left to beat back the armed might of the Italian battle fleet and C.S. Forester - creator of Horatio Hornblower - takes us aboard HMS Artemis as she steams into battle against overwhelming odds. We get inside the heads of Artemis''s men, from the Captain on his bridge down to the lowest engine room rating, as they struggle over one long and terrifying afternoon to do their duty. This brilliant and gripping story recounts life aboard a British warship during some

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Book Synopsis''I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn''t care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.''Los Angeles Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wheelchair-bound General Sternwood to discover who is blackmailing him. A broken, weary old man, Sternwood just wants Marlowe to make the problem go away. However, with Sternwood''s two wild, devil-may-care daughters prowling LA''s seedy backstreets, Marlowe''s got his work cut out. And that''s before he stumbles over the first corpse.The Big Sleep is Raymond Chandler''s first novel featuring laconic PI Philip Marlowe.''One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain'' Sunday Times''Chandler grips the mind from the first sentence'' Daily Telegraph ''One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain'' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewChandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious -- Robert B. Parker * The New York Times Book Review *Raymond Chandler invented a new way of talking about America, and America has never looked the same to us since -- Paul AusterRaymond Chandler is a star of the first magnitude -- Erle Stanley Gardner[T]he prose rises to heights of unselfconscious eloquence, and we realize with a jolt of excitement that we are in the presence of not a mere action tale teller, but a stylist, a writer with a vision -- Joyce Carol Oates * New York Review of Books *Raymond Chandler is a master * New York Times *Philip Marlowe remains the quintessential urban private eye * Los Angeles Times *Nobody can write like Chandler on his home turf, not even Faulkner. . . A great artist * The Boston Book Review *Anything Chandler writes about grips the mind from the first sentence * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisConsidered by many to be the first work of the true crime genre, this ground-breaking book reconstructs the murder of the Clutter family from information provided by newspaper articles and interviews. ''Dick became convinced that Perry was that rarity, a natural killer - absolutely sane, but conscienceless, and capable of dealing, with or without motive, the coldest-blooded deathblows''On 15 November 1959, the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, a wealthy farmer, his wife and their two young children were found brutally murdered. Blood all over the walls, the telephone lines cut, and only a few dollars stolen. Heading up the investigation is Agent Al Dewey, but all he has are two footprints, four bodies, and a whole lot of questions. Truman Capote''s detailed reconstruction of the events and consequences of that fateful night, In Cold Blood is a chilling, gripping mix of journalistic skill and imaginative power. ''The American dream turning into the American nightmare. A remarkable book'' Spectator''One of the most stupendous books of the decade'' Sunday ExpressTrade ReviewOne of the stupendous books of the decade * Sunday Express *The American dream turning into the American nightmare . . . a remarkable book * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisBlending political reality with magic realism, fantasy and comic invention, this book is one of the most daringly original works of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewThe book that sort of saved my lifeThe greatest novel in any language of the last 50 yearsShould be required reading for the entire human race * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisHard-boiled detective fiction at its best: Raymond Chandler''s best loved novel, The Big Sleep, published as a Penguin Essential for the first time.''I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn''t care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.''Los Angeles PI Philip Marlowe is hired by wheelchair-bound General Sternwood to discover who is indulging in some petty blackmail. A weary, old man, Sternwood just wants the problem to go away. But Marlowe finds he has his work cut out just keeping Sternwood''s wild, devil-may-care daughters out of trouble as they prowl LA''s dirtiest and darkest streets. And pretty soon, he''s up to his neck in hoodlums and corpses . . .Trade ReviewChandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious -- Robert B. Parker * The New York Times Book Review *Raymond Chandler invented a new way of talking about America, and America has never looked the same to us since -- Paul AusterRaymond Chandler is a star of the first magnitude -- Erle Stanley Gardner[T]he prose rises to heights of unselfconscious eloquence, and we realize with a jolt of excitement that we are in the presence of not a mere action tale teller, but a stylist, a writer with a vision -- Joyce Carol Oates * New York Review of Books *Raymond Chandler is a master * New York Times *Philip Marlowe remains the quintessential urban private eye * Los Angeles Times *Nobody can write like Chandler on his home turf, not even Faulkner. . . A great artist * The Boston Book Review *Anything Chandler writes about grips the mind from the first sentence * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisA MASTERFUL TALE OF BETRAYAL AND CORRUPTION BY THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE SEA''Banville is one of the writers I admire the most'' Hanya Yanahigara, author of A Little Life ''A brilliant feat of literary ventriloquism'' The Times Having fled Rome and a stultifying marriage, Isabel Osmond is in London, brooding on the recent disclosure of her husband''s shocking, years-long betrayal of her. What should she do now, and which way should she turn, in the emotional labyrinth where she has been trapped for so long? Reawakened by grief and the knowledge of having been grievously wronged, she determines to resume her youthful quest for freedom and independence. Soon Isabel must return to Italy and confront her husband, and seek to break his powerful hold on her. But will she succeed in outwitting him, and securing her revenge?Mrs Osmond is a masterly novel of betrayal, corruption aTrade ReviewA worthy sequel... His book is not only an impressive recreation of James's atmospheres and pacing, but also full of minor cliff-hangers and page-turning suspenses that keep you guessing * Observer *A brilliant feat of literary ventriloquism... Richly enjoyable and enthralling, this exercise in creative empathy is a sequel of very high finish * Sunday Times *John Banville is one of the best novelists in English, and an expert ventriloquist, among other things . . . Mrs Osmond is both a remarkable novel in its own right and a superb pastiche -- Edmund White * Guardian *It's brilliant. It's John Banville camouflaged as Henry James - it's very, very interesting -- Cillian Murphy, star of Peaky Blinders and DunkirkWritten with near-Jamesian elegance * Mail on Sunday *John Banville has long been the most distinctive Irish novelist of his generation * Irish Independent *This is a superbly written novel ... Mrs Osmond represents an important contribution to Banville's impressive oeuvre * Evening Standard *John Banville is simply the finest writer at work today, a prolific prose stylist whose work has only deepened in quality throughout his career -- John Boyne * Irish Times *Banville is one of the writers I admire the most - few people can create an image as beautifully or precisely -- Hanya Yanagihara, author of the Booker-shortlisted 'A Little Life'This engrossing and often beautiful novel is a true work of art that rewards careful reading * Daily Telegraph on 'Blue Guitar' *The Booker prize winning author - widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in English today - has produced what many already consider a literary masterpiece * Sunday Independent on 'Ancient Light' *Banville's sequel to Henry James's "Portrait of a Lady" follows Isabel Archer back to Rome and the possible end of her marriage * New York Times Books of the Year *An astonishing act of literary ventriloquism * Observer Books of the Year *Uncannily good at replicating James's style, it pays appealing tribute to his genius * Sunday Times Books of the Year *John Banville channelled Henry James in the Portrait of a Lady sequel * Guardian Books of the Year *

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Book SynopsisThe Lady in the Lake is a classic detective novel by the master of hard-boiled crime, available as a Penguin Essential for the first time.Derace Kingsley''s wife ran away to Mexico to get a quickie divorce and marry a Casanova-wannabe named Chris Lavery. Or so the note she left her husband insisted. Trouble is, when Philip Marlowe asks Lavery about it he denies everything and sends the private investigator packing with a flea lodged firmly in his ear. But when Marlowe next encounters Lavery, he''s denying nothing - on account of the two bullet holes in his heart. Now Marlowe''s on the trail of a killer, who leads him out of smoggy LA all the way to a murky mountain lake . . .''Anything Chandler writes about grips the mind from the first sentence'' Daily Telegraph ''One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain'' Sunday Times''Chandler is an original stylist, creator of a character as immortal as Sherlock Holmes'' Anthony BurgessTrade ReviewChandler seems to have created the culminating American hero: wised up, hopeful, thoughtful, adventurous, sentimental, cynical and rebellious -- Robert B. Parker * The New York Times Book Review *Raymond Chandler invented a new way of talking about America, and America has never looked the same to us since -- Paul AusterRaymond Chandler is a star of the first magnitude -- Erle Stanley Gardner[T]he prose rises to heights of unselfconscious eloquence, and we realize with a jolt of excitement that we are in the presence of not a mere action tale teller, but a stylist, a writer with a vision -- Joyce Carol Oates * New York Review of Books *Raymond Chandler is a master * New York Times *Philip Marlowe remains the quintessential urban private eye * Los Angeles Times *Anything Chandler writes about grips the mind from the first sentence * Daily Telegraph *Nobody can write like Chandler on his home turf, not even Faulkner. . . A great artist * The Boston Book Review *

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Book Synopsis''Come at once if convenient - if inconvenient come all the same . . .''The note from Sherlock Holmes to Dr Watson cannot be ignored and soon the pair find themselves investigating the curious case of an aged professor whose sudden strange alteration in behaviour terrifies everyone from his daughter and her fiance to the family dog. This and eleven other cases which confound clients or perplex the police are tackled by Holmes and Watson in the final collection of the duo''s detecting adventures.''Time and time again generations have shown that they need Holmes'' Stephen Fry Trade ReviewThe world's greatest detective * Independent *

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Book SynopsisFrom the acclaimed author of the dystopian classic A Clockwork Orange, The Wanting Seed is an inventive, thought-provoking and darkly absurd novel set in a work rampant with overpopulation. The Wanting Seed is part of our Penguin Essentials series which spotlights the very best of our modern classics.As governments struggle to maintain order in the face of overpopulation and food shortages and homosexuality is glorified in an attempt to further limit family sizes, Tristram Foxe and his wife Beatrice-Joanna find themselves facing dire choices. Their world transforms into a chaos of cannibalistic dining-clubs, fantastic fertility rituals, and wars without anger.Trade ReviewWildly and fantastically funny . . . A remarkable and brilliantly imagined novel, vital and inventive * TLS *

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Book SynopsisA sprawling tale of two families' struggles with harsh urban realitiesTrade Review"James T. Farrell's five novels about the O'Neill and O'Flaherty families are among the incontestable masterworks of American culture. The series provides a panorama of first and second generation immigrant experience that is indispensable reading for anyone who wishes to understand life in the twentieth-century United States." Alan Wald, professor of English and American culture, University of Michigan "The influence of James Farrell's work has been pervasive and accumulative as generation after generation of American writers continue to explore the urban subjects that Farrell so forcefully defined." Stuart Dybek, author of The Coast of Chicago, I Sailed with Magellan, and other fiction

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Book SynopsisThough Lucian's tendency to debunk everything might well have made him depressing reading, his light-hearted fantasy and wit have always had the opposite effect. These sketches present him primarily as a humorous writer.Trade Review" ... welcome and timely. It is written in crisp, idiomatic, conversational English, not hobbled by slavish imitation of Lucians Greek syntax." The Key ReporterTable of ContentsIntroductionTalksThe DreamZeuxisSketchesConversations in Low SocietyMother Knows BestThe Language of True LoveThe Results of Shooting a LineConversations in High SocietyThe New Sleeping PartnerZeus is IndisposedThe Reluctant ParentA Beauty CompetitionConversations in the UnderworldNo Baggage AllowanceMenippus Gets Away With ItA Slight Change of SexHow To Enjoy Life After SeventyCharon Sees LifeMenippus Goes to HellIcaromenippusAn Interview with HesiodSome Awkward Questions for ZeusPhilosophies Going CheapFishing for PhoniesThe Pathological LiarStoriesAlexanderThe True HistoryNotesGlossary

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Book SynopsisThe masterpiece of Joseph Conrad’s later years, the autobiographical short novel The Shadow-Line depicts a young man at a crossroads in his life, facing a desperate crisis that marks the “shadow-line” between youth and maturity.This brief but intense story is a dramatically fictionalized account of Conrad’s first command as a young sea captain trapped aboard a becalmed, fever-wracked, and seemingly haunted ship. With no wind in sight and his crew disabled by malaria, the narrator discovers that the medicine necessary to save the sick men is missing and its absence has been deliberately concealed. Meanwhile, his increasingly frightened first mate is convinced that the malignant ghost of the previous captain has cursed them. Suspenseful, atmospheric, and deceptively simple, Conrad’s tale of the sea reflects the complex themes of his most famous novels, Lord Jim and Heart of Darkness.

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Book SynopsisA vibrant translation of Tolstoy’s most important short fiction by the award-winning translators of War and Peace. Here are eleven masterful stories from the mature author, some autobiographical, others moral parables, and all told with the evocative power that was Tolstoy’s alone.  They include “The Prisoner of the Caucasus,” inspired by Tolstoy's own experiences as a soldier in the Chechen War, “Hadji Murat,” the novella Harold Bloom called “the best story in the world,” “The Devil,” a fascinating tale of sexual obsession, and the celebrated “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” an intense and moving examination of death and the possibilities of redemption. Pevear and Volokhonsky’s translation captures the richness, immediacy, and multiplicity of Tolstoy’s language, and reveals the author as a passionate moral guide, an unflinching seeker of truth, and ultimately, a creator

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Book SynopsisFirst published in Italy in 1957 amid international controversy, Doctor Zhivago is the story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago's love for the tender and beautiful Lara, the very embodiment of the pain and chaos of those cataclysmic times. Pevear and Volokhonsky masterfully restore the spirit of Pasternak's original—his style, rhythms, voicings, and tone—in this beautiful translation of a classic of world literature.

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Book SynopsisCharlotte Brontë's final masterpiece powerfully portrays a woman struggling to reconcile love, jealousy, and a fierce desire for independence.Having fled a harrowing past in England, Lucy Snowe begins a new life teaching at a boarding school in the great capital of a foreign country. There, as she tries to achieve independence from both outer necessity and inward grief, she finds that her feelings for a worldly doctor and a dictatorial professor threaten her hard-won self-possession. Published in 1853, Charlotte Bronte's last novel was written in the wake of her grief at the death of her siblings. It has a dramatic force comparable to that of her other masterpiece, Jane Eyre, as well as a striking modernity of psychological insight and a revolutionary understanding of human loneliness.

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Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1348, with the plague ravaging Florence, ten young men and women take refuge in the countryside, where they entertain themselves with tales of love, death, and corruption, featuring a host of characters, from lascivious clergymen and mad kings to devious lovers and false miracle-makers.J. G. Nichols’s new translation, faithful to the original but rendered in eminently readable modern English, captures the timeless humor of one of the great classics of European literature.Named after the Greek for “ten days,” Boccaccio’s book of stories draws on ancient mythology, contemporary history, and everyday life, and has influenced the work of myriad writers who came after him.A brilliant new translation of the work that Herman Hesse called “the first great masterpiece of European storytelling.”

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