Classics Books

Book SynopsisEight brand new recordings of original Hancock's Half Hour scriptsHancock's Half Hour was one of the most popular radio comedies of the 1950s, and the first modern sitcom. Over 100 episodes of the show were broadcast between 1954 and 1959, but 22 went missing from the BBC archives. Lovingly recreated by Radio 4 in front of a live audience at the BBC Radio Theatre, they can now be heard for the first time since their initial transmission. Collected here are the final eight episodes from the fourth series - including a special premiere of The Counterfeiter, which was never recorded by the original team.The episodes are: The Winter Holiday, Department Store Santa, The Diamond Ring, Prime Minister Hancock, Christmas at Aldershot, The Counterfeiter, The Christmas Eve Party and The New Year Resolutions.Written by Ray Galton and Alan SimpsonProduced by Neil Pearson, Paul Sheehan and Hayley SterlingMusic composed by Wally Stott, and performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Levon ParikianThanks to Tessa Le BarsFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 6 December 2018-31 December 2020Written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, and with the classic score re-recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra, these hilarious episodes star Kevin McNally as The Lad Himself, with Kevin Eldon, Simon Greenall, Robin Sebastian, Susy Kane and Margaret Cabourn-Smith.

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Book Synopsis'One of the greatest and silliest stories ever told' Greg James'A brilliant writer. Extraordinary' Philip PullmanPoor Pongo Twistleton must endure his sixty-year-old Uncle Fred once a year. But this year, mischievous Uncle Fred has gone too far.While Pongo is busy trying to impress his future father-in-law Sir Aylmer Bostock, Uncle Fred asks him to steal the man's priceless bust and replace it with a creation made by none other than his once-fiancée, Sally Painter. It is a scheme that is doomed to fail, but why should that deter Uncle Fred, or, for that matter, the unshakeable Sally? But when it does, Uncle Fred has several more tricks up his inestimable sleeve and Pongo will have to play more than the good nephew. Will Uncle Fred have his way? Will Pongo end up with the right wife? And is a pot of raspberry jam ever truly safe from invaders?A caper of irrepressible joy and wit, Uncle Dynamite is a Wodehouse classic and one of the finest comedy novels ever written.Trade ReviewThe gold standard of English wit … There is not, and never will be, anything to touch him Christopher Hitchens—Christopher HitchensIt's dangerous to use the word genius to describe a writer, but I'll risk it with him John Humphrys—John HumphrysNot only the funniest English novelist who ever wrote but one of our finest stylists—Susan Hill

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Book Synopsis**An Oprah Magazine Most Anticipated Historical Novel of 2021****A Buzzfeed 'Book You're Going to Love in 2021'**'With stunningly lyrical writing, Greeley elevates Austen-inspired fiction onto a whole new plane.' - Natalie Jenner, author of The Jane Austen SocietyAs a fussy baby, Anne was prescribed laudanum to quiet her and has been given the opium-heavy syrup ever since, on account of her continuing ill health. While Lady Catherine is outraged when Darcy chooses not to marry her daughter, Anne barely even notices. But little by little, she comes to see that what she has always been told is an affliction of nature might in fact be one of nurture - and one, therefore, that she can beat. She finally throws away her laudanum and seeks refuge at the London home of her cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. Suddenly wide awake to the world but utterly unprepared, Anne must forge a new identity among those who have never seen the real her - including herself. With its wit, sensuality and compassion, The Heiress is a sparklingly rebellious novel that takes a shadowy figure from the background of beloved classic Pride & Prejudice and throws her into the light.'Haunting. The Heiress has all the hallmarks of nineteenth-century Gothic, which doesn't shy away from "modern" ills, such as the opiate crisis, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and homophobia. Highly recommended.' - Finola Austin, author of Bronte's MistressTrade ReviewMolly Greeley is one of the best young writers working today - the sheer beauty of her prose has few rivals. In reimagining the character of Anne de Bourgh from Pride and Prejudice, Greeley takes us inside a troubled, resilient and poetic mind and gives us a heroine to both sympathise with and root for. With stunningly lyrical writing, Greeley elevates Austen-inspired fiction - and psychological fiction in general - onto a whole new plane. * Natalie Jenner, author of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY *Haunting. In The Heiress, Molly Greeley shines a light on the darkness cloaking Anne de Bourgh, Lady Catherine's sickly daughter and Mr. Darcy's intended. The result is a novel with all the hallmarks of nineteenth-century Gothic, which doesn't shy away from "modern" ills, such as the opiate crisis, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and homophobia. Highly recommended.' * Finola Austin, author of Bronte's Mistress *This inventive novel will delight Pride & Prejudice fans, and win over readers who are sceptical of Austen reimaginings * Booklist - Starred Review *An entertaining elaboration to satisfy generations of readers who have wondered and theorized about Anne. In perfectly Austenesque style, Greeley reveals the backstory of the Rosings Park heiress and just what made her so sickly, so interesting and so complicated . . . Keen observations about society and strong supporting characters make TheHeiress a perfectly joyful read. * Book Page *

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Book Synopsis'With stunningly lyrical writing, Greeley elevates Austen-inspired fiction onto a whole new plane.' - Natalie Jenner, author of The Jane Austen SocietyAs a fussy baby, Anne was prescribed laudanum to quiet her and has been given the opium-heavy syrup ever since on account of her continuing ill health. While her mother is outraged when Darcy chooses not to marry Anne, as has been long planned, Anne can barely raise her head to acknowledge the fact. But little by little, she comes to see that what she has always been told is an affliction of nature might in fact be one of nurture - and one, therefore, that she can beat. In a frenzy of desperation, she throws away her laudanum and seeks refuge at the London home of her cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. Suddenly wide awake to the world but utterly unprepared, Anne must forge a new identity among those who have never seen the real her - including herself. With its wit, sensuality and deep compassion for the human heart, The Heiress is a sparklingly rebellious novel that takes a shadowy figure from the background of Pride & Prejudice, one of the world's most beloved books, and throws her into the light.'Haunting. The Heiress has all the hallmarks of nineteenth-century Gothic, which doesn't shy away from "modern" ills, such as the opiate crisis, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and homophobia. Highly recommended.' - Finola Austin, author of Bronte's MistressTrade ReviewMolly Greeley is one of the best young writers working today - the sheer beauty of her prose has few rivals. In reimagining the character of Anne de Bourgh from Pride and Prejudice, Greeley takes us inside a troubled, resilient and poetic mind and gives us a heroine to both sympathise with and root for. With stunningly lyrical writing, Greeley elevates Austen-inspired fiction - and psychological fiction in general - onto a whole new plane. * Natalie Jenner, author of THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY *Haunting. In The Heiress, Molly Greeley shines a light on the darkness cloaking Anne de Bourgh, Lady Catherine's sickly daughter and Mr. Darcy's intended. The result is a novel with all the hallmarks of nineteenth-century Gothic, which doesn't shy away from "modern" ills, such as the opiate crisis, Munchausen syndrome by proxy, and homophobia. Highly recommended.' * Finola Austin, author of Bronte's Mistress *This inventive novel will delight Pride & Prejudice fans, and win over readers who are sceptical of Austen reimaginings * Booklist - Starred Review *An entertaining elaboration to satisfy generations of readers who have wondered and theorized about Anne. In perfectly Austenesque style, Greeley reveals the backstory of the Rosings Park heiress and just what made her so sickly, so interesting and so complicated . . . Keen observations about society and strong supporting characters make TheHeiress a perfectly joyful read. * Book Page *

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Elizabeth Bennet has politely declined your friend request and asks that you do not slide into her DMs again. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, will probably be verified on social media. The characters of Pride and Prejudice are navigating the same struggles on unfamiliar channels - social media channels, to be precise. When authors Claire McGowan and Sarah Day imagined how 'Pride and Prejudice on Social Media' might look, retelling the story through mocked-up social media posts, their post instantly went viral. Have you ever wondered what Austen's most famous couple might be like if it played out online? Well, here is the story in full . . .Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy . . .

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Book SynopsisReader, she married him. But not before a LOT of discussion of his behaviour in the group chat.With courage, determination and logged into her social media accounts - plain Jane Eyre is ready to take on the world. But then she meets and begins to fall for Edward Rochester, AKA the definition of a red flag, with screenshots to prove it.When authors Claire McGowan and Sarah Day imagined how 'Pride and Prejudice on Social Media' might look, retelling the story through mocked-up social media posts, their post instantly went viral. Now, they return with a Bronte classic told through highs and lows of social media . . .Perfect for fans of Charlotte Brontë . . .***READERS LOVE JANE EYRE ON SOCIAL MEDIA***'This is a fun text with a witty comedic spin and definitely one to put on your TBR pile' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'If you read nothing else this year, read this! It's honestly the best read of the year. Not only is it a clever idea for a retelling, it's charming, witty and downright hilarious!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'It all did make me laugh. Lots!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Really well done and difficult to put down. I see the authors have done the same thing with Pride and Prejudice and I am definitely adding that to my TBR' ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'What a funny and quirky book!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This clever retelling combines charm, wit, and humour to create an engaging and hilarious narrative' ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A lot of fun and a good way to make modern a classic' ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Book Synopsis*THE JAPANESE CRIME CLASSIC - ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD*'One of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction and one of the must-read books of this or any year' David PeaceTokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of post-War Japan: a poorly socialized genius stuck working as a welder; a demoted detective with a chip on his shoulder; a Zainichi Korean banker sick of being ostracized for his ethnicity; a struggling single dad of a teenage girl with Down syndrome. The fifth man bringing them all together is an elderly drugstore owner grieving his grandson, who died in suspicious circumstances.Intent on revenge against a society that values corporate behemoths more than human life, the five conspirators decide to carry out a heist: kidnap the CEO of Japan's largest beer conglomerate and extract blood money from the company's corrupt financiers.Inspired by the unsolved true-crime kidnapping case perpetrated by "the Monster with 21 Faces," Lady Joker has become a cultural touchstone since its 1997 publication, acknowledged as the magnum opus by one of Japan's literary masters.'A novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts' Yoko Ogawa, author of The Memory Police'Takamura's prismatic heist novel offers a broad indictment of capitalist society' New York Times'Lady Joker is a work you get immersed in, like a sprawling 19th century novel or a TV series like The Wire' NPRTrade ReviewHallelujah! Inspired by the real-life, still unsolved Glico-Morinaga kidnapping and extortion case which led to the nationwide hunt for "The Monster with Twenty-one Faces," Kaoru Takamura's Lady Joker is at last available in translation; epic in its scale and vision, yet gripping from first to last, this is one of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction and one of the must-read books of this or any year -- David Peace, author of TOKYO YEAR ZEROA novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts -- Yoko Ogawa, author of THE MEMORY POLICETakamura's prismatic heist novel offers a broad indictment of capitalist society * New York Times *Lady Joker is a work you get immersed in, like a sprawling 19th century novel or a TV series like The Wire . . . Lady Joker casts a page-turning spell * NPR *Like Ellroy's American Tabloid and Carr's The Alienist, the book uses crime as a prism to examine dynamic periods of social history . . . Takamura's blistering indictment of capitalism, corporate corruption and the alienation felt by characters on both sides of the law from institutions they once believed would protect them resonates surprisingly with American culture * Los Angeles Times *Excellent . . . Takamura shows why she's one of Japan's most prominent mystery novelists * Publishers Weekly *Takamura's challenging, genre-confounding epic offers a sweeping view of contemporary Japan in all its complexity * Kirkus Reviews *Sprawling, addictive, this X-Ray examination of a society where the have and the have nots (including the police) play a slow, inexorable dance towards catastrophe, turns into a fascinating piece of work and I look forward to its conclusion * Crime Time *A fascinating slow burn of a book, detailed, complex and immersive * Guardian *Meticulously plotted complexity * Times Literary Supplement *Ruminative and idiosyncratic, this slow-burner earns its page-count * Telegraph *Hallelujah! Inspired by the real-life, still unsolved Glico-Morinaga kidnapping and extortion case which led to the nationwide hunt for "The Monster with Twenty-one Faces," Kaoru Takamura's Lady Joker is at last available in translation; epic in its scale and vision, yet gripping from first to last, this is one of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction and one of the must-read books of this or any year. * David Peace, author of Tokyo Year Zero *A novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts -- Yoko Ogawa * author of The Memory Police *Takamura's prismatic heist novel offers a broad indictment of capitalist society * New York Times *Lady Joker is a work you get immersed in, like a sprawling 19th century novel or a TV series like The Wire. . . Lady Joker casts a page-turning spell * NPR *Like Ellroy's American Tabloid and Carr's The Alienist, the book uses crime as a prism to examine dynamic periods of social history . . . Takamura's blistering indictment of capitalism, corporate corruption and the alienation felt by characters on both sides of the law from institutions they once believed would protect them resonates surprisingly with American culture * Los Angeles Times *Excellent . . . Takamura shows why she's one of Japan's most prominent mystery novelists * Publishers Weekly *Takamura's challenging, genre-confounding epic offers a sweeping view of contemporary Japan in all its complexity * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book Synopsis'One of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction' David Peace, author of Tokyo Year ZeroOne of Japan's great modern writers, this second half of Lady Joker brings Kaoru Takamura's breathtaking masterpiece to a gripping conclusion.Five men who meet at a Tokyo racetrack every week carry out a heist. They have kidnapped the CEO of Japan's largest beer company to extract blood money from the company's corrupt financiers.Known as Lady Joker, the men make their first attack on the beer company when their demands are not met. As the attacks escalate, the shady networks linking corporations to syndicates are exposed, the stakes rise, and bring into riveting focus the lives and motivations of the victims, the perpetrators, the heroes and the villains. Some will lose everything, even their lives.Inspired by the real-life Glico-Morinaga kidnapping, an unsolved case that terrorized Japan for two years, Lady Joker reimagines this watershed episode in modern Japanese history.'A novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts' Yoko Ogawa, author of The Memory PoliceTrade ReviewHallelujah! Inspired by the real-life, still unsolved Glico-Morinaga kidnapping and extortion case which led to the nationwide hunt for "The Monster with Twenty-one Faces," Kaoru Takamura's Lady Joker is at last available in translation; epic in its scale and vision, yet gripping from first to last, this is one of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction and one of the must-read books of this or any year -- David Peace, author of TOKYO YEAR ZEROA novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts -- Yoko Ogawa, author of THE MEMORY POLICETakamura's prismatic heist novel offers a broad indictment of capitalist society * New York Times *Lady Joker is a work you get immersed in, like a sprawling 19th century novel or a TV series like The Wire . . . Lady Joker casts a page-turning spell * NPR *Like Ellroy's American Tabloid and Carr's The Alienist, the book uses crime as a prism to examine dynamic periods of social history . . . Takamura's blistering indictment of capitalism, corporate corruption and the alienation felt by characters on both sides of the law from institutions they once believed would protect them resonates surprisingly with American culture * Los Angeles Times *Excellent . . . Takamura shows why she's one of Japan's most prominent mystery novelists * Publishers Weekly *Takamura's challenging, genre-confounding epic offers a sweeping view of contemporary Japan in all its complexity * Kirkus Reviews *Sprawling, addictive, this X-Ray examination of a society where the have and the have nots (including the police) play a slow, inexorable dance towards catastrophe, turns into a fascinating piece of work and I look forward to its conclusion * Crime Time *A fascinating slow burn of a book, detailed, complex and immersive * Guardian *Meticulously plotted complexity * Times Literary Supplement *By its sheer breadth, humanity, and the range of characters who walk across its pages, Lady Joker is comparable to the great 19th-century novels. It is a tremendous accomplishment * Chicago Review of Books *Lady Joker is a towering achievement -- Paul Tremblay, author of THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLDLike all literature, readers will take what they want from Takamura's critique of Japanese society, but at the heart of the epic novel is a gripping crime story where the actual crime itself is almost secondary to the psychological ripples it sends through the boardrooms, police stations, press offices and homes of anyone connected. This is much more of a whydunit than a whodunit - and one that was well worth the wait * The Japan Times *Takamura joins American writers James Ellroy, author of American Tabloid, and Don Winslow, author of several novels about the drug trade, to illuminate a society in which power and money matter far more than morality. All three write mysteries that also function as morality plays . . . Bravura * The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette *Brilliantly dark * Ms. Magazine *A complex work of stunning breadth and depth by a master of the genre * Kirkus Reviews *Admirers of intricate crime fiction, which both engages the intellect and offers insights into the hidden parts of a society, will hope for further translations of this gifted author's work * Publishers Weekly *

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Book Synopsis'One of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction' David Peace, author of Tokyo Year ZeroOne of Japan's great modern writers, this second half of Lady Joker brings Kaoru Takamura's breathtaking masterpiece to a gripping conclusion.Five men who meet at a Tokyo racetrack every week carry out a heist. They have kidnapped the CEO of Japan's largest beer company to extract blood money from the company's corrupt financiers.Known as Lady Joker, the men make their first attack on the beer company when their demands are not met. As the attacks escalate, the shady networks linking corporations to syndicates are exposed, the stakes rise, and bring into riveting focus the lives and motivations of the victims, the perpetrators, the heroes and the villains. Some will lose everything, even their lives.Inspired by the real-life Glico-Morinaga kidnapping, an unsolved case that terrorized Japan for two years, Lady Joker reimagines this watershed episode in modern Japanese history.'A novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts' Yoko Ogawa, author of The Memory PoliceTrade ReviewHallelujah! Inspired by the real-life, still unsolved Glico-Morinaga kidnapping and extortion case which led to the nationwide hunt for "The Monster with Twenty-one Faces," Kaoru Takamura's Lady Joker is at last available in translation; epic in its scale and vision, yet gripping from first to last, this is one of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction and one of the must-read books of this or any year -- David Peace, author of TOKYO YEAR ZEROA novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts -- Yoko Ogawa, author of THE MEMORY POLICETakamura's prismatic heist novel offers a broad indictment of capitalist society * New York Times *Lady Joker is a work you get immersed in, like a sprawling 19th century novel or a TV series like The Wire . . . Lady Joker casts a page-turning spell * NPR *Like Ellroy's American Tabloid and Carr's The Alienist, the book uses crime as a prism to examine dynamic periods of social history . . . Takamura's blistering indictment of capitalism, corporate corruption and the alienation felt by characters on both sides of the law from institutions they once believed would protect them resonates surprisingly with American culture * Los Angeles Times *Excellent . . . Takamura shows why she's one of Japan's most prominent mystery novelists * Publishers Weekly *Takamura's challenging, genre-confounding epic offers a sweeping view of contemporary Japan in all its complexity * Kirkus Reviews *Sprawling, addictive, this X-Ray examination of a society where the have and the have nots (including the police) play a slow, inexorable dance towards catastrophe, turns into a fascinating piece of work and I look forward to its conclusion * Crime Time *A fascinating slow burn of a book, detailed, complex and immersive * Guardian *Meticulously plotted complexity * Times Literary Supplement *By its sheer breadth, humanity, and the range of characters who walk across its pages, Lady Joker is comparable to the great 19th-century novels. It is a tremendous accomplishment * Chicago Review of Books *Lady Joker is a towering achievement -- Paul Tremblay, author of THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLDLike all literature, readers will take what they want from Takamura's critique of Japanese society, but at the heart of the epic novel is a gripping crime story where the actual crime itself is almost secondary to the psychological ripples it sends through the boardrooms, police stations, press offices and homes of anyone connected. This is much more of a whydunit than a whodunit - and one that was well worth the wait * The Japan Times *Takamura joins American writers James Ellroy, author of American Tabloid, and Don Winslow, author of several novels about the drug trade, to illuminate a society in which power and money matter far more than morality. All three write mysteries that also function as morality plays . . . Bravura * The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette *Brilliantly dark * Ms. Magazine *A complex work of stunning breadth and depth by a master of the genre * Kirkus Reviews *Admirers of intricate crime fiction, which both engages the intellect and offers insights into the hidden parts of a society, will hope for further translations of this gifted author's work * Publishers Weekly *

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Book Synopsis'One of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction' David Peace, author of Tokyo Year ZeroOne of Japan's great modern writers, this second half of Lady Joker brings Kaoru Takamura's breathtaking masterpiece to a gripping conclusion.Five men who meet at a Tokyo racetrack every week carry out a heist. They have kidnapped the CEO of Japan's largest beer company to extract blood money from the company's corrupt financiers.Known as Lady Joker, the men make their first attack on the beer company when their demands are not met. As the attacks escalate, the shady networks linking corporations to syndicates are exposed, the stakes rise, and bring into riveting focus the lives and motivations of the victims, the perpetrators, the heroes and the villains. Some will lose everything, even their lives.Inspired by the real-life Glico-Morinaga kidnapping, an unsolved case that terrorized Japan for two years, Lady Joker reimagines this watershed episode in modern Japanese history.'A novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts' Yoko Ogawa, author of The Memory PoliceTrade ReviewHallelujah! Inspired by the real-life, still unsolved Glico-Morinaga kidnapping and extortion case which led to the nationwide hunt for "The Monster with Twenty-one Faces," Kaoru Takamura's Lady Joker is at last available in translation; epic in its scale and vision, yet gripping from first to last, this is one of the great masterpieces of Japanese crime fiction and one of the must-read books of this or any year -- David Peace, author of TOKYO YEAR ZEROA novel that portrays with devastating immensity how those on the dark fringes of society can be consumed by the darkness of their own hearts -- Yoko Ogawa, author of THE MEMORY POLICETakamura's prismatic heist novel offers a broad indictment of capitalist society * New York Times *Lady Joker is a work you get immersed in, like a sprawling 19th century novel or a TV series like The Wire . . . Lady Joker casts a page-turning spell * NPR *Like Ellroy's American Tabloid and Carr's The Alienist, the book uses crime as a prism to examine dynamic periods of social history . . . Takamura's blistering indictment of capitalism, corporate corruption and the alienation felt by characters on both sides of the law from institutions they once believed would protect them resonates surprisingly with American culture * Los Angeles Times *Excellent . . . Takamura shows why she's one of Japan's most prominent mystery novelists * Publishers Weekly *Takamura's challenging, genre-confounding epic offers a sweeping view of contemporary Japan in all its complexity * Kirkus Reviews *Sprawling, addictive, this X-Ray examination of a society where the have and the have nots (including the police) play a slow, inexorable dance towards catastrophe, turns into a fascinating piece of work and I look forward to its conclusion * Crime Time *A fascinating slow burn of a book, detailed, complex and immersive * Guardian *Meticulously plotted complexity * Times Literary Supplement *By its sheer breadth, humanity, and the range of characters who walk across its pages, Lady Joker is comparable to the great 19th-century novels. It is a tremendous accomplishment * Chicago Review of Books *Lady Joker is a towering achievement -- Paul Tremblay, author of THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLDLike all literature, readers will take what they want from Takamura's critique of Japanese society, but at the heart of the epic novel is a gripping crime story where the actual crime itself is almost secondary to the psychological ripples it sends through the boardrooms, police stations, press offices and homes of anyone connected. This is much more of a whydunit than a whodunit - and one that was well worth the wait * The Japan Times *Takamura joins American writers James Ellroy, author of American Tabloid, and Don Winslow, author of several novels about the drug trade, to illuminate a society in which power and money matter far more than morality. All three write mysteries that also function as morality plays . . . Bravura * The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette *Brilliantly dark * Ms. Magazine *A complex work of stunning breadth and depth by a master of the genre * Kirkus Reviews *Admirers of intricate crime fiction, which both engages the intellect and offers insights into the hidden parts of a society, will hope for further translations of this gifted author's work * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisEduardo Mendoza's classic novel about the birth of Barcelona as a world city, embodied in the rise of the ambitious and unscrupulous Onofre Bouvila"Though historical in subject matter, this story of Catalonian enterprise and Barcelonan ambition is thoroughly contemporary in spirit" Jonathan FranzenStung by the realisation that his father is a fraud and a failure, Onofre Bouvila leaves a life of rural poverty to seek his fortune in Barcelona.The year is 1888, and the Catalan capital is about to emerge from provincial obscurity to take its place amongst the great cities of the world, thanks to the upcoming Universal Exhibition. Thanks to a tip-off from his landlord's daughter, Onofre gets his big break distributing anarchist leaflets to workers preparing for the World Fair. From these humble beginnings, he branches out as a hair-tonic salesman, a burglar, a filmmaker, an arms smuggler and a political dealmaker, in a multifaceted career that brings him wealth and influence beyond his wildest dreams.But, just as Barcelona's rise makes it a haven for gangsters, crooks and spivs, vice begins to fester in Onofre's heart. And the climax to his remarkable story will come just as a second World Fair in 1929 marks the city's apotheosis.Translated from the Spanish by Nick CaistorTrade ReviewThough historical in subject matter, this story of Catalonian enterprise and Barcelonan ambition is thoroughly contemporary in spirit. -- Jonathan FranzenA splendid piacaresque novel . . . Rich in humour, irony and parody . . . Lusty and ingenious entertainment * New York Times Book Review *Rich in eccentric, violent, fantastic, and horrible incident . . . A profusion of bizarre characters, and a fair quota of entertaining digression. * The Times *A novel of great variety and scope . . . There is much to delight . . . A very considerable, and an exhilarating, achievement * Scotsman *A large book, written in picaresque style, and full of incidental pleasures. * Observer *Not since Ragtime has there been such a treasure of rascals and riches . . . Brilliant . . . Mendoza is a prodigiously inventive author. * Chicago Tribune *A major work, a great novel . . . a satirical love song and an adventurous chronicle that delivers the wonders promised in its title. * El País *One of this season's literary landmarks . . . an extravagant, amusing, fantastic, and moving fresco of Barcelona. * Vanguardia *

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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 Kreutzer Sonata and Other StoriesThis second volume of Tolstoy's shorter fiction, selected by the critic Sharon Cameron, contains 'Family Happiness', 'The Devil' and 'The Kreutzer Sonata', three of Tolstoy's unhappy-marriage stories as well as 'Father Sergius', a story of a loss of identity in ambitious pursuit of holy virtue and 'Master and Man'. Tolstoy's antidotes to delusion, fear, jealousy and even madness have an ethical thread pulled through the fabric of different themes and genres.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.

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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 Hadji Murad and Other StoriesThis, the third volume of Tolstoy's shorter fiction concentrates on his later stories, including one of his greatest, 'Hadji Murad'. In the stark form of homily that shapes these later works, life considered as one's own has no rational meaning. From the chain of events that follows in the wake of two schoolboys' deception in 'The Forged Coupon' to the disillusionment of the narrator in 'After the Ball' we see, in Virginia Woolf's observation, that Tolstoy puts at the centre of his writingone 'who gathers into himself all experience, turns the world round between his fingers, and never ceases to ask, even as he enjoys it, what is the meaning of it'.The 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.

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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.

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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.

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Book Synopsis'Like an artist working an empty sky into a busy cityscape, or an empty chair into a crowded family portrait, Joyce creates spaces where the reader is left to themselves' Patrick McGuinness, from his Preface to Dubliners.Set in the late 19th and early 20th-century, Dubliners is made up of fifteen stories, which all sit within the realm of realism, with easily identifiable streets and a cartographic identity of the city. Alike Joyce's other works, the collection was repeatedly rejected by publishers and he received accusations of obscurity and obscenity before it finally appeared in print on 15 June 1914. This was five years after a contract was signed, six weeks before the outbreak of World War One, and at a time when Ireland was under British Home Rule. We find an intricate account of the lives of the city's inhabitants in Joyce's haunted and bleak vision of Dublin.Discover these stories for the first time here, or read them afresh, and marvel at the unique stories that Joyce was able to capture, and make timeless, for us all.

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Book SynopsisSANTIAGO GARCIA and DAVID RUBIN unite to bring forward the myth of Beowulf, which has endured for a thousand years, inspired an epic poem, become a foundational piece of English literature, and influenced generations of authors: from J.R.R. Tolkien and Seamus Heaney to a multitude of Hollywood screenwriters.BEOWULF tells of the tale of a Scandinavian hero in lands that would become what is now Denmark and Sweden. A monster, Grendel, has arrived in the kingdom of the Danes, devouring its men and women for over a decade until Beowulf arrives to save them.GARCIA and RUBIN faithfully follow the original story for a new version that is neither revisionist nor postmodern, but captures the tone and important details of the poem, translating its potent, epic resonance and melancholy into a contemporary comic that isn't standard swords and sorcery or heroic fantasy fare, but rather an ancient story with a modern perspective that remains respectful of the source material.

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Book SynopsisFrom World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Michael Moorcock comes the final installment of the Elric of Melnibone series, brought to vivid new life with stunning illustrations.In one of the most well-known and well-loved fantasy epics of the 20th century, Elric is the brooding, albino emperor of the dying Kingdom of Melnibone. After coming into an unnatural, devastating power that felled his enemy Yrkoon and destroyed an entire city, Elric is haunted by the many deaths he caused and sets out on a quest for redemption and renewed purpose. The White Wolf is the final volume in Michael Moorcock’s incredible series, which created fantasy archetypes that have echoed through the genre for generations. Originally published in the 1970s, this book is brought to vivid new life with stunning illustrations from magnificent artists in the fantasy field.

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Book SynopsisThis engaging translation presents an authentic period document that reflects aspects of Chinese life and society as seen through contemporary eyes. Portraying a "phony" reformer who rode the tide of the Qing court's post-Boxer reform initiatives to career success and personal wealth, this satire conveys the author's hope for a new, improved China, one that could stand proudly alongside Western nations and Meiji Japan in the modern world. His vivid descriptions of various situations shed light on late Qing elite behavior and Chinese foreign relations capture the clash between tradition and modernity, the old and new, as educated Chinese stood at a cultural and political crossroads.Trade ReviewAn illuminating satire of bureaucratic ‘reformers’ on the make in the post-Boxer late-Qing reform era. Serialized in 1905, this short novel chronicles the unlikely career climb of Yuan Bozhen, who time and again manages to make bad decisions and still land on his feet. The novel reads like a tongue-in-cheek ‘how-to-succeed’ manual for low-level bureaucrats at the turn of the century. It concludes with a poem spelling out the moral of the story, like a big red bow on a box of candy. Luke Kwong’s fluid translation is accompanied by an informative introduction and extensive annotations. With realistic ground-level details of officials interacting with each other, with foreigners, and with the Chinese citizenry, the novel makes an ideal supplement to any course on the late Qing or modern China. -- Paul Ropp, Clark UniversityI know of no other work—fictional or otherwise—that captures so vividly and insightfully the motivations and machinations of Chinese elites as they sought to turn the dramatic political, social, and cultural changes of the early twentieth century to their own purposes. Luke Kwong knows this period better than anyone, and he has done a superlative job translating and annotating the novel, making the work not only accessible but also illuminating and absorbing. -- Richard J. Smith, Rice UniversityWhat did reform mean at the end of the Qing dynasty? And how could one profit from it? The Phony Reformer is a lively and engaging tale of an intrepid, if sometimes morally dubious, scholar-official and his rise to prominence. How he successfully, fortuitously schemes his way from obscurity to power and profit opens our eyes to the complexity and intrigues of late Qing politics. This translation will be great for undergraduate Chinese history surveys as well as more specialized seminars on late imperial life, the civil service examination system, elite culture, and late imperial and twentieth-century Chinese fiction. -- Jia-Chen Fu, Emory UniversityTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments Translator’s Introduction: A Long Vigil Before Daybreak Notes on the Translation Chapter 1 An anti-missionary case funnels public funds into private pockets; Old-school folks break down prejudices to go after new measures. Chapter 2 Promotions up official ranks and making riches are words of sound advice; Patronage and gift-giving are shortcuts to success for which people scramble. Chapter 3 The job of machine procurement comes as a reward for the cash contribution; In the name of civilization is the effort made to join the Natural Feet Society. Chapter 4 Mockery is what motivates the effort to study the English primer; The social circle broadens to lead to making friends with Wilkes. Chapter 5 The hunt for the Wealth Voucher rebels leads to a good friend’s death; The investigation into local mining rights gives rise to covetous thought. Chapter 6 Mining shares are peddled on Fuzhou Road to attract investors; A company is set up in Guangxin prefecture to produce camphor. Chapter 7 New rules are drafted to forestall school education’s harmful effects; Preemptive action is the key to success in handling foreign relations. Chapter 8 An old friend’s cooperation helps resolve a Sino-foreign dispute; A police surcharge is enforced in the name of policy innovation. Chapter 9 An old flame cannot reignite as the nestled bird is scared away; The heartache lingers as the male fox sets out to look for a mate. Chapter 10 A superior’s favor incurs add-on duties at the correctional center; In search of marital bliss, a letter is sent with a marriage proposal. Chapter 11 The dress-up embrace of Great Universality dazzles every eye; Vengeance over a private feud goes public in the newspapers. Chapter 12 Harsh words in heated argument cause affection and fortune to vanish; Endurance through hardship yields fruits of fame and riches in the end. Chapter 13 Commendation for the intendant status fulfills a long-standing career desire; Supervision of school affairs calls for implementation of authoritarian rules. Chapter 14 Deft skills in making money are applied to maximize mining profits; Army duties become a concurrent job when no other deputy is found. Chapter 15 Grandees play favorites with those who beseech their patronage; Colleagues throw a banquet to celebrate his transfer and promotion. Chapter 16 Once the mask is stripped away, the tracks of the past are fully revealed; In a lyrical poem, warm-hearted but trite, the point of the tale is unveiled. Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis engaging translation presents an authentic period document that reflects aspects of Chinese life and society as seen through contemporary eyes. Portraying a "phony" reformer who rode the tide of the Qing court's post-Boxer reform initiatives to career success and personal wealth, this satire conveys the author's hope for a new, improved China, one that could stand proudly alongside Western nations and Meiji Japan in the modern world. His vivid descriptions of various situations shed light on late Qing elite behavior and Chinese foreign relations capture the clash between tradition and modernity, the old and new, as educated Chinese stood at a cultural and political crossroads.Trade ReviewAn illuminating satire of bureaucratic ‘reformers’ on the make in the post-Boxer late-Qing reform era. Serialized in 1905, this short novel chronicles the unlikely career climb of Yuan Bozhen, who time and again manages to make bad decisions and still land on his feet. The novel reads like a tongue-in-cheek ‘how-to-succeed’ manual for low-level bureaucrats at the turn of the century. It concludes with a poem spelling out the moral of the story, like a big red bow on a box of candy. Luke Kwong’s fluid translation is accompanied by an informative introduction and extensive annotations. With realistic ground-level details of officials interacting with each other, with foreigners, and with the Chinese citizenry, the novel makes an ideal supplement to any course on the late Qing or modern China. -- Paul Ropp, Clark UniversityI know of no other work—fictional or otherwise—that captures so vividly and insightfully the motivations and machinations of Chinese elites as they sought to turn the dramatic political, social, and cultural changes of the early twentieth century to their own purposes. Luke Kwong knows this period better than anyone, and he has done a superlative job translating and annotating the novel, making the work not only accessible but also illuminating and absorbing. -- Richard J. Smith, Rice UniversityWhat did reform mean at the end of the Qing dynasty? And how could one profit from it? The Phony Reformer is a lively and engaging tale of an intrepid, if sometimes morally dubious, scholar-official and his rise to prominence. How he successfully, fortuitously schemes his way from obscurity to power and profit opens our eyes to the complexity and intrigues of late Qing politics. This translation will be great for undergraduate Chinese history surveys as well as more specialized seminars on late imperial life, the civil service examination system, elite culture, and late imperial and twentieth-century Chinese fiction. -- Jia-Chen Fu, Emory UniversityTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments Translator’s Introduction: A Long Vigil Before Daybreak Notes on the Translation Chapter 1 An anti-missionary case funnels public funds into private pockets; Old-school folks break down prejudices to go after new measures. Chapter 2 Promotions up official ranks and making riches are words of sound advice; Patronage and gift-giving are shortcuts to success for which people scramble. Chapter 3 The job of machine procurement comes as a reward for the cash contribution; In the name of civilization is the effort made to join the Natural Feet Society. Chapter 4 Mockery is what motivates the effort to study the English primer; The social circle broadens to lead to making friends with Wilkes. Chapter 5 The hunt for the Wealth Voucher rebels leads to a good friend’s death; The investigation into local mining rights gives rise to covetous thought. Chapter 6 Mining shares are peddled on Fuzhou Road to attract investors; A company is set up in Guangxin prefecture to produce camphor. Chapter 7 New rules are drafted to forestall school education’s harmful effects; Preemptive action is the key to success in handling foreign relations. Chapter 8 An old friend’s cooperation helps resolve a Sino-foreign dispute; A police surcharge is enforced in the name of policy innovation. Chapter 9 An old flame cannot reignite as the nestled bird is scared away; The heartache lingers as the male fox sets out to look for a mate. Chapter 10 A superior’s favor incurs add-on duties at the correctional center; In search of marital bliss, a letter is sent with a marriage proposal. Chapter 11 The dress-up embrace of Great Universality dazzles every eye; Vengeance over a private feud goes public in the newspapers. Chapter 12 Harsh words in heated argument cause affection and fortune to vanish; Endurance through hardship yields fruits of fame and riches in the end. Chapter 13 Commendation for the intendant status fulfills a long-standing career desire; Supervision of school affairs calls for implementation of authoritarian rules. Chapter 14 Deft skills in making money are applied to maximize mining profits; Army duties become a concurrent job when no other deputy is found. Chapter 15 Grandees play favorites with those who beseech their patronage; Colleagues throw a banquet to celebrate his transfer and promotion. Chapter 16 Once the mask is stripped away, the tracks of the past are fully revealed; In a lyrical poem, warm-hearted but trite, the point of the tale is unveiled. Bibliography

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Book SynopsisFrom bestselling author Debbie Herbert comes a chilling, fast-paced story about family tragedy and confronting what terrifies us most. In the eighteen years since her father went to prison for killing her mother and brother, Della Stallings has battled a crippling phobia. Her fear only grows when her father’s released. She still believes he killed her family, but the police don’t have enough evidence to arrest him again. When new grisly murders occur—each bearing the telltale signs that seem to implicate her father—Della begins to wonder if the real murderer is still out there. Could her father have been framed? To find the truth, Della must face her greatest fears and doubts—not only to find justice for her family but to ensure her own survival.

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls returns to uncover a faith healer’s elusive and haunted past. Dove Jarrod was a renowned evangelist and faith healer. Only her granddaughter, Eve Candler, knows that Dove was a con artist. In the eight years since Dove’s death, Eve has maintained Dove’s charitable foundation—and her lies. But just as a documentary team wraps up a shoot about the miracle worker, Eve is assaulted by a vengeful stranger intent on exposing what could be Dove’s darkest secret: murder… Tuscaloosa, 1934: a wily young orphan escapes the psychiatric hospital where she was born. When she joins the itinerant inspirational duo the Hawthorn Sisters, the road ahead is one of stirring new possibilities. And with an obsessive predator on her trail, one of untold dangers. For a young girl to survive, desperate choices must be made. Now, to protect her family, Eve will join forces with the investigative filmmaker and one of Dove’s friends, risking everything to unravel the truth behind the accusations against her grandmother. But will the truth set her free or set her world on fire?Trade Review“Carpenter’s refreshingly modern gothic tale offers great fun.” —Publishers Weekly “An exciting, gothic-tinged quest sure to delight fans of women-driven mysteries.” —Kirkus Reviews “The bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls returns to uncover a faith healer’s elusive and haunted past. Read it in one sitting!” —Frolic “Prepare to be up late with this one; Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is simply riveting. This is the kind of book where the past has a pulse—and teeth. It’s a page-turner for sure, with well-drawn, complicated characters whose choices linger long after the last page is turned.” —Joshilyn Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of Never Have I Ever “Emily Carpenter is the reigning queen of Southern Gothic, and Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is a triumph. Moody, suspenseful, and gorgeously written, this novel takes readers into the seedy, sometimes savage world of Depression-era religious revivals, where believers make easy prey and grifters cloak themselves in the Word. Carpenter’s latest is a riveting tale of class, sex, spirituality, and the heavy burden of family history that lingers long after the final pages. I loved it.” —Julia Dahl, author of Invisible City “Stretching from the 1930s to present day, Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is a wild romp through the deep South and the hearts of two women connected by blood, lies, and mystery. Emily Carpenter’s newest novel will hold you in its chilling grip from the eerie beginning to the stop-you-in-your-tracks ending. Carpenter fans will love this one!” —Lauren K. Denton, USA Today bestselling author “A historical murder mystery, lost memories, and priceless, hidden relics: Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters is an atmospheric, unputdownable Southern Gothic masterpiece. Carpenter’s masterful narrative bounces between young Ruth in 1930s Alabama, her exciting escape from the mental institution that was her childhood home and prison, and her granddaughter searching for hidden truths after her death. This was a well-plotted mystery full of family secrets and Southern atmosphere, and I absolutely could not put it down.” —Wendy Heard, author of The Kill Club “Stories don’t stop because we turn our backs on them but only an author as gifted and elegant as Emily Carpenter is able to call them back from the shadows. In the wistfully insightful Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters, Carpenter returns to her rich Southern Gothic roots to deliver a tour de force that is both a return to and a reckoning for her beloved Burying the Honeysuckle Girls. Beautiful, mesmerizing, and saturated with suspense.” —Amber Cowie, author of Loss Lake “This captivating story is a perfect blend of historical fiction and southern gothic. Carpenter deftly weaves past and present story lines, filling both with dramatic tension, atmospheric settings and characters that leap off of the page. I recommend it highly!” —Jane Healey, bestselling author of The Beantown Girls

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Book SynopsisFrom the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of Daughters of the Lake comes an enthralling spellbinder of love, death, and a woman on the edge. After a devastating loss, Brynn Wilder escapes to Wharton, a tourist town on Lake Superior, to reset. Checking into a quaint boardinghouse for the summer, she hopes to put her life into perspective. In her fellow lodgers, she finds a friendly company of strangers: the frail Alice, cared for by a married couple with a heartbreaking story of their own; LuAnn, the eccentric and lovable owner of the inn; and Dominic, an unsettlingly handsome man inked from head to toe in mesmerizing tattoos. But in this inviting refuge, where a century of souls has passed, a mystery begins to swirl. Alice knows things about Brynn, about all of them, that she shouldn’t. Bad dreams and night whispers lure Brynn to a shuttered room at the end of the hall, a room still heavy with a recent death. And now she’s become irresistibly drawn to Dominic—even in the shadow of rumors that wherever he goes, suspicious death follows. In this chilling season of love, transformation, and fear, something is calling for Brynn. To settle her past, she may have no choice but to answer.Trade Review“The action builds to a satisfying and uplifting ending…Webb consistently entertains.” —Publishers Weekly “Endearing and greatly readable…[a] tale that is both warm and poignant.”—Kirkus Reviews “Webb’s chilling tale of a woman running from a tragic loss will put a spell on you.” —E! Online “Prepare to lose yourself in Wendy Webb’s lusciously written The Haunting of Brynn Wilder.” —POPSUGAR “Enchanting.” —The Nerd Daily “Wendy Webb weaves a searing gothic tale with elements of horror, mystery, and romance…It is incredibly absorbing and atmospheric.” —Bookreporter “Wendy Webb is a rising voice in thrillers, and we can’t wait to see what she does next.” —CrimeReads “Suspenseful and engrossing, The Haunting of Brynn Wilder is a ghost story, a love story, and a chilling fireside tale in one. Readers will be drawn in from the first page, and they won’t want to stop until they read the eerie conclusion, probably in the wee hours of the night.” —Simone St. James, New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel “Evocative and beautifully haunting, Wendy Webb’s latest transports you to a location you’ll soon want to call home, in a story you won’t want to put down. It’s no exaggeration to call this the standout gothic novel of the year.” —Darcy Coates, USA Today bestselling author of The Haunting of Ashburn House “A haunting tale of grief and loss that is beautifully layered with new beginnings and woven into a gothic ghost story both bone-chilling and heartwarming.” —Melissa Payne, author of The Secrets of Lost Stones

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of Cold Waters comes a brooding thriller about a woman who must decide if safeguarding her family is worth burying a truth that will haunt her forever. Thirteen years ago, Jori Trahan’s boyfriend vanished without a trace. Now, after moving back home to Alabama to care for her ailing grandmother and autistic brother, she comes face-to-face with the deadly mystery behind his disappearance. Jori has a rare form of synesthesia, meaning she can “hear” colors; to her, tones of voice are as unique as fingerprints. With the help of this ability and a sympathetic cop, Jori comes dangerously close to uncovering the truth. But those responsible will go to any length—including murder—to keep their dark secrets buried. Soon, it seems that no one in the sleepy bayou town is safe, and after Jori’s brother is kidnapped, she knows she must drop the investigation or risk losing her family. But when protecting them means letting an evil deed go unpunished, putting family first may be the last thing she’ll ever do.Trade ReviewNot One of Us is the Fresh Fiction Fresh Pick for February 22, 2021 “Herbert steadily multiplies acts of violence and betrayal as she knits [a] new crime closer and closer together with [an] old. More tellingly, she gradually deepens both heroines’ horror at discovering just how low the people who disparage outsiders and newcomers as ‘not one of us’ are willing to go to preserve their privilege.” —Kirkus Reviews “Those with a taste for Southern gothic will be satisfied.” —Publishers Weekly “The past breaks open with a bang.” —Fresh Fiction “Secrets, betrayal, murder—Debbie Herbert weaves a multi-layered tale of small-town intrigue with unique and unforgettable characters. Don’t miss Not One of Us!” —Debra Webb, Amazon Charts and USA Today bestselling author “What a pleasure it was to surrender to Not One of Us, chock full of thick, humid atmosphere and authentic, vivid characters, and let it pull me into its deep-South trance of unsolved murders, dirty cops, and a family torn apart by guilt, and their own desperate need for each other. Engima is a town you’re going to want to visit over and over again. This book’s an absolute knockout.” —Emily Carpenter, bestselling author of Reviving the Hawthorn Sisters “Intensely satisfying, Not One of Us is a deftly woven tale rich with southern secrets and lies that will keep you hooked late into the night.” —Eliza Maxwell, bestselling author of The Unremembered Girl “An eerie, atmospheric psychological thriller that’s fast-paced, darkly twisted, and satisfyingly saturated with family secrets. Not One of Us is everything I want in a Debbie Herbert southern gothic.” —Eve Silver, award-winning author of the Dark Gothic series “Compulsive and addictive. An atmospheric and gripping tale that kept me turning pages well into the night.” —Charlotte Byrd, bestselling romantic suspense author of over a million books sold

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Book SynopsisA sleight of hand. A trick up the sleeve. A call for the dead. It’s all part of the game in this twisty tale by the bestselling author of After Alice Fell. New Hampshire, 1877. Maud Price was once a celebrated child medium, a true believer in lifting the veil between the living and the dead. Now penniless, her guiding spirits gone, the so-called “Maid of Light” is desperate to regain her reputation—but doing so means putting her faith in deceiving others. Clementine Watkins, known in spiritualist circles for her bag of tricks and utmost discretion, creates the sort of theatrics that can fill Maud’s parlor again, and with each misdirection, Maud’s fame is restored. But her guilt is a heavy burden. And the ruse has become a risk. Others are plotting to expose the fraud, and Clem can’t allow anyone—even Maud—to jeopardize the fortune the hoax has made her. When the deception hints at a possible murder, Maud realizes how dangerous a game she’s playing. But to return to the light from which she’s strayed, she must first survive the darkness created by Clem’s smoke and mirrors.Trade Review“Kim Taylor Blakemore’s The Deception captures the fascinating world of nineteenth-century mediums in this story of intrigue, deceit, and the otherworldly. Historical fiction lovers will delight in the wonderfully captured details and the mystical elements at the center of this novel. A must-read!” —Lydia Kang, author of The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding “Delightfully wry as it is unsettling, The Deception had me turning pages at a blistering pace. Blakemore bewitches with her shrewd, incisive look at the Spiritualist movement and two down-on-their-luck heroines bound in an unlikely partnership. Teeming with intrigue, seething jealousies, and theatrical atmosphere. Absolutely impossible to put down!” —Paulette Kennedy, author of Parting the Veil and The Witch of Tin Mountain “A sinuous tale of deception amidst the fascinating backdrop of post-Civil War Spiritualism, The Deception seethes from the very first sentence all the way through to its riveting conclusion. Blakemore, a modern day Brontë, gleams in dark, moldering, claustrophobic places.” —Robert Gwaltney, award-winning author of The Cicada Tree “Suspense, romance, spirits, both living and dead—The Deception has it all, as well as a loving recreation of late nineteenth century New England. Kim Taylor Blakemore has created the kind of spooky, riveting story readers of this genre will love. The Deception delivers all the thrills and chills of a great séance, in a world where ghosts walk the earth, and the truly evil spirits may just be the ones in your own house.” —Carole Lawrence, author of Cleopatra’s Dagger “With a magician’s brilliant sleight of hand, Kim Taylor Blakemore weaves an intricate plot that is at once playful, moody, sinister, and deliciously clever. The Deception crackles with intrigue and richly detailed historical atmosphere.” —Liza Nash Taylor, author of In All Good Faith

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Book SynopsisAn Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestseller. From USA Today bestselling author Debbie Herbert comes a thrilling story of murder and madness set in the darkest corner of Alabama. Everyone thinks fourteen-year-old Violet is a murderer. After a summer-night swim with her best friend, Ainsley, Violet is found confused, wandering in the forest—and Ainsley’s never seen again. But without a body, murder charges won’t stick, so Violet is sent away. After more than a decade in a psychiatric ward, Violet returns to her broken-down hometown of Normal, Alabama, to claim her dead mother’s inheritance and help her overworked sister care for their unstable, alcoholic father. Violet, still haunted by that night eleven years ago, endures horrific flashbacks and twisted hallucinations while townsfolk spit accusations—and for all she knows, they’re right. As the summer heats up, details of Ainsley’s fate appear like a beast’s wild eyes, watching in the darkness, and grim revelations about Violet’s family threaten to devour her. Already on the edge of madness, Violet must fight to keep her sanity long enough for the terrible truth to burst from the cold, dark waters.

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Book SynopsisIn the isolated estate she’s found the perfect getaway. But there’s no escaping the past in this chilling novel from the bestselling author of The Unremembered Girl. Filmmaker Tessa Shepherd helped free a man she believed was wrongly imprisoned for murder. When he kills again, Tessa’s life is upended. She’s reeling with guilt, her reputation destroyed. Worse, Tessa’s mother has unexpectedly passed away, and her sister, Margot, turns on her after tensions from their past escalate. Hounded by a bullying press, Tessa needs an escape. That’s when she learns of a strange inheritance bequeathed by her mother: a derelict and isolated estate known as Fallbrook. It seems like the perfect refuge. A crumbling monument to a gruesome history, the mansion has been abandoned by all but two elderly sisters retained as caretakers. They are also guardians of all its mysteries. As the house starts revealing its dark secrets, Tessa must face her fears and right the wrongs of her past to save herself and her relationship with Margot. But nothing and no one at Fallbrook are what they seem.Trade Review“Suspense fans will be satisfied.” —Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisCandide, the illegitimate nephew of a German baron and student of eternal optimist Pangloss, is living a simple and sheltered life in “the best of all possible worlds.” But when Candide falls in love with the wrong woman, his uncle’s young daughter, he is exiled from the baron’s castle and suffers great tragedy and catastrophe, which leaves him disillusioned and questioning the goodness of the universe. Penned in just three days—and published in secret because of its blasphemous and seditious nature—Voltaire’s legendary satire deftly skewers religious, romantic, and political naïveté with an acerbic and ribald wit that delights to this day. Revised edition: Previously published as Candide, this edition of Candide (AmazonClassics Edition) includes editorial revisions.

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Book SynopsisSometimes the road to forgiveness and restoration can be a rocky one. Set in Chicago and Baltimore in 1944 with flashbacks to the 1920s, JACOB'S BELL follows Jacob MacCallum on his arduous journey to redemption. At one time, Jacob had it all: wealth, a wonderful family and a position as one of the most respected businessmen in Chicago. Then he made some bad decisions and all that changed. For the past twenty years he lived in an alcohol-induced haze, riddled with guilt for the dreadful things he had done to his family and his role in the untimely death of his wife. Estranged from his children and penniless, he was in and out of jail, on the street and jumping freight trains for transportation. Realizing he needed a drastic change, Jacob embarked on a journey to find his children, seek their forgiveness, and restore his relationship with them. Befriended by a pastor at a Salvation Army mission, he struggled to transform his life. Yet finally he overcame his demons, but not without a fair number of setbacks. Jacob became a Salvation Army Bell Ringer at Christmastime. While ringing his bell on a street corner one snowy day, he met a young girl who, through a series of strange coincidences, led him back to his children and facilitated Jacob's forgiveness just in time for Christmas. Author John Snyder pens a story of love, hardship, and reconciliation that will leave readers filled with Christmas joy.Trade ReviewOne of the most incredible stories I have run across for a long time... a beautiful story that embodies the true meaning of Christmas. - Dr. Jerry Fuller, WGTS-FM - Silver Spring, MDJacob's Bell takes readers on a journey of success & failure, love & hate, bitterness & repentance. This tale promises to become a Christmas classic that transports each of us to many familiar and unfamiliar places all the while calling us to a place of forgiveness and restoration. Jacob's Bell is a gift that reminds us of the TRUE meaning of Christmas and the forgiveness that comes when we trust in God's indescribable gift...his Son Jesus. Jacob's Bell will hold a special place in our family library and Christmas tradition! - Jeff Sheets, Former President, Echolight Studios --Franklin, TNHere is a story that deals with the real meaning of Christmas. This is the kind of story you that you could sit around with the entire family and read. It's very entertaining-very heartwarming. - Doug Griffith, WAYM-FM - Nashville, TN

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Book SynopsisCombining romance with the darker side of human nature, this novel opens with the hanging of an ex-World War I soldier for involuntary murder. The element of violence blends with a love story involving the late soldier's sister, who seeks to possess the life of her brother's closest friend, John Hughes. Hughes then finds himself drawn into the circle affected by the hanging, contemplating murdering the sister himself. Capturing the terror of a war abroad as it penetrates the tranquility of a small town, this tale illustrates how a man's death can haunt those who endure his execution.

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Book SynopsisA story of a boy and his dog and their adventures, which will appeal to the many children who are dog lovers. It is also a sensitive story of love and loss, and of making a new life for oneself. Although it was first published seventy years ago, only a few details (such as clothing) really indicate that it is not a contemporary story. Luke is not yet 12 when his father dies of a heart attack, leaving him an orphan. Small for his age and something of a loner, he moves from the city to the country to live with his aunt and uncle. He is naturally homesick and grieving the loss of his father. His well-meaning and kindly aunt and uncle do their best for him; but his only real friend and comfort becomes Dan, the farm's elderly, one-eyed collie. Practical Uncle Henry considers Dan useless now that he is too old to be a watch-dog and decides that Dan should be "put down." Luke, whose sense of dignity and loyalty transcend the practical, frantically tries to save Dan's life, providing for heart-racing suspense as he makes his stand against the expedient world of adults.Trade Review“A single vision encompasses these people in all their self-contradictions, betrayals, nobility, bewilderment… every pattern leads out into a larger atmosphere of mercy and wonder.” —Margaret Avison “The story poses in opposition disinterested love and practical use and teaches how ‘love’ must be flawed by ‘use,’ and how love must be preserved in a world set to destroy it.” —Commonwealth"Literature I highly recommend it for middle school children, but I would recommend parents read it too, so they can talk about it with the young readers, can explain how things once were with people and pets - and sometimes still are." —Library Thing

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Book Synopsis“The female novelist of the nineteenth century may have frequently encountered opposition and interference from the male literary establishment, but the female short story writer, working in a genre that was seen as less serious and less profitable, found her work to be actively encouraged.” ― from the Introduction.During the nineteenth century women writers finally began to be as popular―and as respected―as their male counterparts. We are all familiar with the novels of Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot and the Bröntes. Less familiar is the short fiction of the period; yet a great many nineteenth-century stories by women―both famous and obscure―retain in full measure their power to fascinate and to entertain. For this anthology Glennis Stephenson brings together stories by both British and North American writers; by such established luminaries as Shelley, Gaskell and Kate Chopin; and by lesser-known writers such as the Anglo-Indian writer Flora Steel, the Afro-American Alice Dunbar Nelson and the Canadian Annie Howells Frèchette. The result is an anthology that will be as interesting to the general reader as it will be useful to the student. Stephenson provides background information on all authors, together with a general introduction.Table of ContentsIntroductionLouisa May Alcott / A Whisper in the DarkMary Elizabeth Braddon / Good Lady DucayneKate Chopin / The StormIsabella Valancy Crawford / ExtraditedElla D’Arcy / The Pleasure-PilgrimRebecca Harding Davis / AnneAlice Dunbar-Nelson / Sister JosephaGeorge Egerton / Gone UnderAnnie Howells Frechette / A Widow in the WildernessMary Wilkins Freeman / A New England NunElizabeth Gaskell / Lizzie LeighElizabeth Gaskell / The Old Nurse’s StoryCharlotte Perkins Gilman / The Yellow WallpaperSarah Orne Jewett / A White HeronVernon Lee / DioneaL.M. Montgomery / The Red RoomMargaret Oliphant / A Story of a Wedding TourMary Shelley / The ParvenueHarriet Prescott Spofford / CircumstanceFlora Annie Steel / Mussumât Kirpo’s DollConstance Fenimore Woolson / FelipaFurther Reading

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Book SynopsisWilkie Collins is best known for his great mystery The Moonstone and The Woman in White—and for a life as sensational as are those novels. (The writer who famously advised other novelists to ‘make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry, make ‘em wait’ is now known to have kept entire households in different parts of England going simultaneously.) Yet Collins also wrote a succession of extraordinarily powerful novels of private life; of these The Evil Genius is among the finest.The story is motivated by the attraction between Herbert Linley and the woman he hires as governess for his child Kitty—the long suffering Sydney Westerfield. As one expects with Collins, the story is driven forward with deft assurance. Yet he also treats the theme of adultery and divorce in a manner quite unconventional for his time—and, remarkably, he manages to draw readers into a sympathetic understanding of both of the main female characters: the offending governess and the aggrieved wife.The Evil Genius was a very considerable success when first published; indeed, it brought Collins more financially than any of his other works. Over a century later its sinews retain the strength to speak powerfully to the reader; lively and intelligent, it is perhaps the finest of Collins’ later novels.Trade Review“Collins’ boldness in drawing sympathetic portraits of both the wife and ‘the other woman’ is astonishingly modern. The novel well deserves to be brought back into print.” — Catherine Peters, Oxford UniversityTable of ContentsIntroductionFootnotesA Note on the TextSelected BibliographyWilliam Wilkie Collins: A Brief ChronologyThe Evil GeniusAppendix: Contemporary DocumentsExplanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisDespite the title, Dickens's portrayal of early industrial society here is less relentlessly grim than that in novels by contemporaries such as Elizabeth Gaskell or Charles Kingsley. Hard Times weaves the tale of Thomas Gradgrind, a hard-headed politician who raises his children Louisa and Tom without love, of Sissy the circus girl with love to spare who is deserted and adopted into their family, and of the honest mill worker Stephen Blackpool and the bombastic mill owner Josiah Bounderby. The key contrasts created are finally less those between wealth and poverty, or capitalists and workers, than those between the head and the heart, between "Fact"—the cold, rationalistic approach to life that Dickens associates with utilitarianism—and "Fancy"—a warmth of the imagination and of the feelings, which values individuals above ideas.Concentrated and compressed in its narrative form, Hard Times is at once a fable, a novel of ideas, and a social novel that seeks to engage directly and analytically with political issues. The central conflicts raised in the text, between government's duty not to intervene to guarantee the liberty of the subject, and between quantitative and qualitative assessments of progress, remain unresolved today in the late or post industrial stages of liberal democracies.Trade ReviewGraham Law's edition of Hard Times is the most useful edition for teaching Dickens that I have seen. Its text is authoritative, and the range of contextual documents included gives readers an opportunity to situate the work in the discussions of industrialization and labor as they took place in nineteenth-century England." - Barry V. Qualls, Rutgers University"This beautifully produced edition combines a freshly written, informative introduction with helpful and well-judged notes. Particularly welcome is the wealth of documentary material and examples carefully chosen from other contemporary fiction, enabling readers to place Hard Times within its full Victorian context. This is an excellent edition—clear, authoritative and stimulating." - Kate Flint, University of OxfordTable of ContentsIntroductionAcknowledgementsA Note on the TextSelect BibliographyCharles Dickens: A Brief ChronologyHARD TIMES: FOR THESE TIMESAppendices: Contemporary DocumentsAppendix A: The Composition of the Novel Household Words Partners’ Agreement Announcements in Household Words Dickens’s Working Memoranda Mentions in Dickens’s Letters Appendix B: Contemporary Reviews of the Novel Athanaeum (12 August 1854) Examiner (9 September 1854) Gentleman’s Magazine (September 1854) British Quarterly Review (October 1854) Rambler (October 1854) South London Athanaeum and Institution Magazine (October 1854) Westminster Review (October 1854) Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine (April 1855) Appendix C: On Industrialization: Commentary Thomas Carlyle “Signs of the Times,” Edinburgh Review (June 1829) Chartism (1839) Past and Present (1843) Andrew Ure, The Philosophy of Manufactures (1836) P. Gaskell, Artisans and Machinery (1836) J.S. Mill “Bentham,” London and Westminster Review (August 1838) Principles of Political Economy(1848) Arthur Helps, The Claims of Labour (1844) Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 (1845) Charles Dickens, “On Strike,” Household Words (11 February 1854) Henry Morley, “Ground in the Mill,” Household Words (22 April 1854) Harriet Martineau, The Factory Controversy: A Warning Against Meddling Legislation (1855) W.B. Hodgson, “On the Importance of the Study of Economic Science as a Branch of Education for all Classes,” Lectures in Education Delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain (1855) John Ruskin, “Unto This Last,” Cornhill Magazine (August 1860) Appendix D: On Industrialization: Fiction Harriet Martineau, A Manchester Strike (Illustrations of Political Economy No. 7) (1832) Frances Trollope, Life and Adventures of Michael Armstrong (1840) “Charlotte Elizabeth,” Helen Fleetwood (1841) Elizabeth Stone, William Langshawe, the Cotton Lord (1842) Benjamin Disraeli Coningsby (1844) (i) Coningsby (1844) (ii) Sybil (1845) Elizabeth Gaskell Mary Barton (1848) (i) Mary Barton (1848) (ii) North and South (1855) Charlotte Bronte, Shirley (1849) Charles Kingsley Yeast (1850) Alton Locke (1850) Fanny Mayne, Jane Rutherford, or The Miners’ Strike (1854) Explanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisBeset by jealousy over an admirer of his wife's, Lord Lodore has come with his daughter Ethel to the American wilderness; his wife Cornelia, meanwhile, has remained with her controlling mother in England. When he finally brings himself to attempt a return, Lodore is killed en route in a duel. Ethel does return to England, and the rest of the book tells the story of her marriage to the troubled and impoverished Villiers (whom she stands by through a variety of tribulations) and her long journey to a reconciliation with her mother.Lodore's scope of character and of idea is matched by its narrative range and variety of setting; the novel's highly dramatic story-line moves at different points to Italy, to Illinois, and to Niagara Falls. And in this edition, which includes a wealth of documents from the period, the reader is provided with a sense of the full context out of which Shelley's achievement emerged.Trade Review“Not the one book author that Frankenstein sometimes make her seem, Mary Shelley was a complex and committed social thinker whose novels reveal her deep concern with the impact of the emerging Victorian social dynamic upon the lives of women. While Lodore reflects Shelley's conviction of the importance to the new bourgeois family model of the ‘genuine affections of the human heart,' it shows us too, in the person of the remarkable Fanny Derham, the consequences for a free-thinking and independent woman who has learned ‘to be afraid of nothing.' Vargo's splendid edition resituates Shelley within the 1830s milieu of successful literary women like Landon and Hemans who understood their readers and their marked, and within a culture that was moving rapidly away from the exuberant Romanticism of only two decades earlier. With its illuminating critical introduction, and its extensive contextualizing appendices, this exceptional edition will alert readers anew to the complexity and sophistication of Shelley's mind and art.” - Stephen C. Behrendt, University of Nebraska"This volume marks yet another excellent addition to Broadview's expanding list of literary writings that have long been out of print." - Nineteenth-Century Literature"Vargo has provided a much-needed, comprehensive edition of the text." - University of Toronto QuarterlyTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionA Note on the TextMary Shelley: A Brief ChronologyLodoreAppendix A: Mary Shelley—Woman of Letters “The Bride of Modern Italy” (1824) From Review of The Loves of the Poets (1829) From Review of Cloudesley; A Tale (1830) From “Ugo Foscolo,” Lives of the Most Eminent Literary and Scientific Men of Italy, Spain, and Portugal (1837) Appendix B: Some Literary Contexts George Gordon, Lord Byron, from Lara (1814) The Tempest and Mary Wollstonecraft’s The Female Reader (1797) Thomas Campbell, from Gertrude of Wyoming (1809) Edward John Trelawny from Adventures of a Younger Son (1831) Appendix C: Illinois and Duelling Morris Birkbeck, from Letters from Illinois (1818) William Cobbett, from A Year’s Residence in America (1818-19) Frances Wright, from Views of Society and Manners in America (1821) William Godwin, from Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, Third Edition (1798) James Fenimore Cooper, from Notions of the Americans (1828) Appendix D: Domesticity and Women’s Education Mary Wollstonecraft, from Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787) Mary Wollstonecraft, from Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) William Godwin, from The Enquirer (1797) Anna Jameson, from Characteristics of Women (1832) Sarah Stickney Ellis, from The Women of England (1839) Appendix E: Contemporary Reviews of Lodore From The Athenæum From The Examiner From Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country From Leigh Hunt’s London Journal From The Literary Gazette From New Monthly Magazine From The Sun Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn 1906, two years after the appearance of her best-known novel, The Imperialist, Duncan published its darker twin, an Anglo-Indian novel which returns to political themes but with a deeper and more clinical irony than in her previous work. Set in Authority is about illusions: the imperial illusions of those who rule and are ruled; the illusions of families about their members; the illusions of men and women about each other. The setting moves between the political drawing rooms of London and the English station at Pilaghur in the province of Ghoom, where the murder of a native by an English soldier changes the lives of a cast of ruthlessly observed characters.Duncan, who grew up in Ontario, led a remarkably varied life, working as a political correspondent (writing for the Washington Post, the Toronto Globe and the Montreal Star) and living in India for over twenty years. She is increasingly being regarded as deserving of a place among the first rank of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century novelists; the re-publication of Set in Authority will do nothing to dispel that view.Trade Review“This valuable edition locates Duncan’s novel about the Anglo-Indian community at the height of the British Empire in its socio-political, historical context—one that foregrounds Duncan’s frank and insightful evocation of the imperialist project in this and other novels.” — Sukeshi Kamra, Chair, English Dept., Okanagan University CollegeTable of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionSet in AuthorityNotesAppendix I: ViceroysAppendix II: Contemporary Reviews of Set in AuthorityA Note on the TextVariants in the 1906 New York EditionSara Jeanette Duncan: A Brief Chronology

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Book SynopsisBrown is often called the first American novelist. Originally published in 1799, Ormond was inspired by enlightenment philosophers and Gothic writers. The novel engages with many of the period’s popular debates about women’s education, marriage, and the morality of violence, while the plot revolves around the Gothic themes of seduction, murder, incest, impersonation, romance and disease. Set in post-revolutionary Philadelphia, Ormond examines the prospects of the struggling nation by tracing the experiences of Constantia, a young virtuous republican who struggles to survive when her father’s business is ruined by a confidence man, and her friends and neighbors are killed by a yellow fever epidemic.Trade Review“In her marvelous new edition of Ormond, Mary Chapman has given scholars, teachers and students of Charles Brockden Brown what they have longed for: an affordable paperback edition complete with a trenchant, historically-textured introduction to Brown’s least known, and most underrated major novel. Chapman’s exhaustive labour in both the classic and contemporary criticism of the early American novel, coupled with her thorough knowledge of the philosophical and political pamphlet literature of the early national period, afford the modern reader the very sort of ‘thick description’ so often lost in considering the work of America’s first ‘professional’ novelist.” ― Julia Stern, Northwestern UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionA Note on the TextCharles Brockden Brown: A Brief ChronologyOrmond; or, The Secret WitnessNotes on the AppendicesAppendix A: Judith Sargent Murray’s “On the Equality of the Sexes” (1790)Appendix B: From John Robison’s Proofs of a Conspiracy Against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, Carried on in the Secret Meetings of Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies (1798)Appendix C: Selections from Jedidiah Morse’s “A Sermon Exhibiting the Present Dangers, and Consequent Duties of the Citizens of the United States” (1799)Works Cited and Recommended Reading

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Book SynopsisGeorge Gissing’s The Odd Women dramatizes key issues relating to class and gender in late-Victorian culture: the changing relationship between the sexes, the social impact of ‘odd’ or ‘redundant’ women, the cultural impact of ‘the new woman,’ and the opportunities for and conditions of employment in the expanding service sector of the economy. At the heart of these issues as many late Victorians saw them was a problem of the imbalance in the ratio of men to women in the population. There were more females than males, which meant that more and more women would be left unmarried; they would be ‘odd’ or ‘redundant,’ and would be forced to be independent and to find work to support themselves. In the Broadview edition, Gissing’s text is carefully annotated and accompanied by a range of documents from the period that help to lay out the context in which the book was written.In Gissing’s story, Virginia Madden and her two sisters are confronted upon the death of their father with sudden impoverishment. Without training for employment, and desperate to maintain middle-class respectability, they face a daunting struggle. In Rhoda Nunn, a strong feminist, Gissing also presents a strong character who draws attention overtly to the issues behind the novel. The Odd Women is one of the most important social novels of the late nineteenth century.Trade Review“When it comes to the complexities of everyday life in late-Victorian London, there is no better guide than Gissing and no better Gissing than The Odd Women. And now, in Arlene Young’s carefully edited and annotated edition, we have the definitive guide to Gissing’s novel. Students will also find the historical documents gathered in this volume an invaluable resource in the study of the “woman question” and the sociology of work in the 1890s.” — Stephen Arata, University of Virginia“Broadview’s enterprise is especially welcome in the case of The Odd Women, Gissing’s second most commonly studied novel. [This edition] deserves to become the text of choice for teachers—especially given its modest price.” — The Gissing JournalTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionA Note on the TextGeorge Gissing: A Brief ChronologyThe Odd WomenAppendix A: Contemporary Reviews Glasgow Herald 20 April 1893 Saturday Review 29 April 1893 Athenaeum 27 May 1893 Pall Mall Gazette 29 May 1893 Nation (New York) 13 July 1893 Illustrated London News (Clementia Black) 5 August 1893 Appendix B: Attitudes Towards Women and Marriage in Victorian Culture Sarah Ellis, from The Daughters of England (1842) Alfred Lord Tennyson, from The Princess (1847) Coventry Patmore, from The Angel in the House: “The Rose of the World” (1854) Thomas Henry Huxley, from “Emancipation—Black and White,” Reader (20 May 1865) John Ruskin, from “Of Queens’ Gardens,” in Sesame and Lilies (1865) John Stuart Mill, from The Subjection of Women (1869) Mona Caird, from “Marriage,” Westminster Review (1888) Appendix C: Debate over the “Woman Question” Grant Allen, from “Plain Words on the Woman Question,” Fortnightly Review (October 1889) Bernard Shaw, from “The Womanly Woman,” The Quintessence of Ibsenism (1891) Eliza Lynn Linton, from “The Wild Women: As Politicians,” Nineteenth Century (July 1891) Eliza Lynn Linton, from “The Wild Women: As Insurgents,” Nineteenth Century (October 1891) Mona Caird, “A Defense of the So-Called ‘Wild Women’,” Nineteenth Century (May 1891) From “Character Note: The New Woman” Cornhill Magazine (October 1894) Nat Arling, “What is the Role of the ‘New Woman?’” Westminster Review (November 1898) Appendix D: Women and Paid Employment: The Limitations of Aspirations and the Actualities Charlotte Brontë, from Shirley (1849) From “The Disputed Question,” English Woman’s Journal (August 1858) Evelyn March Phillips, from “The Working Lady in London,” Fortnightly Review (August 1892) Clara Collet, from “The Employment of Women,” Report to the Royal Commission on Labour (1893) Frances H. Low, from “How Poor Ladies Live,” Nineteenth Century (March 1897) Eliza Orme, from “How Poor Ladies Live: A Reply,” Nineteenth Century (April 1897) Appendix E: Conditions of Work for Men in the White-Collar Sector James Fitzjames Stephen, from “Gentlemen” Cornhill Magazine (March 1862) B.O. Orchard, from The Clerks of Liverpool (1871) Charles Edward Parsons, from Clerks: their Position and Advancement (1876) Thomas Sutherst, from Death and Disease Behind the Counter (1884) H.G. Wells, from Kipps (1905) H.G. Wells, from Experiment in Autobiography (1934) Appendix F: Map of London (1892)Selected Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn the mid-eighteenth century, Sarah Fielding (1710-68) was the second most popular English woman novelist, rivaled only by Eliza Haywood. The History of Ophelia, the last of her seven novels, is an often comic epistolary fiction, narrated by the heroine to an unnamed female correspondent in the form of a single protracted letter.This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction and valuable appendices that contain contemporary reviews of the novel, Richard Corbould's illustrations to the Novelist’s Magazine edition, and excerpts from Sarah Fielding’s Remarks on Clarissa.Trade ReviewWith this edition of Sarah Fielding's popular final novel, Peter Sabor widens our access to the work of this respected and path-breaking writer of the mid-eighteenth century, until recently remembered, if at all, as Henry's sister and as 'the Author of David Simple', her first novel. The pleasures of this entertaining narrative of a female Welsh noble savage, kidnapped and transposed into a sophisticated and corrupt English society by a rakish nobleman, are heightened by Sabor's expert placement of the novel in the introduction and appendices, particularly with respect to the latest biographical scholarship and suggestive contemporary parallels such as Françoise de Graffigny's 1748 Letters Written by a Peruvian Princess and Frances Burney's 1778 Evelina." - Betty Schellenberg, Simon Fraser University"Peter Sabor deserves high praise for this beautiful edition of Sarah Fielding's The History of Ophelia. Sabor discusses Fielding's work in fiction, drama, and criticism, and provides a rich selection of contemporary documents and illustrations. Most striking are the questions he poses and answers. Did Fielding rework an unfinished manuscript by her brother Henry? How may Ophelia write back to Samuel Richardson's Clarissa? If the novel looks forward to gothic fiction, how may it subject the notion of gothic terror to comic deflation? In all, this edition makes an essential contribution to our current debates about and growing interest in Sarah Fielding." - Carolyn Woodward, University of New MexicoTable of ContentsAcknowledgementsIntroductionSarah Fielding: A Brief ChronologyA Note on the TextThe History of OpheliaAppendix A: Contemporary Reviews The Monthly Review (April 1760) The Critical Review (April 1760) The British Magazine (April 1760) Appendix B: Material added to the Dublin Edition (1763)Appendix C: Richard Corbould’s Illustrations to the Novelist’s Magazine Edition (1785)Appendix D: A Victorian Critic of Ophelia: Clementina Black’s Essay of 1888Appendix E: Sarah Fielding’s Remarks on Clarissa (1749)Appendix F: From Françoise de Graffigny’s Letters Written by a Peruvian Princess (1748)Appendix G: From Frances Burney’s Evelina (1778)Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis 1886 novel may be Hardy’s most intense and gripping narrative. We first see the central character, Michael Henchard, as a drunken and unemployed hay-trusser who sells his wife Susan and his daughter Elizabeth-Jane at a fair. When he is eventually reunited with the two, he has become the contented and prosperous mayor of a thriving market town. But the downward spiral begins. Henchard’s fall is hastened by a series of coincidences and quarrels, and by his own jealousy and pride. Though the perspective on events that Hardy gives us is often that of other characters (Elizabeth-Jane in particular), Henchard remains the central focus; in the end he is a tragic figure, bankrupt, emotionally broken and an outcast from society.Prepared by one of the world’s leading Hardy scholars, this edition includes a critical introduction and a range of background materials from the period. Historical documents (concerning such topics as the corn laws and the practice of wife-selling) and contemporary reviews help set this remarkable novel in the context out of which it emerged.Trade Review“Of all the great Victorian novelists, Hardy is the one who consistently requires most annotation and careful contextual placing. The density of regional reference, the often complex composition, publication and reception histories, the author’s vexed relationship with his age—all call for tactful but learned editing. The noted Victorian scholar Norman Page supplies this admirably for Broadview Press’s Mayor of Casterbridge. This is the edition I shall use and prescribe in the future.” — John Sutherland, Professor Emeritus, University College LondonTable of ContentsPrefaceIntroductionComposition and PublicationSetting: Time and HistorySetting: Town and Country“A Man of Character”Narrative Technique: Pictorialism and CircularityLanguage and StyleA Note on the TextThomas Hardy: A Brief ChronologyThe Life and Death of the Mayor of Castlebridge: A Story of a Man of CharacterAppendix A: Dialect Words and ExpressionsAppendix B: Place-namesAppendix C: Wife-sellingAppendix D: The Corn LawsAppendix E: Prince Albert in DorchesterAppendix F: Maumbury Ring and the Execution of Mary ChanningAppendix G: The Skimmington RideAppendix H: Henchard’s BankruptcyAppendix I: The First Book of SamuelAppendix J: Hardy’s “General Preface”Appendix K: Contemporary ReviewsWorks Cited and Recommended Reading

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