Fiction in translation

Book SynopsisA young geologist hungry for fame journeys to the mountains of Norway's Arctic north on a research expedition, but soon realizes he's more likely be eaten alive by mosquitoes than win glory. Freezing, wet and plagued by insomnia, Alfred becomes increasingly desperate and paranoid under the midnight sun, until he takes a catastrophic decision. This dazzlingly dark classic is at once a gripping survival story, a mordant farce and a peerless evocation of mental disintegration.

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Book SynopsisThe Lady with the Little Dog and Other Stories 1896-1904 is an enchanting collection of tales which showcase Anton Chekhov at the height of his power as a writer. This Penguin Classics edition is translated by Ronald Wilks with an introduction by Paul Debreczeny.In the final years of his life, Chekhov produced some of the stories that rank among his masterpieces, and some of the most highly-regarded works in Russian literature. The poignant ''The Lady with the Little Dog'' and ''About Love'' examine the nature of love outside of marriage - its romantic idealism and the fear of disillusionment. And in stories such as ''Peasants'', ''The House with the Mezzanine'' and ''My Life'' Chekhov paints a vivid picture of the conditions of the poor and of their powerlessness in the face of exploitation and hardship. With the works collected here, Chekhov moved away from the realism of his earlier tales - developing a broader range of characters and subject matter, while forging Table of ContentsThe Lady with the Little Dog and Other Stories, 1896-1904IntroductionFurther ReadingChronologyNote on TextPatronymicsThe House with the MezzaninePeasantsMan in a CaseGooseberriesAbout LoveA Visit to FriendsIonychMy LifeThe Lady with the Little DogIn the RavineDisturbing the BalanceThe BishopThe BridePublishing History and Notes

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Book Synopsis'Vital... [Erpenbeck] is asking a compelling and timely question' Sally Rooney, Irish Times Richard has spent his life as a university professor, immersed in the world of books and ideas. Recently retired, he steps into the streets of his city, Berlin, and discovers a new community. A tent city has grown up on Oranienplatz, established by African asylum seekers. Hesitantly getting to know the people there, Richard finds his life changing, as he begins to question his own sense of belonging in a city that once divided its citizens into them and us. At once a passionate contribution to the debate on race, and a beautifully written examination of an ageing man's quest for meaning, Go, Went, Gone showcases one of the great contemporary European novelists at the height of her powers. 'Profound, beautiful and deeply affecting... [An] extraordinary novel, bearing unflinching testament to history as it unfolds' Neel Mukherjee, New Statesman 'One of Europe's most highly regarded writers... Erpenbeck's most significant work to date' Financial TimesTrade ReviewErpenbeck is becoming one of Europe's most highly regarded writers, perpetually striving to create an artistic prism through which to interpret history's arc... Superbly translated by her usual collaborator Susan Bernofsky [...] there is a melancholic undertone to the novel, murmuring beneath its condensed, liquid prose. Deceptively unhurried, yet undeniably urgent, this is Erpenbeck's most significant work to date -- Catherine Taylor * Financial Times *Europe's outstanding literary seer, Jenny Erpenbeck's new novel resonates with an unexpected simplicity that is profound, unsettling and subtle. Astutely translated by Susan Bernofsky [...] Erpenbeck's powerful tale, delivered in a wonderfully plain, candid tone, is both real and true. It will alert readers, make us more aware and, it is to be hoped, more human -- Eileen Battersby * Guardian *A remarkable novel which questions our understanding of borders and identity and which calls above all for compassion -- Annie Rutherford * Skinny *Susan Bernofsky's finely crafted translation [...] reaches Anglophone readers at an opportune moment... Erpenbeck binds the upheavals of past and present, Europe and Africa. Lyrical and satirical by turns, she shows that fearful isolation, emotional or political, hurts wall-builders and wall-jumpers alike * Economist *Vital... [Erpenbeck] is asking a compelling and timely question -- Sally Rooney * Irish Times *Acclaimed novelist Jenny Erpenbeck has gone further than most in examining the ephemeral nature of human life... An immensely ambitious novel, tackling a wide, complex range of themes, it is about the arbitrariness of borders, both literal and metaphorical, and the notion of foreignness as opposed to belonging. It is about the complex nature of comprehension and compassion, and the places genuine empathy between foreign bodies might be achieved... It is also a clarion call, a righteous protest against dehumanising government systems [...] Ultimately Erpenbeck - wise, caring and profound - triumphs in this heart-rending plea for universal tolerance and respect -- Jane Graham * Big Issue *[In] this wise, moving novel [...] Erpenbeck demands that her fellow countrymen show compassion to those whose lives have been "cut off, as if with a knife"' -- Paul Connolly * Metro *At once urgent and contemporary [...] the brilliant German novelist, Jenny Erpenbeck, has taken on the churn of the great issues of refugees, illegal immigration and asylum in her latest novel, Go, Went, Gone and created something profound, beautiful and deeply affecting... It is a mark of Erpenbeck's compassion and her complex, nuanced understanding of the human motivations of sympathy that she can make [a] (white, liberal) weakness of Richard a tender, even humorous seam in her book... [An] extraordinary novel, bearing unflinching testament to history as it unfolds -- Neel Mukherjee * New Statesman *Jenny Erpenbeck shows us that we are involved already, whether we want to be or not -- Maren Meinhardt * TLS *Not only timely but masterful -- Michael Pollan * Guardian *Very moving -- Carol Morley * Observer *Lyrical, absorbing -- Julia Alvarez * International New York Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn intelligent, provocative whodunit with a killer twist * Ian Rankin *Superb * 100 Best Crime Novels since 1945, The Times *Icelandic detective Hulda Hermannsdottir is the best tragic heroine our reviewer has read for years * The Times, Must Read List *A superb thriller * Summer Reads, The Sunday Times *A complex, fascinating mix of Icelandic community and alienation, atmospheric tension, and timely issues (immigrant exploitation and vigilante justice), Jonasson's latest series is another must-read for crime fans who follow the work of Arnaldur Indridason and Yrsa Sigurdardottir * Booklist *I've ONLY recently discovered the extraordinary Icelandic writer who adds several shades of darkness to Nordic noir . . . it builds to a deeply shocking climax -- Anthony Horowitz * Daily Mail, Ten Thrillers to Die For *If you have ever doubted the appropriateness of the phrase 'Nordic noir', The Darkness will dispel any hesitation . . . in what way this happens (and how badly) is the strength of the book. There are ever-darker surprises, culminating in a finish that leaves one with a highly disturbing image. -- BOOK OF THE WEEK * The Press *The wait was worthwhile and The Darkness first in the new trilogy, is a very efficient piece of work. Jonasson has the full measure of the Nordic noir genre, and pushes all the requisite buttons * Barry Forshaw, Financial Times *To read Ragnar Jonasson is to plunge into snowy Iceland . . . much of its atmosphere and subtle pacing to the traditional 'golden age' detective fiction as the mystery unfolds and builds to a startling climax, elegantly handled. * The Witness *Superb . . . Chilling . . . and establishes her as a great tragic heroine of modern detective fiction -- Joan Smith * Crime Book of the Month, Sunday Times *Outstanding series debut . . . builds to its stunning conclusion, one of the more remarkable in recent crime fiction * Publishers Weekly *The Darkness melds an insightful character study with a solid plot for an outstanding novel * Washington Post *The perfect territory for mystery [writers] * New York Times *Extraordinary, the three books in that series are all amazing . . . very moving all the way through -- Ian RankinIt's shockingly sinister and has an ending that will leave you, literally, gasping for breath * Crimesquad *The ending really took my breath away and that's hard for writers to do to me these days . . . It was a complete surprise and I should have seen it coming and I didn't. [Hulda] is a fantastic, complex 3D character and I want to see more of her, so hurray, this is the first of a three book series * Ian Rankin on the Simon Mayo Podcast *The Darkness will have you burning the midnight oil till 2:00am. It's a gloriously compelling yarn, whose spell continues to hold even when you've turned its final page thanks to its unexpected ending. I can't wait for his next * Reader review *Expertly plotted, with an ending that's a true shocker, The Darkness is the first book in a trilogy featuring this engaging investigator, which is good news * Book of the Month, Guardian *Chilling - a must-read * Peter James *Page-turning stuff with an unexpected ending! * James Swallow, bestselling author of Nomad *Was gripped from the start of this brilliantly told story. And left wide-eyed with shock at the ending * Fiona Barton, bestselling author of The Widow *A true masterpiece . . . a plot full of twists and turns and an ending that leaves you gasping for air * Yrsa Sigurðardóttir *As chilling as the nip in the Icelandic air * Choice Magazine *Crime fiction has never seen a character quite like Hulda Hermannsdóittir; nor a series launch so entirely willing to take risks and obliterate long-standing tropes . . . There is no doubt that The Darkness will rank as one of the most popular and powerful reading experiences of the year * Bolo Books Review *Breathtaking. Read it in two sittings. Yet another instant Ragnar Jonasson classic * Thomas Enger, bestselling author of the Henning Juul series *The Darkness is a bullet train of a novel, at once blazingly contemporary and Agatha-Christie old-fashioned. With prose as pure and crisp as Reykjavik snowcrust, Ragnar Jónasson navigates the treacherous narrative with a veteran's hand. I reached the end with adrenalized anticipation, the final twist hitting me in the face. I dare you not to be shocked. * Gregg Hurwitz *The Darkness is Ragnar Jonasson at the top of his game - deft plotting, a great central character and a story as chilling as the Icelandic winter. I couldn't put it down * William Ryan, author of The Holy Thief *It had an intense, visceral sense of place and the connection between the emotional lives of the character and the landscape was evoked beautifully * Helen Callaghan, bestselling author of Dear Amy *It will get your pulse racing, and keep you hooked to the last page * Simon Kernick of The Bone Field series *Magnificently dark and twisted and that ending - blimey! * C. J. Tudor, bestselling author of The Chalk Man *Praise for Ragnar Jónasson * - *Jónasson is an automatic must-read for me . . . possibly the best Scandi writer working todayAs chilling as the nip in the Icelandic air * Choice Magazine *Superb. . . chilling . . . This is the first volume in Jonasson's Hidden Iceland trilogy, which tells Hulda's story in reverse chronological order and establishes her as one of the great tragic heroines of contemporary detective fiction * Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month *Expertly plotted, with an ending that's a true shocker, The Darkness is the first book in a trilogy featuring this engaging investigator, which is good news * The Guardian *Magnificently dark and twisted! That ending - blimey! * C. J. Tudor, bestselling author of The Chalk Man *A sympathetic yet entirely unsentimental portrait of a flawed but decent detective seeking justice for a murdered Russian asylum seeker * Sunday Times Crime Club *It will get your pulse racing and keep you hooked to the last page * Simon Kernick of The Bone Field series *Crime fiction has never seen a character quite like Hulda Hermannsdóittir; nor a series launch so entirely willing to take risks and obliterate long-standing tropes . . . There is no doubt that The Darkness will rank as one of the most popular and powerful reading experiences of the year. * BOLO Books Review *The Darkness is a bullet train of a novel, at once blazingly contemporary and Agatha-Christie old-fashioned. With prose as pure and crisp as Reykjavik snowcrust, Ragnar Jónasson navigates the treacherous narrative with a veteran's hand. I reached the end with adrenalized anticipation, the final twist hitting me in the face. I dare you not to be shocked -- Gregg Hurwitz * Sunday Times bestselling author of Orphan X *Was gripped from the start of this brilliantly told story. And left wide-eyed with shock at the ending * Fiona Barton, bestselling author of The Widow *The Darkness is Ragnar Jónasson at the top of his game - deft plotting, a great central character and a story as chilling as the Icelandic winter. I couldn't put it down -- William Ryan * author of The Holy Thief *Page-turning stuff with an unexpected ending! * James Swallow *Another masterpiece from the King of Icelandic Noir -- Thomas Enger * bestselling author of the Henning Juul series *Unbearably sinister * Helen Callaghan, bestselling author of Dear Amy *The Darkness is a true masterpiece of a crime novel, introducing an original protagonist, a plot full of twists and turns and an ending that leaves you gasping for air -- Yrsa Sigurðardóttir * author of the bestselling Thora Gudmundsdottir crime series *Praise for Ragnar Jónasson * - *No country associated with the label Nordic noir is as bleak, cold, snowy and empty as Iceland. And no crime writer portrays those elements as evocatively and scarily as Ragnar Jonasson * The Times *A classic crime story seen through a uniquely Icelandic lens... first rate and highly recommended -- Lee Child, on * Snowblind *A modern take on Agatha Christie-­-style mystery, as twisty as any slalom . . . -- Ian Rankin, on * Snowblind *Ragnar Jónasson writes with a chilling, poetic beauty - a must-read addition to the growing canon of Iceland Noir -- Peter JamesDistinctive blend of Nordic noir and golden age detective fiction...atmospheric...economical and evocative prose * The Guardian on Nightblind *Seductive ... an old-fashioned murder mystery with a strong central character and the fascinating background of a small Icelandic town cut off by snow. Ragnar does claustrophobia beautifully -- Ann CleevesThe ending hits the reader like a kick in the stomach * FRÉTTATIMINN **** *Jonasson's books have breathed new life into Nordic noir ...all the skilful plotting of an old-fashioned whodunit although it feels bitingly contemporary in setting and tone * Sunday Express *Hulda Hermannsdottir is a welcome addition to the selection of Icelandic crime fiction protagonists . . . It is almost impossible to put the book down until the last word has been read * Fréttablaðið **** *Out of all of Ragnar's books, this is the one I like the most . . . The book of his which reminds me most of Agatha Christie * Kiljan, on The Island *The threads lie in various places, the plot is well woven and the pieces in the puzzle come together well in the end. The structure is good, the main characters are believable, the story flows well, everyone is a suspect á la Agatha Christie and the solution unveils the mystery and leads the readers to the truth. But not all the truth, as some things are better left hidden * Morgunbladid (Icelandic newspaper) *A very good book, gripping and interesting, with all the threads carefully managed. Hopefully the author will publish as many books as possible with lead character Hulda * Vikan Magazine, on The Island *

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Book SynopsisTHE PRIZE-WINNING SATIRICAL BESTSELLER - MORE THAN 500,000 COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDETrade ReviewFirst-class satire . . .The Capital delivers, within a brilliant satirical fiction, thoughtful and instructive analysis of both the weaknesses in the EU that galvanise leavers and the strengths that motivate remainers. -- Mark Lawson * Guardian *A traditional novel, broadshouldered, omniscient, almost Balzac-ian, but with terrorism part of a plot centeredsatirically around an all-too-plausible Brussels idea. -- Steven Erlanger * New York Times *The Capital is a mischievous yet profound story about storytelling; about the art of shaping a narrative by finding resonances in the messy stuff of life . . . [An] unexpectedly delightful book about Brussels. * Economist *Menasse has a finely tuned satirical ear that easily criss-crosses borders . . . an intelligently written, pacy novel whose wide-ranging narratives ensure the momentum never wavers . . . Robert Menasse has produced an extraordinary piece of work -- Charlie Connelly * New European *A thoroughly entertaining fiction that serves both as a sort of campus satire and a novel of ideas . . . Menasse packs his Brussels with sharply-etched types . . . With its zest, pace and wit, Jamie Bulloch's translation serves him splendidly. -- Boyd Tonkin * Spectator *A deliciously vicious - and timely - satire about the E.U. and the meaning of Europe today -- Frederick Studemann * Financial Times *[An] ambitious panorama that arrives amid the throes of Brexit and the Chinese Year of the Pig. Intelligent, fun, sad, insightful - an exceptional work. * Kirkus Reviews *An elegantly written, brilliantly constructed novel, full of discussion points and ideas -- Andreas Isenschmid * Die Zeit *A sharply observed, witty novel, a character comedy . . . the best novel about European bureaucracy you'll read . . . a brave and funny book -- Charlie Connelly * New European Best Books of 2019 *A brutally funny and exhaustive tableau of both a continent in transition and the organisation straining to hold it together . . . a teeming epic -- Andrew R. Chow * Time Magazine *Rumbustious . . . deliciously witty -- Paul Connolly * Metro *The Capital could hardly be more topical . . . It is about Europe reconnecting with its ideals via a tragic past . . . It's a smart read, unlike anything being written in Britain today. -- David Herman * Jewish Chronicle *Robert Menasse's polyphonic EU satire juggles a multitude of wryly amusing storylines. -- Siobhan Murphy * The Times *This is above all the polyphonic novel in excelsis . . . I want to read much more from this major European writer -- David Nice * Arts Desk *Witty but humane. . . . The massive cast never becomes unwieldy thanks to Menasse's delightful prose. This epic, droll account of contemporary Europe will be catnip for fans of mosaic novels and comical political machinations. * Publishers Weekly (*****) *I enjoyed The Capital so much . . . A major book about coincidences, of linked and overlapping meanings . . . This is a deeply humane novel, a novel for adults. -- Dwight Garner * The New York Times *Menasse assembles his cast from the different member states . . . but he gives their inner lives a complexity that belies the satirical shorthand of simple labels . . . brilliantly comic . . . An important and timely book. -- Michael Cronin * Irish Times *A gripping novel with an urgent political purpose -- Fintan O'Toole * New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisTHE SMASH-HIT HITLER SATIRE - MORE THAN 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD"A brilliant book" RUSSELL KANE "Brilliant and hilarious" KEN FOLLETT A box-office-hit film now available on NETFLIXA two-part BBC Radio 4 Dramatisation directed by and starring David Threlfall (Shameless)Berlin, Summer 2011. Adolf Hitler wakes up on a patch of open ground, alive and well. Things have changed - no Eva Braun, no Nazi party, no war. Hitler barely recognises his beloved Fatherland, filled with immigrants and run by a woman. People certainly recognise him, albeit as a flawless impersonator who refuses to break character. The unthinkable, the inevitable happens, and the ranting Hitler goes viral, becomes a YouTube star, gets his own T.V. show, and people begin to listen. But the Führer has another programme with even greater ambition - to set the country he finds a shambles back to rights. Look Who's Back stunned and then thrilled 1.5 million German readers with its fearless approach to the most taboo of subjects. Naive yet insightful, repellent yet strangely sympathetic, the revived Hitler unquestionably has a spring in his step.Translated from German by Jamie BullochTrade ReviewBe warned. This book is funny. Very funny -- Rebecca K Morrison * Independent *Worryingly believable (time travelling despots aside) and unsettling. But also very funny -- Nathan FilerA brilliant book -- Russell KaneBrilliant and hilarious -- Ken FollettIncredible . . . Very funny -- Alastair CampbellLaugh-out-loud funny . . . An uproarious, disturbing book that will resonate long after you turn the final page * Daily Express *Both funny and frightening . . . A powerful and important book * Independent on Sunday *Peculiar, provocative and very funny . . . It makes you laugh and forces you to think * Irish Independent *Wonderfully inventive, very funny and superbly written * We Love This Book *The Hitler of Look Who's Back has aged not a whit: his fascist views are intact, and he is as foul-tempered and misanthropic as ever * Sunday Times *There's no question that the novel has hit upon the key paradox of our modern obsession with Hitler * Observer *The jokes are very funny . . . rollicking, enjoyable * Financial Times *A satire on the cult of personality . . . nicely played * Monocle *This uproariously funny satire will have you in stitches * Shortlist *'An uproarious, disturbing book that will resonate long after you turn the final page' Caroline Jowett, Daily Express. * Daily Express *'Be warned. This book is funny. Very funny' Rebecca Morrison, Independent. * Rebecca Morrison, Independent *'Both funny and frightening, this is a subtle, historical study of the commanding nature of the fanatical demagogue, as well as a savage critique of contemporary western culture. It is a powerful and important book' Sue Gaisford, Independent. * Independent *

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Book Synopsis‘Meet girls. Take drugs. Listen to music.’ In Rave, cult German novelist Rainald Goetz takes a headlong dive into nineties techno culture. From the cathartic release on the dance floor to the intense conversations in corners of nightclubs and the after-parties in the light of dawn, this exhilarating, fragmentary novel captures the feeling of debauchery from within. Dazzling and intimate, Rave is an unapologetic embrace of nightlife from an author unafraid to lose himself in the subject of his work.Trade Review‘Goetz’s writing is a kind of dancing. Each sentence, fragment, captures the essence of what it’s like to live inside the spaces of techno music. Thoughts come and go, and return louder, later in the text, with an urgent rhythm that makes the cumulative case for the transformative power of the dance floor. This is writing of and from the body, hot, sweaty, dazed, decadent, and ultimately life-affirming.’ — Julia Bell, author of The Dark Light ‘Rave matches [Bernhard] with its pitch-black humour and philosophical intensity. Questions of interiority, the external world, language and meaning are opened up within its circuit of pills and beats and clubs, like a genuinely meaningful drug trip.’ — Financial Times‘In Rave, Goetz makes an electrifying portrait of what happens when you dedicate your life to the night, to the bass and the rhythm, when you party nonstop and rave like there is no tomorrow. [...] What makes Rave so effective is that Goetz chronicles the tenor of rave culture’s endless cycle. The reader becomes part of the weekends of excessive indulgence, the “cracked” out week after, and the intrigues that linger. [...] I often felt a contact high reading Rave’ — Shane Anderson, Los Angeles Review of Books

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Book Synopsis A poignant story of three young adults trying to make a future for themselves in war-torn Damascus Syria - a country at war. Amal, Hammoudi and Youssef are young and ambitious, the face of modern Syria. But when civil war tears through their homeland, they are left with a horrifying choice: risk death by staying in the country they love, or flee in search of a new life elsewhere? From one of Germany's most talented literary voices comes this intricately woven story of brutality, loss, and how hope can shine through when darkness feels overwhelming.Trade Review‘Grjasnowa’s measured undemonstrative writing style (the book is beautifully translated from German by Katy Derbyshire) is central to the novel’s success... A significant literary and moral success.’ * Big Issue *‘There are few authors writing in German as sensuously and vividly as Grjasnowa.’ * KulturSpiegel *‘Grjasnowa provides a close-as-skin understanding of what it's like to suffer bombardment, torture, and dislocation while remaining human and hopeful... Highly recommended.’ * Library Journal, Reading Around the World: 12 Top Spring Titles for the Library Market *‘An important and painful book.’ * Deutschlandradio Kultur *‘Olga Grjasnowa's sentences crack like a whip.’ * Süddeutsche Zeitung *‘It is wonderful that there are writers like Grjasnowa who can write brilliantly and decisively about the real world.’ * Brigitte *‘A dark, tragic story with the resilient light of humanity shining through it... It truly spoke to my soul.’ * Marjorie's World of Books, blog review *‘Olga Grjasnowa writes from the nerve center of her generation.’ * Die Zeit *‘Grajsnowa’s extraordinary novel offers an opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with one of the great tragedies of our time - to remember what that nation once was, why and how the conflict began and what it has led to…Grajsnowa’s measured undemonstrative writing style (the book is beautifully translated from German by Katy Derbyshire) is central to the novel’s success…The reader isn’t patronised or manipulated, and the emotional impact is all the greater. Characters come and go and live and die as the novel heads for its masterly, shattering denouement. A significant literary and moral success.’ * Big Issue *‘A truly gifted writer...[who] has a very bright future ahead of her.’ * Yahoo! Voices *

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Book SynopsisA thrilling exploration of psychological disturbance and fear from the bestselling and prize-winning author of Measuring the World.*Now a major film starring Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried*On retreat in the wintry Alps with his family, a writer is optimistic about completing the sequel to his breakthrough film. Nothing to disturb him except the wind whispering around their glassy house. The perfect place to focus. Intruding on that peace of mind, the demands of his four-year-old daughter splinter open long-simmering arguments with his wife. I love her, he writes in the notebook intended for his script. Why do we fight all the time?Guilt and expectation strain at his concentration, and strain, too, at the walls of the house. They warp under his watch; at night, looking through the window, he sees impossible reflections on the snow outside.Then the words start to appear in his notebook; the words he didn't write.Familiar and forbidding by turns, this is an electrifying experiment in form by one of Europe's boldest writers. The ordinary struggles of a marriage transform, in Kehlmann's hands, into a twisted fable that stays darkly in the mind.Trade ReviewA well-crafted tale about one man unravelling due to forces beyond his control . . . You Should Have Left - part-horror, part-psychodrama - serves up effective shocks and thrills that keep us rapt and on the edge of our seats . . . Kehlmann brings that abyss ever closer and takes his narrator, and his reader, over the edge. -- Malcolm Forbes * National *Wry, eerie and increasingly terrifying . . . Daniel Kehlmann is certainly in complete mastery of an entertaining Everyman's postmodernist Gothic guaranteed to unsettle -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *Kehlmann plays on our manipulated expectations to pull off a rather spectacular hat trick . . . You Should Have Left is a story full of craft and scintillating devices . . . A chilling, curious little book, finely translated, and a promise of innovative maturity for its author -- Mika Provata-Carlone * Bookanista *His fiction, conspicuously clever, tends to puncture all the dusty, lugubrious 'worthiness' of canonical literature . . .You Should Have Left [is] a taut and scary novella . . . [with] some high-grade science in it -- Hermione Hoby * Sunday Times *It's a masterclass in economical storytelling, meticulously attentive prose and imaginative agility. Kehlmann creates narrative complexity with the deftest of strokes. He's also laugh-out-loud funny. This is both a highly readable novella and a subtly derisive challenge to readers to question the value of their own enjoyment. -- Luke Davies * Literary Review *A sense of menacing claustrophobia, as the characters - and readers - teeter on the edge of an inexplicable abyss . . . Using some neat formal trickery and a cleverly suggestive atmosphere, this is a story about a marriage in trouble . . . At first glance there may not seem much to this little book, but it has a funny way with dimensions - its effects are amplified, and they linger. -- Daniel Hahn * Spectator *Unsettling, tightly written (in an excellent English translation by Ross Benjamin), psychological suspense and outright, physics-defying horror . . . Kehlmann is a skilled storyteller who takes what could be a run-of-the-mill horror tale and builds it into something more intelligent, metaphysical, concise and perfectly paced as it cranks up the chill . . . Frightening and thought-provoking -- Charlie Connelly * New European *This mind-bending novella about a writer losing his marbles contains images that startle and linger . . . The most arresting of the book's chilling moments might do for baby monitors what 'Jaws' did for swimming in the ocean . . . [Kehlmann] manages a few darkly comic flourishes . . . provocative . . . potent . . . pleasantly unsettling -- John Williams * New York Times *A beautifully crafted exercise in terror from one of Germany's most celebrated contemporary authors . . . Kehlmann creates a sense of existential dread that transcends the typical ghost story . . . A book to keep you up at night * Kirkus *A ghost story steeped with a sense of existential dread and it will have you rereading the chilling final pages to figure out exactly what might have happened. It is a book that should carry a health warning: read alone at your own risk. -- Georgia Godwin * Monocle *Kehlmann is one of the brightest, most pleasure-giving writers at work today, and he manages all this while exploring matters of deep philosophical and intellectual import. * Jonathan Franzen *Daniel Kehlmann is one of the great novelists for making giant themes seem light * Adam Thirlwell *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review...brilliant... * Barry Forshaw, European Literature Network *

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Book SynopsisThe follow-up collection to the international vampire bestseller Let the Right One In**Includes the short story Border, now a major film**Whatever happened to Oskar and Eli? And what became of the beleaguered families in Handling the Undead? Find out in Let the Old Dreams Die. In other tales from this collection, a woman finds a dead body and decides to keep it for herself, a customs officer has a mysterious gift that enables her to see what others hide, and a man believes he knows how to deceive death. These are the stories of John Ajvide Lindqvist''s rich imagination. They are about love and death, and what we do when the two collide and the monsters emerge.Table of ContentsBorder. Village on the hill. Equinox. Can't see it! It doesn't exist! Substitute. Eternal / love. Let the old dreams die. To hold you while the music plays. Majken. Paper walls. The final processing. Afterword to the Swedish edition of 'Let the Old Dreams Die'. Afterword.

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Book Synopsis You are his prey… The sixth gripping thriller in Lars Kepler’s bestselling series featuring Joona Linna. Perfect for fans of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo.Trade Review‘You want to be disturbed, you want to be distressed? This is one for you. Chilling and enthralling from the outset’ Paul Finch, Sunday Times bestselling author of Shadows Praise for Lars Kepler: ‘The story is incredibly dark and the reader will be caught between wanting to turn the page to read on and being too scared to do so’ SUN ‘STALKER is terrifying yet hugely enjoyable to read but be warned, it may take you a while to sleep after you finish it’ DAILY EXPRESS ‘One of the most hair-raising crime novels published this year’ SUNDAY TIMES ‘Hurtles along … full of nuanced detail which sets it far above the average thriller … You’ll be terrified’ EVENING STANDARD ‘Taking Europe by storm…ferocious, visceral storytelling that wraps you in a cloak of darkness’ DAILY MAIL ‘Deeply scarifying stuff’ INDEPENDENT ‘Chillingly vicious’ MARIE CLAIRE ‘Brilliantly scary’ DAILY EXPRESS ‘Kepler has a direct line to a very dark place in the human soul’ Lev Grossman, TIME ‘A creepy and compulsive crime thriller’ MO HAYDER ‘Grips you round the throat until the final twist’ WOMAN AND HOME ‘An horrific and original read’ SUN ‘A rollercoaster ride of a thriller full of striking twists’ MAIL ON SUNDAY

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Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY CHRIS POWERA master of the short form' IndependentWide-ranging, suggestive, and ever-daring, Roberto Bolaño's short stories map out the dark terrain that he would go on to explore in his novellas and epic novels. From melancholic portraits of exile and its folklore to a rogue's gallery of desperate characters futilely attempting to unearth the animating secrets of the world, each of Bolaño's short fictions adds yet another door, a window, a secret passage onto the sinister, eerie universe that Bolaño brought to life across his body of work. Bringing together Last Evenings on Earth, The Return and The Insufferable Gaucho, as well as Bolaño's posthumously published stories, this new book marks the first time these fictions have been collected in one edition, allowing for a major reappraisal of the vital place that the short story commands for Bolaño's literary legacy. Bolaño was a flat-out genius, one of the greatest writers of our time' Paul AusterBolaño wa

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Book SynopsisIn this stunning novel, Coelho's unusual protagonist sets the town a moral challenge from which they may never recover.A stranger arrives in the small mountain village. He carries with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars.Burying these in the vicinity, the stranger strikes up a curious friendship with a young woman from the village Miss Prym. His mission is to discover whether human beings are essentially good or evil.A fascinating meditation on the human soul, The Devil and Miss Prym illuminates the reality of good and evil within us all, and our uniquely human capacity to choose between them.Trade Review“His Books have had a life-enhancing impact on millions of people” THE TIMES

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Book SynopsisExquisite and amusing miniatures regarded as the pinnacle of classical Chinese fictionWith their elegant prose, witty wordplay and subtle charm, the 104 stories in this selection from The Strange Tales of Pu Songling (1640-1715) reveal a world in which nothing is as it seems. Here a Taoist monk conjures up a magical pear tree, a scholar recounts his previous incarnations, a woman out-foxes the fox-spirit that possesses her, a child bride gives birth to a thimble-sized baby, a ghostly city appears out of nowhere and a heartless daughter-in-law is turned into a pig. In his tales of humans coupling with shape-shifting spirits, bizarre phenomena, haunted buildings and enchanted objects, Pu Songling pushes back the boundaries of human experience and enlightens as he entertains.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a glTrade Review“Magical and wondrously entertaining . . . Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio overflows with ghosts, demons, monsters, monks, magicians, revived corpses, gods and fox-spirits. . . . [It] calls to mind a collection of mildly racy club stories or lost episodes of The Twilight Zone. . . . Fast paced, surprisingly light in tone, emotionally cool, wryly humorous—these uncanny tales, often just one or two pages long, might almost be adult bedtime stories. . . . Reading this beloved classic provides a particularly enjoyable way to help celebrate Chinese New Year.” —The Washington Post

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Book SynopsisLittle Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world''s greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.Dmitry Andreich Olenin, in the hope of escaping the hollowness of his privilege, joins the army and heads to the Caucasus. There among the foothills he will meet the Cossacks: a people he considers to be at one with the land. In their company he will hunt, he will drink, he will fall in love and, slowly, he will begin to understand that between people, between cultures, there is often a space that cannot be traversed...''It is the richness of Tolstoy''s genius that strikes us most in this story'' Virginia Woolf

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Book SynopsisLittle Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world''s greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-SmithFilled with rich description and luxurious beauty, these ten tales of loss and longing from one of Japan''s greatest writers show the pull between duty and desire, ecstasy and death: a mother lost in mourning, a moonlit journey to fulfil a wish, a night of infidelity, a young lieutenant who ends his life.

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Book Synopsis''The new crime and espionage series from Penguin Classics makes for a mouth-watering prospect'' Daily TelegraphA mystery writer turns detective to protect the woman he loves. But is he hunter or hunted?The chance meeting between a crime novelist and a married woman blossoms into friendship. When she confides to him that she has been receiving threatening and sadistic letters from an ex-lover, who says he is watching her in the shadows, he knows he must help her. But the trail unexpectedly leads to another writer, Oe Shundei, the mysterious and secretive author of works of grotesque violence. Suddenly nothing is as it seems, and nobody is safe.

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Book SynopsisAn epic tale of love and loyalty, beauty and brutality by China's greatest living writer.Trade Review"* 'Mo Yan deserves a place in world literature... His voice will find its way into the heart of the reader, just as Kundera and Garcia Marquez have' - Amy Tan * 'If I were to choose a Nobel laureate, it would be Mo Yan' - Kenzaburo Oe, 1994 Nobel Laureate for Literature * 'Raw, brilliant, eventful... A tale full of seething vitality' - New York Times"

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Book Synopsis_______________ 'Surreal and unsettling' - Observer Cultural Highlight ‘Wise, comical and exceptionally relatable’ - Zeba Talkhani ‘Quietly hilarious and deeply attuned to the uncanny rhythms and deadpan absurdity of the daily grind’ - Sharlene Teo _______________ A woman walks into an employment agency and requests a job that requires no reading, no writing – and ideally, very little thinking. She is sent to an office building where she is tasked with watching the hidden-camera feed of an author suspected of storing contraband goods. But observing someone for hours on end isn't so easy. How will she stay awake? When can she take delivery of her favourite brand of tea? And, perhaps more importantly – how did she find herself in this situation in the first place? As she moves from job to job, writing bus adverts for shops that mysteriously disappear, and composing advice for rice cracker wrappers that generate thousands of devoted followers, it becomes increasingly apparent that she’s not searching for the easiest job at all, but something altogether more meaningful... _______________ ‘An irreverent but thoughtful voice, with light echoes of Haruki Murakami ... the book is uncannily timely ... a novel as smart as is quietly funny' - Financial Times 'Polly Barton’s translation skilfully captures the protagonist’s dejected, anxious voice and her deadpan humour ... imaginative and unusual' - Times Literary SupplementTrade ReviewTsumura’s portrait of the daily grind is spot-on, her observations wryly tender. Polly Barton’s translation captures the deadpan absurdity and subtle surrealism in this inventive Japanese novel -- Madeleine Feeny * Mail on Sunday *Ultimately, it is through the winding process of self-repair that we get to share in the character’s journey of self-understanding in this altogether human novel * Irish Times, Best New Translated Novels 2020 *‘An irreverent but thoughtful voice, with light echoes of Haruki Murakami ... the book is uncannily timely ... a novel as smart as is quietly funny * Financial Times *Polly Barton’s translation skilfully captures the protagonist’s dejected, anxious voice and her deadpan humour ... imaginative and unusual * Times Literary Supplement *I have never read such relatable writing about the small stresses of working and how they can feel like disasters at the time. She captures the small apocalypse of an admired colleague leaving, or the sense of powerlessness when a higher-up interferes * i paper *Surreal, wickedly funny … it feels pretty timely, as we consider the workplace and the purpose of work in our lives at a time of cultural and societal upheaval ... We move through absurdist tableaux and moments of deadpan, existential drama, but it’s Tsumura’s incisive eye on the small, everyday office stresses so many will find deeply relatable that kept me captivated. The neo-liberal work-life fantasy is obliterated so beautifully * Dazed *Bringing to mind aspects of the terrific Convenience Store Woman, a surreal exploration of finding meaning in life * i paper *Surreal and unsettling * Observer *Translated in a droll and understated style by Polly Barton, part of the novel’s appeal lies in the narrator’s distinct worldview and her deadpan humor that allows the surreal, metaphysical connections in the novel to bubble beneath the surface of her seemingly dull, day-to-day existence * Japan Times *A fascinating, immersive novel about a young Japanese woman moving from one mundane job to another, searching for employment that doesn’t require her to think too much. But she soon finds out that no matter how simple her set tasks, there are intrigue, magic and the unexpected to each one. Fans of My Year Of Rest And Relaxation will adore this exquisitely deadpan book, adeptly translated by Polly Barton * Red *A surreal employment odyssey ... Recommended for anyone missing time in the office * Monocle *A brilliant riposte ... don't get mad, get even – and then get even better * Saga *A wise, comical and exceptionally relatable novel on finding meaning and purpose in our work lives -- Zeba Talkhani, author of My Past is a Foreign CountryQuietly hilarious and deeply attuned to the uncanny rhythms and deadpan absurdity of the daily grind, Kikuko Tsumara's postmodern existential workplace saga both skewers and celebrates our deeply human need to function in society and keep surviving in an oftentimes senseless-seeming world -- Sharlene Teo, author of PontiRead it before you burn out * Asahi Shimbun Weekly AERA *The fantastical flavour of this book is one of its charms … This is a masterpiece of a book about the working world -- Kentaro Tomoda * Bunshun Toshokan *Spending time in the author’s unique world, which seems so bizarre and random but is in fact artfully designed, I found myself healed and restored -- Kazufumi Watanabe * Asahi Shimbun *Delightful and disturbing in equal measure ... Mesmeric, funny, wry, delightful – this is a novel to help the millennials find their own paths through the world they’ve inherited * Lunate *Tsumura’s novel is a pleasing, quietly enjoyable slice of fiction with a message for those who give themselves entirely to work, no matter how rewarding it may be * A Life In Books *Completely different to anything I’ve read before ... there is an almost dreamlike feeling to the story * Life With All the Books *

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Book SynopsisA gripping historical novel of resistance and betrayal in German-occupied Norway - the final book in Lars Mytting's acclaimed and bestselling Sister Bells trilogy

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Book SynopsisA collection of dark, funny retellings of classic fairytales for girls growing up in the modern world-from the author of Lampie __________ 'Wickedly delicious' SOPHIE ANDERSON 'Clever and witty' YARROW TOWNSEND 'Satisfying, surprising and consistently superb' MICHAEL MANN __________ A determined girl gives up on kissing a frog. A fearless heroine comes face-to-face with a not-so Big Bad Wolf. A monstrous princess, held captive on a deserted island, yearns to break free. Within this book are seven famous fairy tales turned into enchanting, inspiring and sometimes hair-raising stories for today's world, about girls with their own dreams and desires. These are no damsels in distress, but real young women of flesh and blood - who certainly don't need rescuing.Trade Review'A wickedly delicious book. Surprising, subversive and totally addictive' - Sophie Anderson'Spell-bound by these clever and witty stories' - Yarrow Townsend'*** - Praise for Lampie' - ***'Lampie stood out... a dark-and-stormy-night of a fairytale that I absolutely loved' - Hilary McKay'Schaap is a famous illustrator in the Netherlands and her debut novel will illuminate children all around the world' - The Times, 20 Children's Books for Summer

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Book Synopsis'Antal Szerb is one of the great European writers' Ali Smith 'A novel to love as well as admire, always playful and ironical, full of brilliant descriptions, bon mots and absurd situations' Guardian A major modern classic: the turbulent story of a businessman torn between middle-class respectability and sensational bohemoia Mihály and Erzsi are on honeymoon in Italy. Mihály has recently joined the respectable family firm in Budapest, but as his gaze passes over the mysterious back-alleys of Venice, memories of his bohemian past reawaken his old desire to wander. When bride and groom become separated at a provincial train station, Mihály embarks on a chaotic and bizarre journey that leads him finally to Rome, where he must reckon with both his past and his future. In this intoxicating and satirical masterpiece, Szerb takes us deep into the conflicting desires of marriage and shows how adulthood can reverberate endlessly with the ache of youth. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe Translated by Len Rix Antal Szerb was born in Budapest in 1901. Though of Jewish descent, he was baptised at an early age and remained a lifelong Catholic. He rapidly established himself as a formidable scholar, through studies of Ibsen and Blake and histories of English, Hungarian and world literature. He was a prolific essayist and reviewer, ranging across all the major European languages. Debarred by successive Jewish laws from working in a university, he was subjected to increasing persecution, and finally murdered in a forced labour camp in 1945. Pushkin Press publishes his novels The Pendragon Legend, Oliver VII and his masterpiece Journey by Moonlight, as well as the historical study The Queen's Necklace and Love in a Bottle and Other Stories.Trade Review'A writer of immense subtlety and generosity... Can literary mastery be this quiet-seeming, this hilarious, this kind? Antal Szerb is one of the great European writers' - Ali Smith'A novel to love as well as admire, always playful and ironical, full of brilliant descriptions, bon mots and absurd situations... it's a book utterly in love with life' - Kevin Crossley-Holland'Just divine ... the kind of book that makes you imagine the author has had private access to your own soul' - Nicholas Lezard'This radiantly funny and intelligent novel... shows its author to be one of the masters of twentieth-century fiction. Len Rix's loving translation of a book that might have remained lost to us deserves special praise' - Paul Bailey'Journey by Moonlight is a burning book, a major book' - George Szirtes

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Book SynopsisThe One State is the perfect society, ruled over by the enlightened Benefactor. It is a city made almost entirely of glass, where surveillance is universal and life runs according to algorithmic rules to ensure perfect happiness. And D-503, the Builder, is the ideal citizen, at least until he meets I-330, who opens his eyes to new ideas of love, sex and freedom.A foundational work of dystopian fiction, inspiration for both Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Huxley's Brave New World, WE is a book of radical imaginings - of control and rebellion, surveillance and power, machine intelligence and human inventiveness, sexuality and desire. It is both a warning and a hope for a better world.This new edition also includes Ursula K. Le Guin's essay 'The Stalin in the Soul' on the enduring influence of Zamyatin's masterpiece, and George Orwell's 1946 review of WE.Trade ReviewThe best single work of science fiction yet written -- URSULA K. LE GUINTwo of the most iconic novels in the English language - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell - owe an enormous debt to Zamyatin. We is the ur-text of science-fiction dystopias . . . the product of a powerful imagination * * Wall Street Journal * *The prototype . . . Zamyatin is a major artist * * New York Times * *This new edition, which contains Orwell's review as well as an introduction by Margaret Atwood, an afterword by Ursula Le Guin and an absorbing comment by the translator Bela Shayevich, who grew up in the former Soviet Union, will be the definitive version in English for the foreseeable future * * New Statesman * *[A] fine new translation . . . In a market of competing editions . . . Shayevich's stands out, and for very good reason . . . truly excellent . . . Shayevich's [translation] retains the novel's bold, jagged, elemental energy [and] remains true to the spirit of the work in a way that the author himself would have applauded * * Times Literary Supplement * *A seminal dystopian classic . . . This timely and thoughtful edition is a fitting tribute to book of lasting influence * * Irish Times * *It is in effect a study of the Machine, the genie that man has thoughtlessly let out of its bottle and cannot put back again -- GEORGE ORWELL

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Book SynopsisShe never presumed she herself would live out her natural life, so she wouldn't mind leaving this world through an untimely death.Hornclaw is a sixty-five-year-old female contract killer who is considering retirement. But while on an assassination job for the 'disease control' company she works for, Hornclaw makes an uncharacteristic error, causing a sequence of events that brings her past well and truly into the present. Threatened with sabotage by a young male upstart and battling new desires and urges when she least expects them, Hornclaw steels her resolve, demonstrating that no matter their age, the female of the species is always more deadly than the male.Trade ReviewAssassination, Gangnam style. A resonant K-noir treat -- LUKE JENNINGS, author of the KILLING EVE novelsDarkly comic . . . It focuses engagingly and compassionately on the invisibility of ageing citizens * * Financial Times * *The pull of this novel lies in its incredible story, filled with fascinating, flawed, funny, heartbreaking characters. It's the experience of reading it that will stay with you * * The Times * *I loved The Old Woman With the Knife, Gu Byeong-mo's pitch-black comic thriller about an elderly female assassin -- PAULA HAWKINSElectrifying. An utterly thrilling, illuminating read with a radical heroine at its heart. I loved it -- IRENOSEN OKOJIEThe Old Woman with the Knife is unique - a gripping thriller as well as a deeply thoughtful book about our attitudes to ageing and grief. Wonderful stuff -- DOUG JOHNSTONEDarkly funny, this South Korean novel examines the universal challenge of aging while maintaining societal relevance * * Washington Post * *The Old Woman With the Knife will sweep you away. This electric novel will have you thinking about its beautiful, melancholy, awe-inspiring force for a long time. The last page will end up slicing your heart. I can't remember who I used to be before I read this book -- YUN KO-EUN, author of THE DISASTER TOURISTBrutality and tenderness meet unexpectedly in this strikingly original thriller that brings into focus questions of ageing and erasure, legacy and compassion. Boldly imagined and deftly executed, The Old Woman With the Knife is an unforgettable experience -- RACHEL YODER, author of NIGHTBITCHFast-moving . . . its kickass approach to narrative convention leaves much of contemporary British fiction feeling positively lily-livered * * Daily Mail * *

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Book SynopsisIraq + 100 poses a question to contemporary Iraqi writers: what might your home city look like in the year 2103 - exactly 100 years after the disastrous American and British-led invasion of Iraq? How might that war reach across a century of repair and rebirth, and affect the state of the country - its politics, its religion, its language, its culture - and how might Iraq have finally escaped its chaos, and found its own peace, a hundred years down the line? As well as being an exercise in escaping the politics of the present, this anthology is also an opportunity for a hotbed of contemporary Arabic writers to offer its own spin on science fiction and fantasy.

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Book SynopsisEvery family has its own mythology, but in this family none of the myths match up. Claudia's mother says she met her husband when she stopped him from jumping off a bridge. Her father says it happened when he saved her from an attempted robbery. Both parents are deaf but couldn't be more different; they can't even agree on how they met, much less who needed saving. Into this unlikely yet somehow inevitable union, our narrator is born. She comes of age with her brother in this strange, and increasingly estranged, household split between a small village in southern Italy and New York City. Without even sign language in common – their parents have not bothered to teach them – family communications are chaotic and rife with misinterpretations. An outsider in every way, she longs for a freedom she's not even sure exists. Only books and punk rock – and a tumultuous relationship – begin to show her the way to create her own mythology, to construct her own version of the story of her life. Kinetic, formally daring, and strikingly original, Strangers I Know is a funny and profound portrait of an unconventional family that makes us look anew at how language shapes our understanding of ourselves.Trade Review‘Formally innovative and emotionally complex, this novel explores themes of communication, family, and belonging with exceptional insight. Durastanti, celebrated in Italy for her intelligent voice and her hybrid perspective, speaks to all who are outside and in-between. ‘Strangers I Know, in a bracing translation by Elizabeth Harris, is stunning.’ — Jhumpa Lahiri author of Whereabouts‘Brave and deeply felt... Here the novel is not only a medium of illumination, but also a buoy cast into the dark waters of memory, imagination, and boldly embodied questions. In other words, it is my favorite kind of writing, the kind that not only tells of the world – but burrows through it, alive.’ — Ocean Vuong, author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous‘Claudia Durastanti's writing is lyrical and sharp, underpinned with a searching gaze that turns the everyday into something darkly beautiful. Every page feels totally, absorbingly alive.’ — Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure‘Playful, looping, atmospheric and funny, Strangers I Know is a singular achievement, one of those rare books that expanded my understanding of what a novel can do. Claudia Durastanti is an absolutely thrilling writer.’ — Lauren Groff, author of Matrix‘There is much exquisite characterisation in Strangers I Know by Durastanti, as well as barbed and profound musings on the class system…’ — Buzz Magazine‘Durastanti is a superb writer whose text is fluid, descriptions taut and original, whose whole novel gradually unfolds into a web of associations, possibilities and interwoven stories within stories that highlight how families, distant and near, misunderstand, confuse and love each other.’ — Rupert Loydell, International Times ‘In this moving family portrait [Durastanti] depicts personal calamities and failings with frankness, but the glimpses of violence and loneliness throughout shimmer with a sense of acceptance and the “useless power of forgiveness”.’ — Vilma De Gasperin, TLS

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This is not your ordinary campus novel or another Groundhog Day. In magical, irreverent, and often humorous prose that calls up both Murakami and Moshfegh, The Tatami Galaxy repeatedly reimagines the existential crises of a college misfit in a kaleidoscopic display of imagination, character, and genre. There is no question why this mash-up of multiverse adventure and philosophy has already become a new classic." — Sequoia Nagamatsu, national bestselling author of How High We Go in the Dark "The team of Tomihiko Morimi and Emily Balistrieri is unbeatable: this novel vibrates with a voice that is sharp and funny, wacky and winning. It's a perfect slice of contemporary Japanese pop: a tangle of fates, simultaneously cosmic and comic. I loved my voyage through The Tatami Galaxy." — Robin Sloan, New York Times bestselling author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore and Sourdough "Rich, unusual, and surprisingly profound, The Tatami Galaxy is a gorgeous application of the fantastic to celebrate the precious parts of life that we often forget." — Ada Palmer, award-winning author of Too Like the Lightning Tomihiko Morimi’s novel of burned out gods and misanthropic students jumping between alternate dimensions as they face their regrets proves to be just as touching and hilarious as the anime series it spawned. A surprisingly timely mash-up of Catcher in the Rye and Russian Doll, The Tatami Galaxy will resonate with anyone that’s found themselves too often stuck in looping isolation. — Tim Maughan, Locus Award-nominated author of Infinite Detail “Morimi’s delightful campus novel follows the quixotic adventures of an unnamed student dreaming of the perfect college experience…Light and sweet in its confection, this satisfies like a spongy piece of castella.” — Publishers Weekly "Beautiful and satisfying...Pick it up when you have the chance" — Tor.com "Translator Balistrieri meticulously deciphers the protagonist’s ' "rotten" university student voice' for English readers...anime aficionados will greatly appreciate the prose original that inspired the award-winning celluloid series of the same title." — Booklist “Who can deny the pleasures of a good time-loop narrative?... there’s a memorable payoff to several ongoing threads when the novel reaches its climax; you also may never look at moths the same way again.” — Words Without Borders "[The Tatami Galaxy] is a frolicking novel packed with slacker hijinks and escapades. At its core lies pithy wisdom about choice and destiny... Morimi’s sci-fi fusion of fun and the unfathomable offers a light touch that makes a lasting impression." — The Japan Times "[A] treat better left unspoiled." — The New York Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisINTRODUCTION BY JO NESBØAFTERWORD BY PAUL AUSTERNineteenth-century Kristiania is an unforgiving place, and work is thin on the ground. Roaming the streets of Norway's capital, a penniless young writer searches for inspiration whilst trying desperately to make ends meet. Driven to extraordinary lengths, sleeping under the stars with his stomach growling, the writer's behaviour becomes increasingly irrational and his world spirals into chaos. Hunger was Knut Hamsun's first novel and earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920. A disturbing and darkly humorous masterpiece of existential fiction, Hunger anticipated and influenced some of the twentieth century's most acclaimed writers including Camus, Kafka and Fante.Trade ReviewHunger is the crux of Hamsun's claims to mastery. This is the classic novel of humiliation, even beyond Dostoevsky * * Observer * *One of the most disturbing novels in existence * * Time Out * *An excellent new translation . . . this Hunger deserves to be the standard English version * * Times Literary Supplement * *Hamsun has the qualities that belong to the very great, a complete omniscience on human nature -- Rebecca WestDisturbing and difficult as this nightmarish novel is, it is a work of imaginative brilliance that resonates in our own day * * Herald * *Hunger is undoubtedly one of the most important novels of the modern age. At last it has found a translator capable of doing justice to its immense power and complexity: Lyngstad's deserves to become the standard English version -- Duncan McCleanHunger was published in 1890 and its power has not faded * * London Review of Books * *

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1861, Humiliated and Insulted plunges the reader into a world of moral degradation, childhood trauma, unrequited love and irreconcil­able relationships. At the centre of the story are a young struggling author, an orphaned teenager and a depraved aristocrat, who not only foreshadows the great figures of evil in Dostoevsky’s later fiction, but is a powerful and original presence in his own right. This new translation catches the verve and tumult of the original, which – in concept and execution – affords a refreshingly unfamiliar glimpse of the author.Trade ReviewThe real nineteenth-century prophet was Dostoevsky, not Karl Marx. -- Albert CamusDostoevsky gives me more than any scientist, more than Gauss! -- Albert EinsteinIrrespective of its value as a work of art, this novel possesses a deep autobiographical interest also, as the character of Vanya, the poor student who loves Natasha through all her sin and shame, is Dostoevsky’s study of himself. -- Oscar WildeThis note of personal feeling, this harsh reality of actual experience, undoubtedly gives Humiliated and Insulted something of its strange fervour and terrible passion, yet it has not made it egotistic; we see things from every point of view, and we feel not that action has been trammelled by fact, but that fact itself has become ideal and imaginative. -- Oscar WildeThe novels of Dostoevsky are seething whirlpools, gyrating sandstorms, waterspouts which hiss and boil and suck us in. They are composed purely and wholly of the stuff of the soul. Against our wills we are drawn in, whirled round, blinded, suffocated, and at the same time filled with a giddy rapture. Out of Shakespeare there is no more exciting reading. -- Virginia WoolfThe only psychologist from whom I have anything to learn. -- Friedrich Nietzsche

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Book Synopsis A SPELLBINDINGLY CREEPY COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES, FROM AN ARGENTINIAN LITERARY STAR 'The Grimm brothers and Franz Kafka pay a visit to Argentina in Samanta Schweblin's darkly humorous tales.' J.M. Coetzee Spine-tingling and unexpected, unearthly and strange, the stories of Mouthful of Birds are impossible to forget. The crunch of a bird's wing. A cloud of butterflies, so beautiful it smothers. A crimson flash of blood across an artist's canvas. Samanta Schweblin's writing expertly blurs the line between the surreal and the everyday, pulling the reader into a world that is at once nightmarish and beautiful. An exhilarating tour de force guaranteed to leave the pulse racing. 'This is our world, and sharp-focused, but stripped of its usual meanings... Brutal violence is twisted into horrific, intensely experienced art.' Guardian *Longlisted for the Man Booker International Prize, 2019* Trade Review'Spritely and uncanny, this is a beautifully imagined and skilfully executed collection of stories.' International Booker Prize judges‘Delving into the cryptic depths of the human psyche, this is a highly imaginative and thought-provoking collection, deftly translated by Megan McDowell.’ Observer'In this slim and superb book, Schweblin takes on the desire to love, to parent, and to care for one's own body - hardly extraordinary themes - and invests them with a fresh poignancy.' Vogue'Impressive... Schweblin is among the most acclaimed Spanish-language writers of her generation.' New York Times‘Schweblin's Man Booker-shortlisted novel Fever Dream was unsettling and uncanny and these 20 brilliant stories, translated by Megan McDowell, are just as fabulous... an eerie blend of the supernatural and the all too real.’ Daily Mail‘Starting a story by the Argentinian Samanta Schweblin is like tumbling into a dark hole with no idea where you'll end up.’ Chris Power, The Sunday Times‘[Schweblin's] particular genius lies in the fact that there’s something inherently savage and ungovernable about her work.' Financial Times ‘At once fantastically out there and real to the point of being haunting.’ Vanity Fair‘The author of the magnetic, scalp-prickling Fever Dream returns with stories as gothic and incantatory as a telltale heart- virtuoso fiction from Argentina's own Edgar Allan Poe.’ O, the Oprah Magazine‘So strange and beautiful.’ Tommy Orange, author of There There‘These wild, unsettling, absurdist tales cement her status as a penetrating voice in modern fiction.’ New Statesman‘Samanta Schweblin’s strange, haunting and stunningly beautiful collection of short stories… Many of these stories got under my skin and lingered with me long after I’d put the book down.’ Jan Carson, author of The Fire Starters‘These are fictions of indisputable power, presenting modern life as a farcical horror show in which our limitations and destructive appetites have made us ugly, ridiculous and doomed.’ Daily Telegraph‘Schweblin's imagination seemingly knows no bounds.’ Refinery29

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Book SynopsisTrapped in a stifling marriage, Anna Karenina is swept off her feet by dashing Count Vronsky. Rejected by society, the two lovers flee to Italy, where Anna finds herself isolated from all except the man she loves, and who loves her. But can they live by love alone? In this novel of astonishing scope and grandeur, Leo Tolstoy, the great master of Russian literature, charts the course of the human heart.A masterpiece of realism and illuminated by irresistible characters, Anna Karenina is among the best-loved of all novels, penetrating to the heart of the ruling class in Tsarist Russia. This beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Anna Karenina is translated by Aylmer & Louise Maude, and features an afterword by Ned Halley.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

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Book Synopsis'Electrifying' - A.J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the WindowA Sunday Times Best Thriller Book of the Year. More than two million copies sold in Spain alone. Red Queen is the first in Juan Gómez-Jurado's internationally bestselling serial killer thriller series, translated by Nick Caistor.You've never met anyone like her . . .Antonia Scott is special. Very special. She is not a policewoman or a lawyer. She has never wielded a weapon or carried a badge, and yet, she has solved dozens of crimes.But it's been a while since Antonia left her attic in Madrid. The things she has lost are much more important to her than the things awaiting her outside.She also doesn't receive visitors. That's why she really, really doesn't like it when she hears unknown footsteps coming up the stairs.Whoever it is, Antonia is sure that they are coming to look for her.And she likes that even less . . .Praise for Red Queen:'A Spanish spin on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . . . A female Sherlock Holmes' - The Times'Often compared with Lisbeth Salander . . . Antonia Scott looks destined to leave every bit as lasting an impression.' - Daily Mail'This fast-paced story crackles with energy as it roams between Madrid's most exclusive enclaves and seedy back streets' – Best Books of 2023, Financial TimesTrade ReviewBest thriller books of 2023 . . . What impresses is the brainy brio of Gómez-Jurado's storytelling, as well as his striking depiction of Madrid as two cities, an elegant baroque facade concealing a gothic underworld * Sunday Times *Fizzes with energy and lively scene-setting, switching . . . There are obvious echoes of Lisbeth Salander, but the crackling interplay between Scott and Inspector Gutiérrez, a gay Basque policeman, adds an extra layer of originality, as does Nick Caistor’s sparkling translation. * Financial Times *An electrifying serial-killer thriller, a fiendishly clever puzzle mystery . . . Red Queen tops even The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as a thinking reader’s thriller. -- A.J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the WindowA Spanish spin on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . . . stylish and stylised . . . A female Sherlock Holmes * The Times *Often compared with Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Antonia Scott looks destined to leave every bit as lasting an impression. * Daily Mail *What Gómez-Jurado excels at, as conveyed in Nick Caistor’s brisk translation, is pacing of the breakneck variety. Short chapters, funny asides, lethally potent descriptions: They all contribute to a frenetic page-turning momentum . .. you’ll have great fun reading it. * New York Times *Fast paced, memorable characters and a cinematic story that draws you in hook, line and sinker. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series. -- John Marrs, author of The OneJuan Gomez-Jurado has written a fast, exciting page-turner and it’s the first in a trilogy featuring Antonia and Jon. You’ll be wanting more. * The Record *Fans of Scandinavian crime thrillers might want to broaden their horizons with the first book in a Spanish trilogy featuring a mismatched duo . . . Already an international hit, Gómez-Jurado’s smart page-turner has been made into an Prime Video series that will debut later in 2023 * Washington Post *A fast-paced thriller . . . giving us a mash-up of Nordic noir and an old-school detective with a neurodivergent mind . . . Red Queen works because along with a genius-protagonist, Gomez-Jurado has successfully wo­ven in the other ingredients that thrill a mystery reader: a diabolical antago­nist, a twisty game and a ticking clock. * Open The Magazine *A labyrinth of mystery, crisply plotted and paced, way ahead of the pack. -- Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Kaiser’s Web Suspenseful and terrifying . . . A bit of Clarice Starling and a lot of Lisbeth Salander make Antonia a thoroughly compelling character, who will return in two more translations to complete Gómez-Jurado’s trilogy, -- Jane Murphy * Booklist starred review *Exciting . . . a nice balance among character, action, and setting . . . The next two, Loba Negra (Black Wolf) and Rey Blanco (White King), must be translated into English, because thriller fans will be waiting. Fast-moving and quirky fiction from Madrid. * Kirkus Reviews *Nail-biting . . . tantalizing . . . Lizbeth Salander fans will find much to like. * Publishers Weekly *This has all the velocity and thrills of Stieg Larson’s Millennium series but none of the eyeroll-inducing misogyny . . . it's all-engrossing. * First Clue (starred review) *Fresh and appealing to those that enjoy interesting characters and stories that constantly move forward and tales that end in unexpected ways. * Mystery and Suspense *Red Queen is a smart, addictive thriller, beautiful in both its complexity and devotion to characterization. Between the stunning plot twists, bold structural choices and surprising moments of wry humour, you won’t be able to put this one down -- Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of Find MeThis terrific novel has all the page-turning elements of the very best thrillers, but what makes it truly remarkable is the writing itself. Engaging and heartbreaking, witty and wry and immersive . . . Juan Gómez-Jurado has written an instant classic -- Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect LifeReaders are going to fall for Antonia Scott. This character is, without a doubt, the best thing that has happened to the international thriller in the last ten years * ABC *Red Queen is terrific – a complex story that unfolds at breakneck speed, a compelling plot filled with twist after twist, a story told with rich, fluid language, and a fascinating, well-realized unlikely pair of characters, especially the brilliant Antonia Scott. -- David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of Murder as a Fine ArtThe most compelling and original detective since Lisbeth Salander * The Times South Africa *

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Book SynopsisIsmail Kadare, born in 1936 in the mountain town of Gjirokaster, near the Greek border, is Albania's best-known poet and novelist. Since the appearance of The General of the Dead Army in 1965, Kadare has published scores of stories and novels that make up a panorama of Albanian history linked by a constant meditation on the nature and human consequences of dictatorship. His works brought him into frequent conflict with the authorities from 1945 to 1985. In 1990 he sought political asylum in France, and now divides his time between Paris and Tirana. He is the winner of the first ever Man Booker International Prize.Trade ReviewKadare's most daring novel, one of the most complete visions of totalitarianism ever committed to paper * Vanity Fair *If there is a book worth banning in a dictatorship, this is it * Guardian *Kadare's delicately misted view of another world (as much internal as totalitarian) lives up to the splendour of his title * Independent on Sunday *Inexorably takes your breath away * Herald *

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Book SynopsisYasunari Kawabata, winner of the 1968 Nobel Prize for Literature, was one of Japan's most distinguished novelists. Born in Osaka in 1899, he published his first stories while he was still in high school. Among his major novels published across the world are Snow Country (1956), Thousand Cranes (1959), The Sound of the Mountain (1972), and Beauty and Sadness (1975). Kawabata was found dead, by his own hand, in 1972.Trade ReviewThis novel is one of modern literature's greatest, most poignant elegies * Washington Post *Kawabata's narrative spirals through the book's events in ruminative glides and turns... There is a kind of low-key daring, an austere, autumnal nobility, in Kawabata's tale * Time *An archetypal saga... there are storms and landscapes as cool, as luminous, as any in Japanese paintings and woodcuts * The New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisThe controversial, gripping novel from the bestselling, highly acclaimed author of ATOMISED and SEROTONIN.''Essential reading for anyone concerned with the state of the contemporary world'' DAILY MAILWho, among you, deserves eternal life?Daniel is a highly successful stand-up comedian who has made a career out of playing outrageously on the prejudices of his public. But at the beginning of the twenty-first century, he has begun to detest laughter in particular and mankind in general. Despite this, Daniel is unable to stop himself believing in the possibility of love.A thousand years on, war, drought and earthquakes have decimated the earth and Daniel24 lives alone in a secure compound - his only companion, a cloned dog named Fox. Outside, the remnants of the human race roam in packs, while Daniel24 attempts to decipher his predecessor''s history. In a nightmarish vision of the implosion of the modern world, he, like his predecessor attempts to fathTrade ReviewTakes you by the throat and shakes you. A bracing mix of visionary Aldous Huxley, Evelyn Waugh at his cruellest, and ranting John Osborne, THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND is a charging bull in the china shop of modern fiction * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND is above all an aesthetic achievement. For this, Houellebecq should win the Prix Goncourt that polemics and personalities have made so elusive * SCOTSMAN *His deftly constructed novel is a bleak comment on contemporary society, at times funny, brutal and revolting * THE ECONOMIST *An exhilarating writer....in a class of his own * LITERARY REVIEW *There is no doubt that he is a writer who deserves the serious attention that he is now receiving * THE TIMES *Provocative and satisfying fiction * HERALD *The novel is essential reading for anyone concerned with the state of either contemporary fiction or the contemporary world * DAILY MAIL *There are passages of irresistible black humour, savage condemnation and genuine (and surprising) sentiment * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *If you liked ATOMISED and PLATFORM, you'll love THE POSSIBILITY OF AN ISLAND ... the most talented of current French writers * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *It will sicken you, reduce you to laughter and stun you with its savage directness, but it will always leave you thinking * SPAIN MAGAZINE *The first 300 pages of this novel prove that Houellebecq is one of the best novelists writing today * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *The book shows his main strength: caustic wit with a moral force that cuts through complacent assumptions * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Houellebecq keeps us listening, even when we know we should leave * INDEPENDENT *Reading Houellebecq is like being caught up in a tropical storm: you are blown away by the ferocity of his imagination * OBSERVER *Europe's most inflammatory writer * INDEPENDENT *Houellebecq keeps us listening, even when we know we should leave. * THE INDEPENDENT *the book shows his main strength: caustic with with a moral force that cuts throug complacent assumptions. -- Katie Owen * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *

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Book SynopsisThe seventh novel in Zola's Rougon-Macquart cycle, The Assommoir is the story of a woman's struggle for happiness in working-class Paris.Table of ContentsIntroduction Translator's Note Select Bibliography A Chronology of Émile Zola Maps THE ASSOMMOIR Explanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisAs night falls over Vienna, Franz Ritter, an insomniac musicologist, takes to his sickbed with an unspecified illness and spends a restless night drifting between dreams and memories, revisiting the important chapters of his life: his ongoing fascination with the Middle East and his numerous travels to Istanbul, Aleppo, Damascus, and Tehran, as well as the various writers, artists, musicians, academics, orientalists, and explorers who populate this vast dreamscape. At the centre of these memories is his elusive, unrequited love, Sarah, a fiercely intelligent French scholar caught in the intricate tension between Europe and the Middle East. An immersive, nocturnal, musical novel, full of generous erudition and bittersweet humour, Compass is a journey and a declaration of admiration, a quest for the otherness inside us all and a hand reaching out – like a bridge between West and East, yesterday and tomorrow. Winner of the 2015 Prix Goncourt, this is Mathias Enard’s most ambitious novel since Zone.Trade Review‘One of the finest European novels in recent memory.’ — Adrian Nathan West, Literary Review‘Few works of contemporary fiction will yield as much pleasure as Compass. Reading it amounts to wandering into a library arranged in the form of an exotic sweet shop, full of tempting fragments of stories guaranteed leaving you wanting more.’ — Eileen Battersby, Irish Times‘Compass is a challenging, brilliant, and – God help me – important a novel as is likely to be published this year.’ — Justin Taylor, Los Angeles Times‘Crisply translated by Charlotte Mandell (as was Zone), Compass is Proustian in its set-up. There are passages of pure delight with rare insight into the human condition.’ — Tobias Grey, Financial Times‘The French novelist Mathias Enard is an unusual kind of regionalist. His great subject isn’t a small town or neighborhood but the vast Mediterranean basin, and practically everyone within it. Enard speaks Persian and Arabic, and he has taught at universities throughout Europe and the Middle East. He sees the Mediterranean as a distinct literary and historical region, a “zone,” as he called it in his novel of the same title. In nine books, three of which have been translated into English, he has charted a course through this zone, writing about sectarian violence in the Balkans; the varying tugs of jihadism, tradition, and globalization in Morocco; and a rogue’s gallery of thieves, killers, and eccentrics. Enard’s prose, which tends to pile descriptive clauses ever higher on top of one another (Zone is a single, five-hundred-page sentence), can be mesmerizing. But it’s the larger project of his writing that bears particular consideration: in his fiction, Enard is constructing an intricate, history-rich vision of a persistently misunderstood part of the world.’ — Jacob Silverman, New Yorker‘Enard is like the anti-Houellebecq, and he deserves far more attention.’ — Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal ‘The beauty of Compass is the sheer breadth and density of its vision, calling forth a multitude of different worlds, bound only by the capacious mind of its narrator, an aging Austrian musicologist named Franz Ritter.’ — Jeffrey Zuckerman, New Republic‘A love letter to the cosmopolitan Middle East ... [a] strangely powerful work.’ — Steven Poole, Guardian

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Book Synopsis'A mad, moving, beautiful novel' IndependentThe world of Mood Indigo is a stained-glass cartoon kind of a place, where the piano dispenses cocktails, the kitchen mice dance to the sound of sunbeams, and the air is three parts jazz. Colin is a wealthy young aristocrat with a big heart. The instant he sees Chloe, bass drums thump inside his shirt, and soon the two are married. Typically generous, Colin gives a quarter of his fortune to his best friend Chick so he can marry Chloe's friend Alyssum.But a lily grows in Chloe's lung, and Colin must spend his remaining fortune on the only available treatment: surrounding her daily with fresh flowers. Chick squanders his share of Colin's money on rare books and it is not long before the friends are forced to sacrifice their carefree lives to soul-crushing work.A surreal cult classic that continues to inspire and endure, Mood Indigo is an animated and delightful satire.

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Book SynopsisThe million-copy bestselling phenomenon: a funny, moving, uplifting tale of love and community that will leave you with a spring in your step. Now a major film starring Tom HanksTrade ReviewDelightful ... the perfect holiday read. * Evening Standard *It's the most enchanting, beautiful tale.A warm and tender story about love, loss and second chances, peppered with memorable characters, wonderful set pieces and some beautifully black humour. Ove is a joy from start to finish.An uplifting, life-affirming and often comic tale of how kindness, love and happiness can be found in the most unlikely places. * Sunday Express *A charming debut. * People *A Man Called Ove is a wonderful novel that will stay with you . . . Ove's story has an underlying sadness which the author tackles with great warmth and humour . . . It's a bittersweet, heart-warming tale which will leave listeners with a restored faith in the power of friendship and perhaps even a love for cats. * Psychologies Magazine *Hilarious and heart-breaking. * Stylist *It's warm, funny, and ultimately almost unbearably moving. * Daily Mail *The most charming book you'll read this year ... This charming debut novel by Backman should find a ready audience with English-language readers . . . hysterically funny . . . wry descriptions, excellent pacing . . . In the contest of Most Winning Combination, it would be hard to beat grumpy Ove and his hidden, generous heart. * Kirkus *My absolute summer-reading must is A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman: perfect beach reading for a grumpy old man. It has all the minimalist delicacy of Stoner, but with a delicious wry wit. The book works on a very small scale, yet it sweeps through intense life dramas, all the while remaining funny, moving, uplifting...and a cracking good tale.There is a method to the madness - by the end of this funny and touching book, you'll come round to Ove's way of thinking. * Mumsnet *A Man Called Ove finally rescued all those men who constantly mean to read novels but never get round to it. Crotchety old git Ove argues with neighbours, reluctantly inherits a cat, punches a clown and, by the end of the book, has you wanting to hug him. * Spectator BOOKS OF THE YEAR *Ove will upset us, cause us to be upset on his behalf and make us laugh till we daren't drink fluids and read simultaneously but by the end we're uplifted and don't want to go. * Bookbag *A Man Called Ove is exquisite. The lyrical language is the confetti thrown liberally throughout this celebration-of-life story, adding sparkle and colour to an already spectacular party. Backman's characters feel so authentic that readers will likely find analogues living in their own neighbourhoods. * Shelf Awareness, starred review *A funny crowd-pleaser that serves up laughs to accompany a thoughtful reflection on loss and love... The author writes with winning charm. * Publishers Weekly, starred review *Readers seeking feel-good tales with a message will rave about the rantings of this solitary old man with a singular outlook. If there was an award for 'Most Charming Book of the Year,' this first novel by a Swedish blogger-turned-overnight-sensation would win hands down. * Booklist, starred review *

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Book SynopsisInformed by traditional African storytelling, discover Ngugi wa Thiong'o's masterpiece. To honour the Ruler's birthday, the Free Republic of Aburiria set out to build a tower; a modern wonder of the world that will reach the gates of Heaven. But behind this pillar of unity a battle for control of the Aburirian people rages. Among the contenders: the eponymous Wizard, an avatar of folklore and wisdom; the corrupt Christian Ministry; and the nefarious Global Bank.'Mythological but also cheerfully disenchanted; political and playful; cartoonish but also epical... the African novel may well have delivered its greatest masterpiece' Sunday HeraldTrade ReviewUnreservedly a masterpiece * Scotland on Sunday *A huge, comic novel... A shimmering, shifting discourse... mythological but also cheerfully disenchanted; political and playful; cartoonish but also epical... the African novel may well have delivered its greatest masterpiece * Sunday Herald *Epic....daring satire * Sunday Times *FantasticTruly exciting... the author is a master of farce * Daily Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisDiscover Haruki Murakami''s first two novels.''If you''re the sort of guy who raids the refrigerators of silent kitchens at three o''clock in the morning, you can only write accordingly. That''s who I am.'' Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 are Haruki Murakami''s earliest novels. They follow the fortunes of the narrator and his friend, known only by his nickname, the Rat. In Hear the Wind Sing the narrator is home from college on his summer break. He spends his time drinking beer and smoking in J''s Bar with the Rat, listening to the radio, thinking about writing and the women he has slept with, and pursuing a relationship with a girl with nine fingers. Three years later, in Pinball, 1973, he has moved to Tokyo to work as a translator and live with indistinguishable twin girls, but the Rat has remained behind, despite his efforts to leave both the town and his girlfriend. The narrator finds himself hTrade ReviewMurakami fans will no doubt delight in this new publication. For newcomers, these early works are an excellent introduction to a writer who has since become one of the most influential novelists of his generation -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *Murakami’s way of making emotionally resonant images and symbols bump around on the page, and in one’s mind, remains fresh, miraculously, more than 35 years on -- Jerome Boyd Maunsell * Evening Standard *Wind/Pinball is a fresh, heart-warming dose of the Japanese master * Economist *To read a Murakami book is to feel comforted by the familiarity and predictability of its strangeness. These are Murakami’s two earliest novels and so, like archaeological artefacts, they detail the early construction of his now-famous style. -- Claire Kohda Hazelton * The Times Literary Supplement *quintessential Murakami… an excellent introduction to a writer who has since become one of the most influential novelists of his generation -- Guardian * Hannah Beckerman *

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Book Synopsis*JO NESBO HAS SOLD OVER 50 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE*''An incendiary cocktail of murder, revenge and a hitman with multiple problems'' IndependentThe contract killer.Olav lives the lonely life of a fixer. When you ''fix'' people for a living - terminally - it''s hard to get close to anyone.The gangster''s wife. Now he''s finally met the woman of his dreams. But she''s his boss''s wife. And Olav''s just been hired to kill her. Two very big problems.''Nesbo is in bracing form...gripping'' The SunWatch out for The Jealousy Man, the new Jo Nesbo book, out nowTrade ReviewDeserves to be a smash... A perfectly pitched thriller * Sunday Mirror *[An] incendiary cocktail of murder, revenge and a hitman with multiple problems * Independent *Nesbo is in bracing form...gripping * Sun *Striking in its simplicity… Nesbo is a writer at the top of his game who continues to amaze in new and confounding ways * Daily Express *The undisputed king of Scandinavian crime fiction...I am so used to the energetic plot twists, fiendish violence and addictive verbosity of Nesbo’s writing that Blood on Snow, with its simplicity, brevity and unlikely poetry, comes as a welcome antidote. It is set in the 1970s, an era of increasing fascination to Nesbo, and has a first-person narrative that provides a window into its protagonist’s lonely, tortured soul * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe notorious and celebrated novel that established modern realism For this novel of French bourgeois life in all its inglorious banality, Flaubert invented a paradoxically original and wholly modern style. His heroine, Emma Bovary, a bored provincial housewife, abandons her husband to pursue the libertine Rodolphe in a desperate love affair. A succès de scandale in its day, Madame Bovary remains a powerful and scintillating novel.This Penguin Classics edition is translated with notes and an introduction by Geoffrey Wall. It includes a preface by Michele Roberts. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by dTrade Review"Madame Bovary is like the railroad stations erected in its epoch: graceful, even floral, but cast of iron." -- John Updike

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Book Synopsis''The stories here will provoke, delight and impress. Joost Zwagerman''s selection forms a fascinating guidebook to a landscape you''ll surely want to wander in again.'' Clare Lowden, TLS''There is a lot of northern European melancholy in the collection, though often tinged with wry humour...an excellent book'' Jonathan Gibbs, Minor Literatures''We were kids - but good kids. If I may say so myself. We''re much smarter now, so smart it''s pathetic. Except for Bavink, who went crazy''A husband forms gruesome plans for his new fridge; a government employee has a haunting experience on his commute home; prisoners serve as entertainment for wealthy party guests; an army officer suffers a monstrous tropical illness. These short stories contain some of the most groundbreaking and innovative writing in Dutch literature from 1915 to the present day, wTrade ReviewForms a loose narrative - both historical and literary - of the twentieth century...watching the decades roll by in this looking-glass world, familiar yet strange, is one of the book's chief pleasures...the stories here will provoke, delight and impress. Joost Zwagerman's selection forms a fascinating guidebook to a landscape you'll surely want to wander in again. -- Claire Lowden * TLS *There is a lot of northern European melancholy in the collection, though they are often tinged with wry humour...The Second World War and Dutch colonialism also cast their shadows on these stories. Unblemished comedy is in short supply. And you have to ask: is this gloominess a reflection on the Dutch temperament, or on the present selection?... An excellent book -- Jonathan Gibbs * Minor Literatures *An affectionate love-letter to the Dutch short story which deserves to be cherished by all * TN2 Magazine, Trinity College Dublin *the range of stories, styles and authors means you can happily plunge in free of preconceptions and rarely findyourself disappointed. Similar anthologies can vary wildly in quality but The Penguin Book Of Dutch Short Stories keeps the bar high throughout mainly because, it seems, Zwagerman chose to include stories he admired on merit rather than making sure a list of boxes were ticked... -- Charlie Connelly * New European *

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Book Synopsis''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray I can still see Simenon coming into my office the next day, pleased with himself, displaying even more self-confidence, if possible, than before, but nevertheless with a touch of anxiety in his eyes.'' Maigret sets the record straight and tells the story of his own life, giving a rare glimpse into the mind of the great inspector - and the writer who would immortalise him.''One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories'' Guardian ''A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness'' IndependentTrade ReviewPraise for Georges Simenon:“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —The Guardian “These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —The Washington Post “Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals.” —People “I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.” —William Faulkner “The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature.” —André Gide “A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness.” —The Independent (London) “Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales.” —The Observer (London) “Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” —John Gray “A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable—lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates.” —Muriel Spark “A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it.”lle —Peter Ackroyd “Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century.” —John Banville"Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor" ― Times (London)"Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it's the food that counts." ― Margaret Atwood"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere." ― Financial Times"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn."-- Stig Abell ― The Sunday Times (London)

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewHeart-tugging stories [...] his understanding of human frailties and sympathy for the underdog shine through on every page * Daily Mail *Powerfully evocative of impoverished, pre-modern Paris * Evening Standard *One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories * Guardian *A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness * Independent *The most addictive of writers . . . a unique teller of tales * Observer *

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