Contemporary Fiction Books

Book SynopsisRead the seminal bestselling novel that changed the face of British fiction and inspired Danny Boyle's film.'The best book ever written by man or woman... choose sitting oan a couch watching mind-numbing and spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fuckin junk food intae yir mooth.Trade ReviewAbhorrently dark and raw to the core, Trainspotting is an insight into one of life’s many ugly personalities — addiction and the accompanying domino effect of grim inevitabilities… Irvine Welsh’s novel will always be a cult classic. -- Tori Chalmers * Culture Trip *Welsh’s skill as a storyteller is undeniable, bringing both wit and compassion to a grim subject matter. If you liked Danny Boyle’s film adaptation, you’ll love the original. -- Maddy Searle * i *The voice of punk, grown up, grown wiser and grown eloquent * Sunday Times *The best book ever written by man or woman... Deserves to sell more copies than the bible * Rebel Inc *Welsh writes with a skill, wit and compassion that amounts to genius. He is the best thing that has happened to British writing for decades * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisCoetzee – soon to be a major film starring Mark Rylance, Robert Pattinson and Johnny DeppFor decades the Magistrate has run the affairs of a tiny frontier settlement, ignoring the impending war between the barbarians and the Empire, whose servant he is.Trade ReviewBrilliant . . . The story of an imaginary Empire, set in an unspecified place and time . . . A realistic fable, at once exciting and economical . . . A distinguished piece of fiction * New York Times *A writer of formidable strength. His novel is important not only for its theme but also for the beauty and clarity of his style * Daily Telegraph *I have known few authors who can evoke such a wilderness in the heart of man . . . Coetzee knows the elusive terror of Kafka * Sunday Times *J.M. Coetzee’s vision goes to the nerve centre of being. What he finds there is more than most people will ever know about themselves, and he conveys it with a brilliant writer’s mastery of tension and eleganceA remarkable and original book

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Book SynopsisSince the ascendancy of the Taliban the lives of Mosheen and his beautiful wife, Zunaira, have been gradually destroyed. Mosheen''s dream of becoming a diplomat has been shattered and Zunaira can no longer even appear on the streets of Kabul unveiled. Atiq is a jailer who guards those who have been condemned to death; the darkness of prison and the wretchedness of his job have seeped into his soul. Atiq''s wife, Musarrat, is suffering from an illness no doctor can cure. Yet, the lives of these four people are about to become inexplicably intertwined, through death and imprisonment to passion and extraordinary self-sacrifice. The Swallows of Kabul is an astounding and elegiac novel of four people struggling to hold on to their humanity in a place where pleasure is a deadly sin and death has become routine.Trade ReviewA stiflingly powerful evocation of a country in which war has found a homeland -- Chris Power * The Times *Inspiring... Evokes the feeling of a nation's collective suffocation * Daily Telegraph *Harrowing... Remarkable... Khadra's simple, elegant prose, finely drawn characters and chilling insights prepare the way for the terrible climax... A superb meditation on the fate of the Afghan people * Publishers Weekly *A powerful human story * Financial Times *Intense, elegant, despairing prose...deeply affecting * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisIn Gatestown, Texas, twenty-nine-year-old Karen awaits her execution on Death Row. In New York, Franny, a doctor the same age, plans her wedding and tries to resist the urge to run. In Austin, Celia, a beautiful young librarian, mourns her lost husband. Over the course of one summer, the three women''s disparate lives intertwine. Karen, Franny and Celia all struggle to find their place in a world where nothing is sure, as they move towards one night that will change them all forever. A heart-stopping page-turner about love and forgiveness, Sleep Toward Heaven is unforgettable. Praise for Sleep Toward Heaven''Ward''s no-nonsense, unflinching prose and her complex but never confounding structure make this novel very tough to put down. But her greater triumph is her ability to humanize all these characters.''Pam Houston, O The Oprah Magazine''It''s funny and sad and redemptive. Read it now. Thank me later.''Jennifer Weiner, the New York Times bestselling author of Good in Bed and In Her STrade ReviewIntimate...unflinching. Very tough to put down. * Pam Houston, "O" The Oprah Magazine *It's funny and sad and redemptive. Read it now. Thank me later. * Jennifer Weiner *How do we forgive the unforgivable? First-time novelist Ward explores this question with a delicate blend of compassion, humour and realism...Her spare but psychologically rich portraits are utterly convincing. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisTom Sharpe was born in 1928 and educated at Lancing College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He did his national service in the Marines before moving to South Africa in 1951, where he did social work before teaching in Natal. He had a photographic studio in Pietermaritzburg from 1957 until 1961, and from 1963 to 1972 he was a lecturer in History at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology.He is the author of sixteen bestselling novels, including Porterhouse Blue and Blott on the Landscape, which were serialised on television, and Wilt, which was made into a film. In 1986 he was awarded the XXIIIème Grand Prix de l'Humour Noir Xavier Forneret, and in 2010 he was awarded the inaugural BBK La Risa de Bilbao Prize. Tom Sharpe died in June 2013 at his home in northern Spain.Trade ReviewHas all the ingredients of a classic Sharpe novel - grotesque characters, outlandish plot, scabrous dialogue * The Times *Dynamic, fertile, knockabout energy * Evening Standard *The best of British farce-masters is back * Mail on Sunday *A novelist who has broken out of the pack, established a wholly distinctive style ... such a keen eye for the ridiculous and a marvellous ability to puncture it * Scotsman *

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Book Synopsis''So charming'' Marian KeyesFrom the highly-acclaimed author of SMALL PLEASURES - winner of the 2022 British Book Awards Page-TurnerWhen aspiring novelist Christopher Flinders drops out of university to write his masterpiece (in between shifts as a fish delivery man and builder''s mate), his family is sceptical. But when he is taken up by the London editor Owen Goddard and his charming wife Diana it seems success is just around the corner. Christopher''s life has so far been rather short of charm - growing up in an unlovely suburb, with unambitious parents and a semi-vagrant brother - and he is captivated by his generous and cultured mentors. However, on the brink of realising his dream, Christopher makes a desperate misjudgement which results in disaster for all involved. Shattered, he withdraws from London and buries himself in rural Yorkshire, embracing a career and a private life marked by mediocrity. TweTrade Review"Smart, astute and very funny" Daily Mail "A stunningly well written and elegant book" She "Beautifully observed and achingly funny" Woman & Home "An enjoyable and thought-provoking read" Easy Living "Original and addictive ... reminds us of the rare pleasure that an intelligent tale with a happy ending brings" -- Amanda Craig Daily Telegraph

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Book Synopsis''Her brilliance in capturing the ripples on the surface of family life gives her a claim to be the Jane Austen of our age'' Daily MailHaving sacked her handyman, newly-widowed Mrs Emerson finds a replacement in Elizabeth, a lanky, awkward girl. The Emersons, with their seven adult children, have a reputation for craziness, and Elizabeth finds herself drawn into their disorderly lives against her will. But in the end it is hard to tell whether she is a victim of the needy Emersons, or the de facto ruler of the family.**ANNE TYLER HAS SOLD OVER 8 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE**''Anne Tyler takes the ordinary, the small, and makes them sing'' Rachel Joyce''She knows all the secrets of the human heart'' Monica Ali ''A masterly author'' Sebastian Faulks''I love Anne Tyler. I''ve read every single book she''s written'' Jacqueline WilsonTrade ReviewDelicate, unpretentious and highly enjoyable * Daily Telegraph *Tyler writes skilfully, with a detached air and a precise eye for detail * New Statesman *She writes with virtuosity, confidence and perfect insight and compassion * The Times *Anne Tyler is brilliant * New York Times Book Review *

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Book Synopsis''Lynne Reid Banks'' compassionate first novel examines the stigma of unmarried motherhood in pre-pill, pre-Abortion Act Britain... While the social climate has changed drastically since publication, a transgressive frisson still crackles from the pages''The GuardianPregnant by accident, kicked out of home by her father, 27-year-old Jane Graham goes to ground in the sort of place she feels she deserves - a bug-ridden boarding-house attic in Fulham. She thinks she wants to hide from the world, but finds out that even at the bottom of the heap, friends and love can still be found, and self-respect is still worth fighting for.Trade ReviewJane's struggle to cope is a journey of self-discovery and independence...a wistful and haunting period piece * The Times *This was the first grown-up book I read apart from the dirty bits in The Carpet Baggers and every 14-year-old should be made to read it. It tackles the lot; loneliness, race, sex and growing up. I never read books twice but I feel like tracking this one down again. -- Jenny Eclair * Daily Express *Unflinching in its boarding-house detail, and strikingly modern in its fury at the "social conditioning" that made its heroine an outcast; it shocked and sold. * The Independent *Written in pre-Pill days when motherhood really was a fate worse than death, the shame and tension in Reid Bank's ground-breaking novel may seem incomprehensible to today's sexually active youngsters -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisIan McEwan is the critically acclaimed author of nineteen novels and two short story collections. His first published work, a collection of short stories, First Love, Last Rites, won the Somerset Maugham Award. His novels include The Child in Time, which won the 1987 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award; The Cement Garden; Enduring Love; Amsterdam, which won the 1998 Booker Prize; Atonement; Saturday; On Chesil Beach; Solar; Sweet Tooth; The Children Act; Nutshell; Machines Like Me; and Lessons. Atonement, Enduring Love, The Children Act and On Chesil Beach have all been adapted for the big screen.Trade ReviewWritten with superb exactness, complex, suspenseful and humane, this novel reinforces his status as the supreme novelist of his generation * Sunday Times *It's the good writing and the truthful and convincing way of rendering consciousness that makes Saturday so engrossing * Colm Toibin *Richly laden. McEwan pulls out all the stops. A rich book, sensuous and thoughtful. McEwan has found in Saturday the right form to showcase his dazzling talents * Sunday Telegraph *An exemplary novel... It is undoubtedly McEwan's best * Mail on Sunday *He remains at the top of his game - assured, accomplished and ambitious * Daily Telegraph *A book of great moral maturity, beautifully alive to the fragility of happiness and all forms of violence... Everyone should read Saturday... Artistically, morally and politically, he excels * The Times *Fabulous * The Guardian *Saturday is wonderfully involving and affecting on every page. Everybody with any interest in contemporary literature will want to read it at once * Evening Standard *A masterpiece of suspense and contemporary reflection * The Word *A book of great maturity, beautifully alive to the fragility of happiness and all forms of violence... Everyone should read Saturday * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisJ.M. Coetzee's work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Boyhood, Youth, Disgrace, Summertime, The Childhood of Jesus and, most recently, The Schooldays of Jesus. He was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.Trade ReviewHugely impressive-Coetzee never puts a foot wrong * Daily Mail *Anyone interested in the power of fiction to move us and extend our sense of life should get hold of this book * Spectator *An intense and deep book * Guardian *A stunning account of the relation of writers and events-A harsh and eloquent critique of the human condition. It is also a subtle, powerful, superbly written personal testament. The bleakness of vision is tempered only by the certainty that life can be material for art. This is art. The case is proven * Sunday Times *Both a gripping mystery and a meditation on the relationship between art and life * BBC History Magazine *

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Book SynopsisIn this extraordinary novel, Stingo, an inexperienced twenty-two year old Southerner, takes us back to the summer of 1947 and a boarding house in a leafy Brooklyn suburb. There he meets Nathan, a fiery Jewish intellectual; and Sophie, a beautiful and fragile Polish Catholic. Stingo is drawn into the heart of their passionate and destructive relationship as witness, confidant and supplicant. Ultimately, he arrives at the dark core of Sophie''s past: her memories of pre-war Poland, the concentration camp and - the essence of her terrible secret - her choice.Trade ReviewA masterpiece, [which leaves] more conventional treatments of the Holocaust, such as Schindler's List, looking obtuse and sentimental * The Times *William Styron's Sophie's Choice is a landmark of mid-20th-century American fiction - an impressively fat novel that most literate Americans claim to have read even if they haven't * Sunday Telegraph *A compassionate, brilliantly written novel * The Times *A weighty, passionate novel . . . courageous [and] masterly * NY Times *Styron is a writer's writer, capable of setting a pastoral idyll in Brooklyn, and the traumas narrated occur alongside a classic American coming-of-age story -- Xan Brooks * Guardian, 1000 novels everyone must read *

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Book SynopsisVirginia Woolf was born in London in 1882, the daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen, first editor of The Dictionary of National Biography. After his death in 1904 Virginia and her sister, the painter Vanessa Bell, moved to Bloomsbury and became the centre of 'The Bloomsbury Group'. This informal collective of artists and writers which included Lytton Strachey and Roger Fry, exerted a powerful influence over early twentieth-century British culture. In 1912 Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a writer and social reformer. Three years later, her first novel The Voyage Out was published, followed by Night and Day (1919) and Jacob's Room (1922). These first novels show the development of Virginia Woolf's distinctive and innovative narrative style. It was during this time that she and Leonard Woolf founded The Hogarth Press with the publication of the co-authored Two Stories in 1917, hand-printed in the dining room of their house in Surrey. Between 1925 anTrade ReviewMrs Dalloway contains some of the most beautiful, complex, incisive and idiosyncratic sentences ever written in English, and that alone would be reason enough to read it. It is one of the most moving, revolutionary artworks of the twentieth centuryA beautiful piece of writing * Guardian *I think To The Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway are sheer magic * Daily Express *Virginia Woolf was one of the great innovators of that decade of literary Modernism, the 1920s. Novels such as Mrs Dalloway and To the Lighthouse showed how experimental writing could reshape our sense of ordinary life. Taking unremarkable materials - preparations for a genteel party, a day on a bourgeois family holiday - they trace the flow of associations and ideas that we call "consciousness". * Guardian *A beautiful ode to dignity, memory and survival * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY EVIE WYLD 'There is not a page in this first novel which does not prove that its author is a master storyteller' New York Times Weird, withdrawn, and unloved, Fred is a young collector of butterflies. One day his eye alights on a beautiful stranger, the art student Miranda, and an obsession starts to form. So when Fred wins some money he decides to use the money to compensate for his unfair start and to get what he really wants - Miranda. If she could only get to know him she might start to love him. And so with the meticulous attention to detail of an experienced collector he calmly plans her abduction.Trade ReviewHe has a magnificent narrative gift...brilliant * Independent *A brilliant, unusual theme... Short and spare and direct, an intelligent thriller with psychological and social overtones * Sunday Times *Brilliant...an artist of great imaginative power * Sunday Times *No book will make you appreciate the great outdoors more than this creepy locked-room horror story * Guardian *There is not a page in this first novel which does not prove that its author is a master storyteller * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisIris Murdoch (Author) Iris Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919. She read Classics at Somerville College, Oxford, and after working in the Treasury and abroad, was awarded a research studentship in Philosophy at Newnham College, Cambridge. In 1948 she returned to Oxford as fellow and tutor at St Anne's College and later taught at the Royal College of Art. Until her death in 1999, she lived in Oxford with her husband, the academic and critic, John Bayley. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1987 and in the 1997 PEN Awards received the Gold Pen for Distinguished Service to Literature.A S Byatt (Introducer) A.S. Byatt (1936-2023) was a novelist, short-story writer and critic of international renown. Her novels include Possession (winner of the Booker Prize 1990), the Frederica Quartet and The Children's Book, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. She was appointed CBETrade ReviewHer novels evoked beautifully the atmosphere of the country gardens (The Bell, 1958) or the mysterious London streets (The Time of the Angels, 1968) in which they were set, with their characters engaged in intriguing love relationships, from the totally innocent to the wholly weird. * The Times *Iris Murdoch really knows how to write, can tell a story, delineate a character, catch an atmosphere with deadly accuracy -- John BetjemanOf all the novelists that have made their bow since the war she seems to me to be the most remarkable-behind her books one feels a power of intellect quite exceptional in a novelist * Sunday Times *A distinguished novelist of a rare kind -- Kingsley AmisA tragi-comic masterpiece... A magnificent novel -- Susan Hill * The Lady *

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Book SynopsisThe hit novels behind the major new TV series Vienna Blood___________________________Vienna, 1903.In St. Florian''s military school, a rambling edifice set high in the hills of the city''s famous woods, a young cadet is found dead - his body lacerated with razor wounds. Once again, Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt calls on his friend - and disciple of Freud - Doctor Max Liebermann, to help him with the investigation. In the closed society of the school, power is everything - and suspicion falls on an elite group of cadets, with a penchant for sadism and dangerous games. When it is discovered that the dead boy was a frequent guest of the deputy headmaster''s attractive young wife - other motives for murder suggest themselves. A tangled web of relationships is uncovered, at the heart of which are St. Florian''s dark secrets, which Liebermann, using new psychoanalytic tools such as dream interpretation and the ink-Trade ReviewA clever plot, jokes for those who are interested in the history of psychoanalysis, and a convincing portrait of the imperial city combine in Fatal Lies to provide lively and enjoyable reading. * TLS *Entertaining ... provides fascinating glimpses of the earliest use of Freudian theory in criminal investigations * Seven, The Sunday Telegraph *Don't read this on an empty stomach. Not, I hasten to add, for reasons of gore, but because of the Viennese cakes. Aficionados of classical music and architecture are also in for a treat: this, after all, is fin-de-siècle Vienna and Tallis has a supreme talent for bringing the city to life * Telegraph *... a sound tale, told with humour and elegance. An important plus, is Tallis's atmospheric evocation of a scintillating Vienna at the height of its artistic, intellectual and medical influence * Times *Tallis has come up with a particularly ingenious method of murder, which leaves no trace and almost claims the lives of two more victims before the culprit is unmasked. His novels show the modern world coming into existence in one of Europe's great cities, and are all the more poignant for the knowledge that the first world war will soon cast its shadow over his deeply humane characters * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisFrank Tallis is a writer and pracitising clinical psychologist. He has published seven non-fiction books (including Changing Minds: The History of Psychotherapy as an Answer to Human Suffering and Hidden Minds: A History of the Unconscious). He has also written two novels; Killing Time and Sensing Others, both published by Penguin. In 1999 he received a Writers' Award from the Arts Council of Great Britain and in 2000 he won the New London Writers' Award (London Arts Board). Mortal Mischief was published by Century in 2005. He lives and works in London.Trade Reviewdazzling * Sunday Times *A fascinating portrait of one of the most vibrant yet sinister cities of fin-de-siecle Europe. On top of this Tallis has laid a murder mystery of great intelligence * The Times *An astute and beautifully written psychological thriller ... his handling of the psychoanalysis and criminal pathology are fantastic ... a romping tale * Scotland on Sunday *Interesting, original and ... a second novel even better than the author's first * Literary Review *Tallis spices things up with a cast of outlandish suspects and colourful witnesses, and a series of mounting suspicions, wrong turns and dead ends creates an exhilarating chase * Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisNed Maddstone has the world at his feet. Handsome, charming, popular and talented, his life is progressing smoothly, effortlessly, happily. But an unfortunate confrontation with a boy in his school results in a prank that goes badly wrong and suddenly he''s incarcerated - without chance of release. So begins a year-long process of torment and hopelessness, which will destroy his very identity, until almost nothing remains of him but this unquenchable desire for revenge. ''Whatever Stephen Fry does, he has it - that rare, unlearnable quality. When he speaks you listen. When he writes, you read'' Literary Review ''Keeps you simultaneously gripped and chuckling throughout'' LaterTrade ReviewA gruesome romp through the canon of human wickedness * The Times *Fry isn't just a good writer as comedians go - he's a great writer by the standards of any British contemporary... gleaming and wit-fuelled... It keeps you simultaneously gripped and chuckling throughout. * Later *A Count of Monte Cristo for the dot.com generation... Whatever Stephen Fry does, he has it - that rare, unlearnable quality. When he speaks you listen. When he writes, you read. * Literary Review *Stylish... written up with zest and humour... a page-turner and full of fun * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisWalter Moers was born in 1957 and is a writer, cartoonist, painter and sculptor. He is the creator of the comic strips The Little Asshole and Adolf and his novels include the cult bestseller The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear, The City of Dreaming Books, The Alchemaster's Apprentice and The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books. He lives in Hamburg.Trade ReviewMoers' creative mind is like J. K. Rowling's on Ecstasy * Detroit Evening News *Moers' writing is alluring, to say the least. He writes with as much detail as he draws, and his vivid imagination is matched by his ability to pace a story and create interesting characters * The State (South Carolina) *Moers' drawings...are fantastic, in both definitions of the word, but what's truly appealing is the world that he creates in this marvelous tale of adventure and self-discovery... It's less a text and more an imagination on paper * Philadelphia Inquirer *Parodic and sincere, slapstick and heart-tugging by turns, Moers's novel has fresh things to say on the nature of heroism and nobility * Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisWill Napier has split his adult life between Scotland and America. He now resides in Atlantic Beach, Florida with his wife and four children. His second novel, Without Warning, was published by Jonathan Cape in 2012. He is writing his third novel and completing a collection of short fiction.Trade ReviewLike To Kill a Mockingbird rewritten from the viewpoint of Boo Radley * Scotland on Sunday *Supremely well imagined...Frequently brilliant and consistently unsettling, Summer of the Cicada will remain with you for quite a while * Independent *The opening scene of Summer of the Cicada lodges itself in the mind and stays there until the final page... the ferocity of the violence, combined with the matter-of-fact way the scene unfolds, leaves an unforgettble impression... It is a measure of the artistry Will Napier brings to his first novel that the harrowing subject matter does not make for a depressing read * Sunday Telegraph *Brilliantly disturbing * Scotsman *'An American version of Iain Banks' Wasp Factory' Rachel Hore, Guardian

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Book SynopsisKatie Fforde lives in the beautiful Cotswold countryside with her family, and is a true country girl at heart. Each of her books explores a different profession or background and her research has helped her bring these to life. She's been a porter in an auction house, tried her hand at pottery, refurbished furniture, delved behind the scenes of a dating website, and she's even been on a Ray Mears survival course. She loves being a writer; to her there isn't a more satisfying and pleasing thing to do. She particularly enjoys writing love stories. She believes falling in love is the best thing in the world, and she wants all her characters to experience it, and her readers to share their stories. To find out more about Katie Fforde step into her world at www.katiefforde.com, visit her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @KatieFforde.Trade ReviewA fairytale-like, gently witty read ... Heartwarming - made for sunny days in the park * Cosmopolitan *Fforde's light touch succeeds in making this a sweet and breezy read - the ideal accompaniment to a long summer's evening * Daily Mail *

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Book Synopsis''He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of his culture in his time.'' GUARDIAN''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this second volume, Nick Jenkins is struggling to establish himself in London after graduating from university. As old friends come and go Stringham takes the leap into marriage, Templer heads into the world of business and Widmerpool, confident in his own importance, begins a career in law Nick starts to make new acquaintances, and throws himself into society life. In this new world of glamorous Debutante balls and leisurely country visits, Nick has his first encounter with love and its disappointments.Trade ReviewOne of the great novel-sequences in English Literature – a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny.Discovering Anthony Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters make for an incomparable treat. -- Michael Palin“A Dance To The Music of Time” is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart. -- Lauren GroffPowell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion.The novels of Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell. -- Louisa YoungA masterful stylist and a wise, often hilarious observer of human nature and his times, Anthony Powell is an under-appreciated literary gem. The pleasures and dramas of the “Dance” continue to illuminate daily life. -- Claire MessudReading “A Dance to the Music of Time” was such a joyous experience, I remember wishing there'd been more than twelve volumes. -- Roddy DoyleI re-read the "Dance" every five years or so and always find something new – the world has changed but the characters are evergreen. Everybody has a Widmerpool in their life. -- Daisy GoodwinHe has wit, style, and panache, in a world where those qualities are in permanently short supply * The New York Review of Books *[A] comic masterpiece * Irish Times *

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Book Synopsis''He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of his culture in his time.'' GUARDIAN''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this third volume, determined to make a name for himself, Nick Jenkins starts working for a publisher, establishing connections across the London literary scene. But whilst Nick is ready to move forwards with his new life, the past is never far behind.A weekend away with his friend Templer sees a surprise reunion quickly blossom into an affair, while an Old Boys dinner at the Ritz, in honour of their old housemaster Le Bas, reunites Nick with his schoolmates Stringham and Widmerpool. Set against the backdrop of thirties London, The Acceptance World provides a snapshot of the complicated nature of young love.Trade ReviewOne of the great novel-sequences in English Literature – a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny.Discovering Anthony Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters make for an incomparable treat. -- Michael Palin“A Dance To The Music of Time” is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart. -- Lauren GroffPowell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion. -- John BanvilleThe novels of Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell. -- Louisa YoungA masterful stylist and a wise, often hilarious observer of human nature and his times, Anthony Powell is an under-appreciated literary gem. The pleasures and dramas of the “Dance” continue to illuminate daily life. -- Claire MessudReading “A Dance to the Music of Time” was such a joyous experience, I remember wishing there'd been more than twelve volumes. -- Roddy DoyleI re-read the "Dance" every five years or so and always find something new – the world has changed but the characters are evergreen. Everybody has a Widmerpool in their life. -- Daisy GoodwinHe has wit, style, and panache, in a world where those qualities are in permanently short supply * The New York Review of Books *[A] comic masterpiece * Irish Times *

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Book Synopsis''He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of his culture in his time.'' GUARDIAN''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this sixth volume, with Britain on the brink of war yet again, Nick Jenkins reflects back on his childhood growing up in the shadow of World War I. Wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, Nick sets his sights on becoming an officer in the Army, and asks his old school friend Widmerpool, who is gaining prominence in the business world, if he will help him. But reserves lists are quickly filling up with names, and it’s not long until the threat of war is the one thing on everyone’s mind.Trade ReviewOne of the great novel-sequences in English Literature – a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny.Discovering Anthony Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters make for an incomparable treat. -- Michael Palin“A Dance To The Music of Time” is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart. -- Lauren GroffPowell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion.The novels of Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell. -- Louisa YoungReading “A Dance to the Music of Time” was such a joyous experience, I remember wishing there'd been more than twelve volumes. -- Roddy DoyleA masterful stylist and a wise, often hilarious observer of human nature and his times, Anthony Powell is an under-appreciated literary gem. The pleasures and dramas of the “Dance” continue to illuminate daily life. -- Claire MessudI re-read the “Dance” every five years or so and always find something new – the world has changed but the characters are evergreen. Everybody has a Widmerpool in their life. -- Daisy GoodwinHe has wit, style, and panache, in a world where those qualities are in permanently short supply * The New York Review of Books *[A] comic masterpiece * Irish Times *

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Book SynopsisAnthony Powell was an only child, born in 1905. As a young man he worked for a crumbling publishing business whilst trying to find time to write novels. He moved in a bohemian world of struggling writers and artists, which was to provide the raw material for much of his fiction. During the Second World War he served in Military Intelligence Liaison. He subsequently became a fiction reviewer for the Times Literary Supplement and for five years he was the literary editor of the now-defunct magazine Punch. Meanwhile he continued to work on the twelve-novel sequence A Dance to the Music of Time'. He was the author of seven other novels, and four volumes of memoirs. His many reviews for the Daily Telegraph are also published in collected volumes. Anthony Powell died in March 2000.Trade ReviewOne of the great novel-sequences in English Literature – a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny. -- William BoydDiscovering Anthony Powell’s "A Dance to the Music of Time" has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters made for an incomparable treat. Twelve volumes was simply not enough. -- Michael Palin“A Dance To The Music of Time” is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart. -- Lauren GroffPowell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion. -- John BanvilleThe novels of Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell. -- Louisa Young

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Book Synopsis''He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of his culture in his time.'' GUARDIAN''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this eighth volume, Nick Jenkins has been posted to Divisional Headquarters as the assistant to his old friend, the rapidly rising Major Widmerpool. Having to work alongside the rather obnoxious Captain Biggs, Nick is pleased when his old school pal Charles Stringham becomes the latest recruit to the armed forces. However, the cruelties of war are not far behind. As the Blitz intensifies, tragedy and despair befall Nick and his friends.Trade ReviewOne of the great novel-sequences in English Literature – a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny. -- William BoydDiscovering Anthony Powell’s "A Dance to the Music of Time" has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters made for an incomparable treat. Twelve volumes was simply not enough. -- Michael Palin“A Dance To The Music of Time” is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart. -- Lauren GroffPowell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion. -- John BanvilleReading “A Dance to the Music of Time” was such a joyous experience, I remember wishing there'd been more than twelve volumes. -- Roddy Doyle

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Book Synopsis''He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of his culture in his time.'' GUARDIAN''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this sixth volume, with Britain on the brink of war yet again, Nick Jenkins reflects back on his childhood growing up in the shadow of World War I. Wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps, Nick sets his sights on becoming an officer in the Army, and asks his old school friend Widmerpool, who is gaining prominence in the business world, if he will help him. But reserves lists are quickly filling up with names, and it’s not long until the threat of war is the one thing on everyone’s mind.Trade ReviewOne of the great novel-sequences in English Literature – a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny. -- William BoydDiscovering Anthony Powell’s "A Dance to the Music of Time" has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters made for an incomparable treat. Twelve volumes was simply not enough. -- Michael Palin"A Dance To The Music of Time” is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart. -- Lauren GroffPowell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion. -- John BanvilleThe novels of Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell. -- Louisa Young

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Book Synopsis''He is, as Proust was before him, the great literary chronicler of his culture in his time.'' GUARDIAN''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this final volume of Anthony Powell's A Dance to the Music of Time', the sixties are in full swing and Nick Jenkins and his wife Isobel are living out their later years in the countryside. Not content with a quiet retirement, Nick's old school friend Widmerpool is on the rise again and is appointed chancellor of a new university. But while Nick and his contemporaries are settling in to a slower pace of life, the rise of sixties counterculture signals a new generation pushing its way to the front. And as the Dance draws to a close, a wedding brings together old faces one last time.Trade ReviewOne of the great novel-sequences in English Literature – a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny. -- William BoydDiscovering Anthony Powell’s "A Dance to the Music of Time" has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters made for an incomparable treat. Twelve volumes was simply not enough. -- Michael Palin“A Dance To The Music of Time” is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart. -- Lauren GroffPowell’s novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion. -- John BanvilleThe novels of Powell’s “A Dance to the Music of Time” themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell. -- Louisa Young

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Book SynopsisAuthor of over fifty books, Georgette Heyer is the best-known and best-loved of all historical novelists, who made the Regency period her own. Her first novel, The Black Moth, published in 1921, was written at the age of fifteen to amuse her convalescent brother; her last was My Lord John. Although most famous for her historical novels, she also wrote eleven detective stories. Georgette Heyer died in 1974 at the age of seventy-one.Trade Review"Wonderful characters, elegant, witty writing, perfect period detail, and rapturously romantic. Georgette Heyer achieves what the rest of us only aspire to" -- Katie Fforde "A writer of great wit and style... I've read her books to ragged shreds" -- Kate Fenton Daily Telegraph "My favourite historical novelist - stylish, romantic, sharp, and witty. Her sense of period is superb, her heroines are enterprising, and her heroes dashing. I owe her many happy hours" -- Margaret Drabble

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Book SynopsisPhilip Roth was born in Newark, New Jersey on 19 March 1933. The second child of second-generation Americans, Bess and Herman Roth, Roth grew up in the largely Jewish community of Weequahic, a neighbourhood he was to return to time and again in his writing. After graduating from Weequahic High School in 1950, he attended Bucknell University, Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago, where he received a scholarship to complete his M.A. in English Literature.In 1959, Roth published Goodbye, Columbus a collection of stories, and a novella for which he received the National Book Award. Ten years later, the publication of his fourth novel, Portnoy's Complaint, brought Roth both critical and commercial success, firmly securing his reputation as one of America's finest young writers. Roth was the author of thirty-one books, including those that were to follow the fortunes of Nathan Zuckerman, and a fictional narrator named Philip Roth, through which he explored and gave Trade ReviewTerrific...inventive and sane and very funny * New York Times Book Review *Roth is a living master -- Harold BloomRoth's prose is, as ever, elegant and intelligent, delicate even when at its most crude. It sent me back to Kafka - a brave thing to do, but he stands the comparison well -- Margaret DrabbleA new shock world of sensual possibility... Need one say again that Roth is an admirable novelist who never steps twice into the same river? -- Anthony BurgessHilarious, serious, visionary, logical, sexual-philosophical; the ending amazes - the joke takes three steps beyond savagery and satire and turns into a sublimeness of pity. One knows when one is reading something that will permanently enter the culture -- Cynthia Ozick

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Book SynopsisFollowing the wild success of his novel, Carnovsky, Nathan Zuckerman has been catapulted into the literary limelight. As he ventures out onto the streets of Manhattan he finds himself accosted on all sides, the target of admonishers, advisers, would-be literary critics, and worst of all fans.An incompetent celebrity, ill at ease with his newfound fame, and unsure of how to live up to his fictional creation's notoriety, Zuckerman flounders his way through a high-profile affair, the disintegration of his family life, and fends off the attentions of his most tenacious fan yet, as the turbulent decade of the sixties draws to a close around him.But beneath the uneasy glamour are the spectres of the recently murdered Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., and an unsettled Zuckerman feels himself watchedTrade ReviewElegant and furious... Witty, tender and brutal in a single paragraph -- Melvyn BraggIt is a) funny, b) sparkling prose, c) to-the-point short, d) genuinely moving. * Financial Times *A comic stroll in a hall of mirrors * Newsweek *Masterful * New York Times Book Review *It was bold of Roth to write a novel about being famous...a comic stroll in the hall of mirrors * Newsweek *

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Book SynopsisWhen talented young writer Nathan Zuckerman makes his pilgrimage to sit at the feet of his hero, the reclusive master of American Literature, E. I. Lonoff, he soon finds himself enmeshed in the great Jewish writer''s domestic life, with all its complexity, artifice and drive for artistic truth.As Nathan sits in breathlessly awkward conversation with his idol, a glimpse of a dark-haired beauty through a closing doorway leaves him reeling. He soon learns that the entrancing vision is Amy Bellette, but her position in the Lonoff household - student? mistress? - remains tantalisingly unclear. Over a disturbed and confusing dinner, Nathan gleans snippets of Amy's haunting Jewish background, and begins to draw his own fantastical conclusionsTrade ReviewRoth's best novel yet * London Review of Books *I had only to read the two opening sentences to realize that I was once again in the hands of a superbly endowed storyteller * New York Review of Books *Further evidence that Roth can do practically anything with fiction. His narrative power - the ability to delight the reader simultaneously with the telling and the tale - is superb * Washington Post *His prose is immaculate yet curiously plain and unostentatious, as natural as brething -- Al Alvarez

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Book SynopsisIn Yorkshire, the Potter family are preparing to celebrate Elizabeth II's arrival on the throne. Its three youngest members, however, are preoccupied with other matters. Stephanie has grown tired of their overbearing father and resolves to marry the local curate. Anxious teenager Marcus gains a new teacher and suffers increasingly disturbing visions. Then there is Frederica. On the brink of adulthood, a love affair with a young playwright may offer the freedom she desperately desires.THE FIRST FREDERICA POTTER NOVELTrade ReviewLarge, complex, ambitious, humming with energy and ideas... A remarkable achievement -- Iris MurdochComic, well plotted, immensely touching... Gaudy excitement and splendour * The Times *An ambitious novel [whose] narrative everywhere displays knowledge and intelligence * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisVirginia Woolf was born in London in 1882, the daughter of Sir Leslie Stephen, first editor of The Dictionary of National Biography. After his death in 1904 Virginia and her sister, the painter Vanessa Bell, moved to Bloomsbury and became the centre of 'The Bloomsbury Group'. This informal collective of artists and writers which included Lytton Strachey and Roger Fry, exerted a powerful influence over early twentieth-century British culture. In 1912 Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a writer and social reformer. Three years later, her first novel The Voyage Out was published, followed by Night and Day (1919) and Jacob's Room (1922). These first novels show the development of Virginia Woolf's distinctive and innovative narrative style. It was during this time that she and Leonard Woolf founded The Hogarth Press with the publication of the co-authored Two Stories in 1917, hand-printed in the dining room of their house in Surrey. Between 1925 and 1931 Virginia WTrade ReviewJacob, of whom people speak, of whom they think, but who is never shown. And yet that denial of presence on the part of the author makes of him one of the most living presences in world literature. It’s a remarkable achievement. * New Statesman *Virginia Woolf stands as the chief figure of modernism in England and must be included with Joyce and Proust in the realisation of experimental achievements that have completely broken with tradition * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisVirginia Woolf (Author) Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was born in London. She became a central figure in The Bloomsbury Group, an informal collective of British writers, artists and thinkers. In 1912 Virginia married Leonard Woolf, a writer and social reformer. She wrote many works of literature which are now considered masterpieces, including Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando, and The Waves.Margaret Reynolds (Introducer) Margaret Reynolds is a writer, academic, critic and broadcaster. Her critical edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh won the British Academy's Rose Mary Crawshay prize. Other books include The Penguin Book of Lesbian Short Stories, The Sappho Companion, Victorian Women Poets: An Anthology (with Angela Leighton) and a series of study guides on contemporary writers, Vintage Living Texts. She is Professor of English at Queen Mary, University of LondonTrade ReviewOrlando is the wittiest little book, a pleasure: it makes me laugh every time I read itUndoubtedly Virginia Woolf's most intense and one of the most singular [novels] of our era

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary work of fiction, from one of the world''s most exceptional writers.WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JULIAN FELLOWESAfter graduating from Oxford, Daniel Martin moved to America and successfully pursued the dreams of many: he became a Hollywood screenwriter. But, as the years go by, Daniel grows more and more unsatisfied with the life he once coveted and the person he has become. Now Daniel has been called back to England to reconcile with a dying friend, but finds that he must also reconcile with the past and with himself.''I find it disastrous to read any of John Fowles'' books - once I pick one up, I cannot put it down so everything else gets ignored!'' Judi Dench, Daily Express''An instant masterpiece. It is a tour de force of stamina and subtlety'' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewA work of imaginative energy and passionate honesty * The Times *An instant masterpiece. It is a tour de force of stamina and subtlety * Daily Telegraph *A descriptive writer of great power * Independent *I find it disastrous to read any of John Fowles' books - once I pick one up, I cannot put it down so everything else gets ignored! * Daily Express *It is filled with beguiling dramatic set-pieces - scenes from the protagonist's Devon childhood, a romantic idyll with a neighboring farm girl, a gently satirical send-up of Hollywood hedonism, some marvelous travel-writing about Egypt and Syria... An old-fashioned novel in the sense that one can enter and live in it * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisGraham Greene was born in 1904. He worked as a journalist and critic, and in 1940 became literary editor of the Spectator. He was later employed by the Foreign Office. As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, three books of autobiography, two of biography and four books for children. He also wrote hundreds of essays, and film and book reviews. Graham Greene was a member of the Order of Merit and a Companion of Honour. He died in April 1991.Trade ReviewPerhaps the most enduring novel that even he has give us * Daily Mail *The tension never relaxes and one reads hungrily from page to page, dreading the moment it will end * Evening Standard *Greene's work attempts to link the serious moral imagination with the spirit of adventure and romance and to extend the remapping of imaginative geography first undertaken by Conrad * Times Higher Education Supplement *A superb storyteller with a gift for provoking controversy * New York Times *Greene had the sharpest eyes for trouble, the finest nose for human weaknesses, and was pitilessly honest in his observations... For experience of a whole century he was the man within * Independent *

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Book SynopsisGraham Greene was born in 1904. He worked as a journalist and critic, and in 1940 became literary editor of the Spectator. He was later employed by the Foreign Office. As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, three books of autobiography, two of biography and four books for children. He also wrote hundreds of essays, and film and book reviews. Graham Greene was a member of the Order of Merit and a Companion of Honour. He died in April 1991.Trade ReviewPrimarily a novel about the moral consequences of religious belief, but it is almost as importantly a novel about colonialism * Independent *The most ingenious, inventive and exciting of our novelists, rich in exactly etched and moving portraits of real human beings -- V. S. Pritchett * The Times *Here is this man who can represent ordinary life, ordinary troubles, and make them exciting to read about -- Shirley Hazzard * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisGraham Greene was born in 1904. He worked as a journalist and critic, and in 1940 became literary editor of the Spectator. He was later employed by the Foreign Office. As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, three books of autobiography, two of biography and four books for children. He also wrote hundreds of essays, and film and book reviews. Graham Greene was a member of the Order of Merit and a Companion of Honour. He died in April 1991.Trade ReviewNo serious writer of this century has more thoroughly invaded and shaped the public imagination than did Graham Greene * The Time *A superb storyteller * New York Times *Graham Greene taught us to understand the social and economic cripples in our midst. He taught us to look at each other with new eyes. I don't suppose his influence will ever disappear -- Auberon Waugh * Independent *A masterly storyteller... An enormously popular writer who was also one of the most significant novelists of his time * Newsweek *One of our greatest authors... Greene had the sharpest eyes for trouble, the finest nose for human weaknesses, and was pitilessly honest in his observations... For experience of a whole century he was the man within -- Norman Sherry * Independent *

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Book SynopsisGraham Greene (Author) Graham Greene was born in 1904. He worked as a journalist and critic, and in 1940 became literary editor of the Spectator. He was later employed by the Foreign Office. As well as his many novels, Graham Greene wrote several collections of short stories, four travel books, six plays, three books of autobiography, two of biography and four books for children. He also wrote hundreds of essays, and film and book reviews. Graham Greene was a member of the Order of Merit and a Companion of Honour. He died in April 1991.Monica Ali (Introducer) Monica Ali was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and grew up in England. She is the author of Untold Story, In The Kitchen and Alentejo Blue. Her Sunday Times bestselling first novel Brick Lane was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the George Orwell Prize for political writing and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and has been made into an acclaimed film. Her latest Trade ReviewSingularly beautiful and moving -- Evelyn WaughOne of the most true and moving novels of my time, in anybody's language * William Faulkner *In a class by himself...the ultimate chronicler of twentieth-century man's consciousness and anxiety -- William GoldingDevastating study of the collision of different kinds of faith, betrayal and commitment * The Times *Greene's novel of illicit love captures perfectly the atmosphere of rainy wartime London - try to read this in one sitting if you can * Express *

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Book Synopsis''THRILLING...a terrific book, accomplished in its poised, imaginative storytelling and its vivid, sensual rendering of landscape and character, emotion and memory'' The TimesIn a silent valley in southern France stands an isolated stone farmhouse, the Mas Lunel. Its owner is Aramon Lunel, an alcoholic haunted by his violent past. His sister, Audrun, alone in her bungalow within sight of the Mas Lunel, dreams of exacting retribution for the unspoken betrayals that have blighted her life. Into this closed world comes Anthony Verey, a wealthy but disillusioned antiques dealer from London seeking to remake his life in France. From the moment he arrives at the Mas Lunel, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion...Trade ReviewTaut ...full of suspense...bewitching -- Ruth Scurr * Observer *THRILLING...a terrific book, accomplished in its poised, imaginative storytelling and its vivid, sensual rendering of landscape and character, emotion and memory * The Times *An intelligent and terrifyingly plausible meditation * Sunday Telegraph *A sumptuously shaded portrait of a private, lonely place and its stranded people * Independent *Tremain is a writer of particular elegance and control, and her story unfolds from its arresting first scene to its luminous final image as gracefully as a ballet * The Telegraph, Review Magazine *

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Book Synopsis''Rose Tremain does not disappoint. As always her writing has a delicious, crunchy precision.'' ObserverA wise and witty look at the contemporary migrant experience.Lev is on his way from Eastern Europe to Britain, seeking work. Behind him loom the figures of his dead wife, his beloved young daughter and his outrageous friend Rudi who - dreaming of the wealthy West - lives largely for his battered Chevrolet. Ahead of Lev lies the deep strangeness of the British: their hostile streets, their clannish pubs, their obsession with celebrity. London holds out the alluring possibility of friendship, sex, money and a new career and, if Lev is lucky, a new sense of belonging...''A novel of urgent humanity'' Sunday TelegraphTrade ReviewA novel of urgent humanity * Sunday Telegraph *Rose Tremain does not disappoint. The Road Home is thematically rich, dealing with loss and separation, mourning and melancholia... As always her writing has a delicious, crunchy precision * Observer *Filled with emotional richness, complex sensibility and a passionate insistence on the humanity of the poor * Sunday Times *A classic work by the gifted Tremain * Guardian *'Tremain is a magnificent story-teller' * Independent on sunday *

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Book SynopsisLondon 1844, and a shy young woman has arrived to take up a new position in the grandeur of No. 50, Wimpole Street. Subtly and compellingly, Lady's Maid gives voice to Elizabeth Wilson's untold story, her complex relationship with her mistress, Elizabeth Barrett, and her dramatic role in the most famous elopement in history.Trade ReviewFrom the viewpoint of Elizabeth Wilson... lady's maid, Margaret Forster retells the love story of Robert and Elizabeth Browning...Enthralling * Daily Telegraph *Compulsively readable... at each climax of the story, from the Browning's runaway romance to her own equally compromised and complicated marriage, the lady's maid speaks directly and at the last most movingly * Guardian *Passion, melodrama, pathos - and a happy ending. What more can you ask for? * Daily Mail *Movingly told... Wilson's pleasures, losses and disappointments in love are complicated and excellently understated, imagined as a contrast to the grand passions she has to serve * Times Literary Supplement *Accomplished, beautifully written... packed with discreet domestic detail * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisBOOK TWO OF THE RAJ QUARTET India, August 9th 1942. The morning brings raids and the arrest by British police of Congress Party members. Amongst the prisoners is the distinguished ex-Chief Minister Mohammed Ali Kasim. Loyal to the party''s central vision of a unified free India, his incarceration is a symptom of the growing deterioration of Anglo-Indian relations.For the long-serving British family, the Laytons, the political and social ramifications are immediate, disturbing and tragic. Some, like Ronald Merrick, believe that true intimacy between the races is impossible; others, such as Sarah Layton, struggle to come to terms with their Anglo-Indian past. With growing confusion and bewilderment, the British are forced to confront the violent and often brutal years that lie ahead of them.Trade ReviewAn achievement of unusual dimensions and power * Observer *I can't think of anything worth knowing about the Raj in India that Scott hasn't told me... His contribution to literature is permanent * New York Times *Beautifully constructed... An even richer tapestry of Indian and British character than its predecessor * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisPaul Scott was born in London in 1920. He served in the army from 1940 to 1946, mainly in India and Malaya. He is the author of thirteen distinguished novels including his famous The Raj Quartet. In 1977, Staying On won the Booker Prize. Paul Scott died in 1978.Trade ReviewIts two great and time-resting virtues are, first, the extraordinary range of characters it so skilfully portrays and, second, its powerful evocation of the last days of British India * Times Literary Supplement *A mighty literary experience * The Times *Quite simply, monumental * Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisFor the inhabitants of the damp little Irish town of Ballinacroagh, the repertoire of gastronomic delights has never extended farther than the limp meals of the local inn''s carvery. But things are about to change when the beautiful Aminpour sisters -- Marjan, Bahar and Layla -- arrive, determined to share the magic of their kitchen with the friendly locals.Opening Babylon Café, right in the heart of town, they begin serving up traditional Persian dishes and soon the townsfolk is lured to the new premises by the tantalizing aroma of fresh herb kuku, lamb abgusht and elephant ear fritters, washed down with gallons of jasmine tea from the old samovar. Not everyone welcomes the three women with open arms, though. The way to a man''s heart is through his stomach, as they say, and the women of Ballinacroagh want their men back ...Filled with recipes, mouth-watering fragrances and mysterious spices, Pomegranate Soup is a heart-warming tale of romance,Trade ReviewRiveting ... delectable ... A mouthwatering tale with flavors of Chocolat and Under the Tuscan Sun. * Orlando Sentinel *A book ready to be discovered and devoured. Marsha Mehran describes the food in mouthwatering detail -- a dash of magic realism. * Chicago Tribune *A feast of feelgood! * Ireland on Sunday *Delightful * Birmingham Evening Mail *Glorious, daring and delightful. I adored the Iranian sisters, Marjan, Bahar and Layla who are looking to build a life, start a business and find love in a place so far from home. Ireland has never been more beautiful, the perfect setting for this story filled with humour, hope and possibility * Adriana Trigiani *

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Book SynopsisLouis de Bernières is the best-selling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. His most recent novels are Birds Without Wings and A Partisan's Daughter.Trade ReviewA more ambitious novel than Captain Corelli, and a better one * Financial Times *A mesmerising patchwork of horror, humour and humanity * Independent *A magnificent, poetic, colossal novel... Superbly written... It is, in every sense, a sublime book * Irish Times *His most serious and ambitious achievement to date * Times Literary Supplement *Pleasurable... Like Steinbeck, de Bernières deserves praise for his imaginative sympathy * Independent on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisDiana Evans is a graduate of the University of East Anglia's Creative Writing MA and has published short fiction in a number of anthologies. She has worked as a journalist and arts critic for Marie Claire, the Evening Standard, The Source and Pride magazine, and writes regularly for the Independent and the Stage. She lives in West London.Trade ReviewA hugely assured and very moving first novel -- Mark Haddon * Sunday Telegraph *A remarkable first novel...vibrant...exotic * Sunday Times *The Great Neasden Novel has arrived...Haunting and cherishable...A hugely promising debut * Independent *A dazzling debut...I adored this book; I defy anyone to read the final pages without tears in their eyes. Easily the best book of the year so far * Scotsman *This sparky debut novel... Enthralling from the first page, this bittersweet fusion of fairytales and nightmares is sugared by nostalgia and salted with sadness, Hephzibah Anderson, Daily Mail * Hephzibah Anderson, Daily Mail *

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