Fiction in translation

Book SynopsisThe thought-provoking new novel from the international bestselling author whose words change lives. Linda knows she''s lucky. Yet every morning when she opens her eyes to a so-called new day, she feels like closing them again.Her friends recommend medication.But Linda wants to feel more, not less.And so she embarks on an adventure as unexpected as it is daring, and which reawakens a side of her that she - respectable wife, loving mother, ambitious journalist - thought had disappeared.Even she can''t predict what will happen next...Trade ReviewAdultery perfectly illustrates the faint line between madness and insanity, happiness and unhappiness as well as the eternal search for our own “personal legend” * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisBorn to drunken parents in the slums of Paris, Nana lives in squalor until she is discovered at the Théâtre des Variétés. She soon rises from the streets to set the city alight as the most famous high-class prostitute of her day. Rich men, Comtes and Marquises fall at her feet, great ladies try to emulate her appearance, lovers even kill themselves for her. Nana''s hedonistic appetite for luxury and decadent pleasures knows no bounds - until, eventually, it consumes her. Nana provoked outrage on its publication in 1880, with its heroine damned as ''the most crude and bestial sort of whore'', yes the language of the novel makes Nana almost a mythical figure: a destructive force preying on a corrupt society.

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Book SynopsisThree stories by a French masterFirst published in 1877, these three stories are dominated by questions of doubt, love, loneliness, and religious experience—together they confirm Flaubert as a master of the short story. “A Simple Heart” relates the story of Félicité, an uneducated serving-woman who retains her Catholic faith despite a life of desolation and loss. “The Legend of Saint Julian Hospitator,” inspired by a stained-glass window in Rouen cathedral, describes the fate of a sadistic hunter destined to murder his own parents. The blend of faith and cruelty that dominates this story may also be found in “Herodias,” a reworking of the tale of Salome and John the Baptist.This new edition is a completely new translation with a new introduction by Geoffrey Wall, Flaubert's acclaimed biographer. It features a chronology, further reading, and explanantory notes.For more than seventy years, Penguin has

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Book SynopsisTahar Ben Jelloun was born in 1944 in Fez, Morocco, and emigrated to France in 1961. He is one of North Africa's foremost novelists. Tahar Ben Jelloun's novels include The Sacred Night which received the Prix Goncourt in 1987 and Corruption.

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Book SynopsisBotchan is a modern young man from the Tokyo metropolis, sent to the ultra-traditional Matsuyama district as a Maths teacher after his the death of his parents. Cynical, rebellious and immature, Botchan finds himself facing several tests, from the pupils - prone to playing tricks on their new, naïve teacher; the staff - vain, immoral, and in danger of becoming a bad influence on Botchan; and from his own as-yet-unformed nature, as he finds his place in the world. One of the most popular novels in Japan where it is considered a classic of adolescence, as seminal as The Catcher in the Rye, Botchan is as funny, poignant and memorable as it was when first published, over 100 years ago.In J. Cohn''s introduction to his colourful translation, he discusses Botchan''s success, the book''s clash between Western intellectualism and traditional Japanese values, and the importance of names and nicknames in the novel.Trade ReviewSoseki's lightest and funniest work -- Donald KeeneThis rollicking rebel, and the spice and pace of the narrative, will appeal to parent, teacher, and schoolchild alike * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book Synopsis''K. kept feeling that he had lost himself, or was further away in a strange land than anyone had ever been before''A remote village covered almost permanently in snow and dominated by a castle and its staff of dictatorial, sexually predatory bureaucrats - this is the setting for Kafka''s story about a man seeking both acceptance in the village and access to the castle. Kafka breaks new ground in evoking a dense village community fraught with tensions, and recounting an often poignant, occasionally farcical love-affair. He also explores the relation between the individual and power, and asks why the villagers so readily submit to an authority which may exist only in their collective imagination.Published only after Kafka''s death, The Castle appeared in the same decade as modernist masterpieces by Eliot, Joyce, Woolf, Mann and Proust, and is among the central works of modern literature. This translation follows the text established by critical scholarship, and manuscript variants are mentioned in the notes. The introduction provides guidance to the text without reducing the reader''s own freedom to make sense of this fascinatingly enigmatic novel. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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Book Synopsis''Your Face Tomorrow is already being compared with Proust and rightly so'' Observer''One of contemporary literature''s major works ... you have to open this book'' Ali SmithThe concluding part in Javier Marías'' spy trilogy masterwork Jacques Deza is back in London and once again working for the secret intelligence agency run by Bertram Tupra. Deza finds himself forced to watch Tupra''s collection of incriminating videotapes of important public figures. The recordings document unconventional private lives - and horrific acts. The scenes enter him like a poison, contaminating everything good, yet he is powerless to counteract them. Set against a background of brutality, Poison, Shadow and Farewell asks whether violence can ever be justified and completes the extraordinary journey that has led us on a descent into hell and a re-emergence, not entirely unscathed, into life.Trade ReviewYour Face Tomorrow is already being compared with Proust and rightly so. It is a novel of extraordinary subtlety and pathos. The next thing Marias deserves is the Nobel Prize * Observer *

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Book SynopsisArkady Strugatsky (Author) Arkady Strugatsky (1925 - 1991) and Boris Strugatsky (1933 - 2012) are Russia's most acclaimed and popular science-fiction writers. Their unique style - at once hilarious and pitch black - encompassed a remarkable variety of different genres: from space opera to alien invasion, from locked-room mystery to dystopian apocalypse. While their initial output was uncritical of Soviet life, over time their work became much more subversive - science fiction being the perfect vehicle to hide their critiques from censors. In 1981 they shared the Aelita Award, Russia's most prestigious science-fiction prize.Boris Strugatsky (Author) Arkady Strugatsky (1925 - 1991) and Boris Strugatsky (1933 - 2012) are Russia's most acclaimed and popular science-fiction writers. Their unique style - at once hilarious and pitch black - encompassed a remarkable variety of different genres: from space opera to alien invasion, fromTrade ReviewOne of the Strugatsky brothers is descended from Gogol and the other from Chekhov, but nobody is sure which is which ... A beautiful book -- Ursula K. Le GuinOne of the best and most provocative novels I have ever read, in or out of sci-fi -- Theodore SturgeonThey open windows in the mind and then fail to close them all, so that, putting down one of their books, you feel a cold breeze still lifting the hairs on the back of your neck. * The New York Times *

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Book SynopsisDiscover the new Penguin Crime and Espionage seriesA master criminal and a master detective are locked in battle. Who will win?They call her the ''Dark Angel''. Queen of Tokyo''s underworld, Mme Midorikawa is famed for her beauty, her jewels and the tattoo of a black lizard on her arm. Crime is so easy for her that she warns her victims in advance. When a wealthy jewel merchant receives letters saying his precious daughter Sanae is about to be kidnapped, he entrusts the renowned detective Akechi Kogoro to protect her. But he may have met his deadliest adversary yet...

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Book SynopsisThe first Thora Gudmundsdottir novel from Yrsa Sigurdardottir - ''Queen of Icelandic crime''.''Yrsa is one of the most exciting new voices in the crime thriller world.'' - Peter JamesA young man is found brutally murdered, his eyes gouged out. A student of Icelandic history in Reykjavik, he came from a wealthy German family who do not share the police''s belief that his drug dealer murdered him. Attorney Thora Gudmundsdottir is commissioned by his mother to find out the truth, with the help - and hindrance - of boorish ex-policeman Matthew Reich. Their investigations into his research take them deep into a grisly world of torture and witchcraft both past and present, as they draw ever closer to a killer gripped by a dangerous obsession...Trade ReviewI can see why so many people are enthusiastic about Yrsa's work. It's very engaging, fresh and exciting. -- James PattersonA grisly chiller set in the depths of winter ... Her mystery is absorbing and, untypically, instead of the usual gloomy middle-aged man, her sleuth is a young woman ... It's an accomplished debut, with credible characters and a personable heroine. * Sunday Telegraph *Dark, deep and icy as an Icelandic fjord; this is a rich and rewarding debut novel of ancient mysteries and very modern murder. -- Mark BillinghamAn intricately plotted tale that keeps the reader guessing whodunit, or indeed whether it was murder at all, right until the very end. * Sunday Express *

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Book SynopsisWhen a man''s body is discovered at the base of some cliffs in the small resort town of Hari Cove, the police at first suspect a tragic accident, a misstep that cost the man his life. However, when the victim is found to have been a former policeman and that the cause of death was actually carbon monoxide poisoning, they begin a murder investigation. Manabu Yukawa, the physicist known as ''Detective Galileo'', is in Hari Cove to speak at a conference on a planned underwater mining operation, and finds himself drawn into the case. Did the murder have something to do with the fight of the small community to rebuild itself, or does it have its roots in the town''s history? In a series of twists as complex and surprising as any in Higashino''s brilliant, critically acclaimed work, Yukawa uncovers the hidden relationship behind the tragic events that led to this murder.Trade ReviewAn engaging mystery full of surprising shifts and twists from one of Japan's most successful thriller writers. Highly recommended. * Irish Independent *A Midsummer's Equation satisfyingly builds on the achievement of his [Higashino's] earlier works and adds some new elements . . . the novel throws off a series of jaw-dropping narrative twists . . . has some surprising resonances with the golden age of British crime fiction but there's nothing wrong with that. What is fully in place, however, is the narrative acumen that has distinguished early entries in the series. -- Barry Forshaw * Independent *

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Book SynopsisDetective Huldar and psychologist Freyja are once again on the trail of a serial killer in this brilliant new novel from the internationally acclaimed author of Gallows Rock and The Silence of the Sea.Trade ReviewI love the Children's House series and Yrsa delivers again with The Doll. Such engaging characters and a compelling, twisted and creepy mystery-I couldn't put it down! * Shari Lapena *Yrsa is a wonderful storyteller. Her stories are atmospheric, mysterious and brilliantly plotted . . . you will never see the twists coming * Mari Hannah *Broody Icelandic thriller * Peterborough Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisSpain has produced two books that changed world literature: Don Quixote and Lazarillo de Tormes, the first picaresque novel ever written and the inspired precursor to works as various as Vanity Fair and Huckleberry Finn. Banned by the Spanish Inquisition after publication in 1554, Lazarillo was soon translated throughout Europe, where it was widely copied. The book is a favorite to this day for its vigorous colloquial style and the earthy realism with which it exposes human hypocrisy.The bastard son of a prostitute, Lazarillo goes to work for a blind beggar, who beats and starves him, while teaching him some very useful dirty tricks. The boy then drifts in and out of the service of a succession of masters, each vividly sketched and together revealing the corrupt world of imperial Spain. Its miseries are made all the more apparent by the candor and surprising good cheer with which young Lazarillo recounts his ever more curious fate.This version of Lazarillo, by the prizewinning poet and translator W.S. Merwin, brings out the wonderful vitality and humor of this universal masterwork.The author of Lazarillo de Tormes is unknown.

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Book SynopsisIt felt like the slipknot on a rope round my chest was being tightened without pity Trouble is the last thing Albert needs. Travelling back to his childhood home on Christmas Eve to mourn his mother's death, he finds the loneliness and nostalgia of his Parisian quartier unbearable... Until, that evening, he encounters a beautiful, seemingly innocent woman at a brasserie, and his spirits are lifted. Still, something about the woman disturbs him. Where is the father of her child? And what are those two red stains on her sleeve? When she invites him back to her apartment, Albert thinks he's in luck. But a monstrous scene awaits them, and he finds himself lured into the darkness against his better judgment. Unravelling like a paranoid nightmare, Bird in a Cage melds existentialist drama with thrilling noir to tell the story of a man trapped in a prison of his own making.Trade ReviewMelancholy and atmospheric, with a twist worthy of Agatha Christie at her devious best, this brief tale has the hallmark of classic French noir Guardian Hugely atmospheric The Times The French master of noir Observer Alongside the Maigret novels of Georges Simenon there is a rich vein of period French crime still to be tapped. Frederic Dard is a case in point Daily Mail Disturbing from the outset with strong echoes of Dard's hero Simenon Sunday Times Crime Club (star pick) This short, sly novel of the night has more than enough substance and mystery to keep readers awake and engrossed The National It's exceedingly clever - when surprising things happen they slap you in the face for being so obvious, so necessary and so vital yet so surprising at the same time, and you can only squirm more enjoyably into your seat as you read on Bookbag A typically tense and yearning tale... One eagerly awaits forthcoming translations to see whether he can do the trick over again Wall Street Journal It's a brilliant book, and though Frederic Dard may have been 'one of the best known and loved French crime writers of the twentieth century' he's new to me, so this was a real discovery and treat all rolled into one Desperate Reader It's a short, sharp story featuring a handful of brilliantly portrayed characters, and is structured as intriguingly and cunningly as an Escher drawing Thriller Books Journal It is a tribute to the quality of the writing that Dard can contain so much tension, surprise and mystery in so few words Crime Review Imbued with a tantalising mix of Patricia Highsmith and Alfred Hitchcock Raven Crime Reads If you're a fan of Film Noir, you'll love Bird in a Cage... if all the novels in the Vertigo series are this good, I predict I'll be needing more bookshelves -- Lee Randall Randall Writes A slick novella... the ending is deliciously ambiguous... a triumph The Worm Hole The literary descendant of Simenon and Celine Le Figaro No question: for me, he was the greatest -- Philippe Geluck His language is cutting, his point-of-view original and his verdict uncompromising... One of the few twentieth-century authors to win both critical acclaim and great popularity Solidarite Militaire France's most popular post-war author L'Express

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Book SynopsisLife and Fate is an epic tale of twentieth-century Russia told through the fate of a single family, the Shaposhnikovs, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Stalingrad.As the battle of Stalingrad looms, Grossman's characters must work out their destinies in a world torn by ideological tyranny and war.Completed in 1960 and then confiscated by the KGB, this sweeping panorama of Soviet Society remained unpublished until it was smuggled into the West in 1980, where it was hailed as a masterpiece.'One of the finest Russian novels of the 20th century' Daily Telegraph'Compelling... Grossman's portrait is timelessly relevant... Life and Fate is worth all the audience it can find' The TimesVINTAGE CLASSICS RUSSIAN SERIES - sumptuous editions of the greatest books to come out of Russia during the most tumultuous period in its history.Trade ReviewOne of the greatest masterpieces of the twentieth century * Times Literary Supplement *It is only a matter of time before Grossman is acknowledged as one of the great writers of the 20th century... Life and Fate is a book that demands to be talked about * Guardian *One of the finest Russian novels of the 20th century * Daily Telegraph *Vasily Grossman's novel is burnt in my memory, not only by its huge canvas, its meditation on tyranny, and its dazzling description of war, but also because this is the novel that made me cry - not just a few leaked tears, but a full-scale sobbing episode - in Montpellier airport... Grossman lost his mother in a concentration camp. In Life and Fate, he writes with tenderness, and pain, not only of that experience but of what it is like to survive tyranny. A classic indeed -- Gillian Slovo * Independent *One of the great writers of the last century * Observer *

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Book SynopsisMadame Bovary is one of the greatest, most beguiling novels ever written.Emma Bovary is an avid reader of sentimental novels; brought up on a Normandy farm and convent-educated, she longs for romance. At first, Emma pins her hopes on marriage, but life with her well-meaning husband in the provinces leaves her bored and dissatisfied. She seeks escape through extravagant spending sprees and, eventually, adultery. As Emma pursues her impossible reverie she seals her own ruin.'A great novel that is also an inexhaustible pleasure to read' GuardianA NEW TRANSLATION BY ADAM THORPEVINTAGE FRENCH CLASSICS - six masterpieces of French fiction in collectable editions.Trade ReviewA work of brilliance * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisThe Obscene Madame D is the electrifying masterpiece by one of modern Brazilian literature's most significant and controversial writers. At sixty years old, Hillé decides to abandon conventional life and devote the rest of her days to contemplation in a recess under the stairs. There, she is haunted by her perplexed, recently deceased lover, Ehud, who cannot understand her rejection of common sense, sex and a simple life in favour of vain metaphysical speculations. In a stream-of-consciousness monologue, Hillé speaks of her search for spiritual fulfilment from a space of dereliction. In thrilling prose that is part Joyce, part Lispector and part de Sade, Hilda Hilst takes us into the disorder and beauty of a mind restlessly testing its own limits.

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Book SynopsisArtistic freedom comes at a price 1960s China, and society is commanded to rebel against tradition. Amid the political turmoil, three young artists look out from their attic salon onto the streets of the northern port city of Tianjin. Lacking the opportunity to craft anything meaningful, they take solace in debating bourgeois ideals and listening to banned Western music. Not much separates the trio – Luo Qian is capable of greatness if only he’d get out of his own way, while Luo Fu’s rote diligence is only matched by his charismatic showmanship. Binding them together is Chu Yuntian, whose privileged background lives alongside an earnest desire for deeper truths. When economic reforms turn society on its head, they are given licence to indulge their artistic passions. Deluged by the increasingly materialistic masses, they paint themselves onto separate paths as they lose track of once sacred certainties. In this warming age where everything is fluid, can the bonds of winter hold?

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Book SynopsisAs ideological ferment grips Russia, a small group of revolutionaries, led by Pyotr Verkhovensky and inspired by Nikolai Stavrogin, plan to spread destruction and anarchy throughout the country. Morally bankrupt, they are prepared to use whatever means necessary to achieve their goal, including murder and incitement to suicide. But when they are forced to test the limits of their doctrine and kill one of their own to secure the secrecy of their mission, the ragtag group breaks up in mutual recrimination.Devils is at once a compelling political statement and a study of atheism and its calamitous effect on a country that is teetering on the edge of an abyss. Seen as Dostoevsky's most powerful indictment of man's propensity to violence, this darkly humorous work, shot through with grotesque comedy, is presented here in Roger Cockrell's masterful new translation.Trade Review"It is a merciless expose of certain aspects of the Russian revolutionary movements of the mid-19th century, and of the various kinds of revolutionary and terrorist psychology." - Dr Rowan Williams

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Book SynopsisFound in the Codex Atlanticus of Leonardo da Vinci’s writings and drawings, ‘The Prophecies’ are a collection of enigmatic divinatory pronouncements, some punning and playful, others dire and ominous. While the author’s intentions behind these utterances are unclear, they clearly attest to the artist’s fevered and troubled imagination and offer a glimpse into a world very similar to that depicted in his lost painting The Battle of Anghiari. This volume also contains a further selection of Leonardo da Vinci’s fragmentary writings, in the form of fables and aphorisms. Taken together, these pieces provide an invaluable insight into the thought processes of one of the Renaissance’s most productive minds.

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Book Synopsis What did the disintegration of the Soviet Union feel like for the people who lived through it? Award-winning writer Sasha Salzmann tells this story in a remarkable novel about two women in extraordinary times.__________As a child, Lena longs to pick hazelnuts in the woods with her grandmother. Instead, she is raised to be a good socialist: sent to Pioneer summer camps where she's taught to worship Lenin and sing songs in praise of the glorious Soviet Union. But perestroika is coming. Lena's corner of the USSR is now Ukraine, and corruption and patronage are the only ways to get by - to secure a place at university, an apartment, treatment for a sick baby.For Tatjana, the shock of the new means the first McDonald's in the Soviet Union and certified foreign whisky, but no food in the shops; it means terrible choices about how to love. Eventually both women must decide whether to stay or to emigrate, but the trauma they carry is handed down to their daughters, who struggle to make sense of their own identities.Glorious People is a vivid depiction of how the collapse of the Soviet Union reverberated through the lives of ordinary people. Engrossing, rich in detail and unforgettable characters, this is a captivating love letter to mothers and daughters.__________PRAISE FOR GLORIOUS PEOPLE:'An astute, deeply empathetic portrayal of the dislocation of first-generation immigrants and intergenerational trauma' Financial Times'A capacious novel... certainly not short on vibrancy and humour' TLS'A story of several generations of women that poignantly demonstrates the imprint of history on people's lives... elegant, engaging, marvellous' Victoria Belim, author of The Rooster House'Glorious People is hypnotic, sweeping, and more relevant than ever' Maria Kuznetsova, author of Something Unbelievable'An unflinching examination of mother-daughter ties... Masterful and haunting' Elena Gorokhova, author of A Train to Moscow

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Book Synopsis**THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO IS BACK!****The sixth in the Millennium series - more than 100 million copies sold worldwide**"Expertly told, the plot crackles with life" DAILY MAIL"Salander is centre stage . . . A pacy read" SUNDAY EXPRESS"Exciting and disturbing" LITERARY REVIEW**********************************************************************************THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO HAS FRESH OUTRAGE TO AVENGEAs Salander follows the scorched trail of her twin sister to Moscow, Blomkvist fears for her safety. He should, perhaps, be more concerned for himself. The murder of a homeless man on the streets of Stockholm has drawn him into a conspiracy that scales the heights of Everest and plunges to the depths of Russia's criminal underworld.And now Lisbeth will face her nemesis. For the girl with the dragon tattoo, the personal is always political - and ultimately deadly. "A unique concoction that should leave Salander's legion of followers clamoring for more" Tom Nolan, Wall Street JournalTranslated from the Swedish by George GouldingTrade ReviewA murder mystery inside an espionage conspiracy wrapped in an action thriller-a unique concoction that should leave Salander's legion of followers clamoring for more * Wall Street Journal *Larsson had grand ambitions for his Millennium series, projecting a total of 10 novels. In Lagercrantz's hands, the series is realizing grand ambitions of another sort. * Washington Post *He has developed Larsson's rage at right-wing perfidy and men who hate women, mixing it with his ability to depict physical beauty and superhuman survival skills to create fast-paced thrillers . . . The Girl Who Lived Twice is both exciting and disturbing * Literary Review *Lagercrantz's compassion for the underdog adds genuine emotion to his baroque plotting. There is much to admire in the way he has grasped a tricky assignment - to continue one of the biggest hits of recent years. Roll on the next "girl" * South China Morning Post *Salander is centre-stage again in Lagercrantz's latest sequel . . . This is a pacy read . . . while still finding room for some nice eccentric touches * Sunday Express *David Lagercrantz is a pro. This is stylish, straight forward, classic Swedish crime . . . supporting characters are distinctly illustrated, larger than life . . . the dialogue is voluble; full of knives, Berettas, rich Russians and divinely gifted hackers. * Svenska Dagbladet *A book to devour . . . Difficult, or near impossible to put down, the plot is lavish, complex, remarkably well-composed and filled with unbearable suspense in certain places * Le Parisien *Salander is what she's always been: a force to be reckoned with, and one of the most remarkable series leads in the history of crime fiction. Salander fans, who long ago put aside any misgivings about Lagercrantz taking over the Millennium series, will be eager to follow the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as she attempts to sweep clean her family closet. * Booklist *A tantalizing ending hints at important changes for Blomkvist and Lisbeth ahead. Series fans will be pleased with the thoughtful way Lagercrantz develops the character of their beloved action heroine in this worthy outing. * Publishers Weekly *The Girl Who Lived Twice is the sixth, last and best from Stieg Larsson's universe. It is a vivacious and suitable conclusion of the Millennium saga * Aftenposten *David Lagercrantz has with professionalism and respect consolidated Lisbeth Salander as an archetype of current pop culture, and at the same time written very entertaining novels. * La Vanguardia *The result will satisfy any Lagercrantz fans, since the story goes on without pause until the last page, where the author uses fireworks to surprise the reader. * El Periodico *A great novel made of twists and turns, cliffhangers and detailed researches. Lagercrantz . . . An accomplished and elegant style . . . One of the most beautiful and innovative series of the last two decades. * La Repubblica *Lagercrantz perfectly knows how to embrace the atmosphere and the suspense of the Stieg Larsson saga. * Corriere della Sera *[A] fast-paced adventure * Irish Independent *

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Book Synopsis**SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL 2018**WHO IS VERNON SUBUTEX?An urban legend.A fall from grace.The mirror who reflects us all.Vernon Subutex was once the proprietor of Revolver, an infamous music shop in Bastille. His legend spread throughout Paris. But by the 2000s his shop is struggling. With his savings gone, his unemployment benefit cut, and the friend who had been covering his rent suddenly dead, Vernon Subutex finds himself down and out on the Paris streets.He has one final card up his sleeve. Even as he holds out his hand to beg for the first time, a throwaway comment he once made on Facebook is taking the internet by storm. Vernon does not realise this, but the word is out: Vernon Subutex has in his possession the last filmed recordings of Alex Bleach, the famous musician and Vernon''s benefactor, who has only just died of a drug overdose. A crowd of people from record producers to online trolTrade ReviewBold and sophisticated, this thrilling, magnificently audacious picaresque is about France and is also about all of us; how loudly we shout, how badly we hurt. It is the story of now. -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *An enthralling read. The story of one man, one city, it speaks of our entire world. A compelling, vital read, beautifully and vibrantly translated. -- Nell LeyshonDisturbing and compelling . . . I loved and hated Vernon but I couldn't leave him alone . . . Relentlessly brilliant. Reading it was like being on a runaway train - you know it will probably end in disaster but you might as well enjoy the thrill of the ride - it's unputdownable. -- Victoria HislopAn energetic, diverting romp . . . Brimming with sex, violence and deviant behaviour . . . [and] a multitude of sharply delineated characters . . . Often surprises us with its psychological acuity. -- David Mills * Sunday Times. *Vernon Subutex is a great novel because, quite simply, it disturbs you. Despentes is an extraordinary writer -- François Busnel * Express *Part social epic, part punk rock thriller, Vernon Subutex is a remarkable portrait of contemporary society... written with a fury that hits right to the bone -- Christine Ferniot * Télérama *Sex, drugs and 90s punk rock: Vernon Subutex is the Comédie Humaine for our time, produced by the furious talent of Virginie Despentes -- Laurence Houot * Culturebox *A masterful blending of characters, voices and plots with an undeniable sense of changing rhythms. This is not just a novel, it's an electrocardiogram -- Etienne de Montety * Figaro *A mind-blowing portrait of contemporary French society -- Nelly Kaprièlian * Les Inrocks *A vast mural of the world today. We all knew Despentes could write, but we were not expecting this -- Frédéric Beigbeder * Figaro magazine *

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Book SynopsisBorn into wealth and privilege, Rudolf Kerkhoven is destined to follow his father's footsteps into the Dutch colonies, with its uncleared jungle foothills and potential for riches. When he arrives in Java he is immediately smitten by the landscape and the life, and over the seasons, Rudolf's dedication and diligence gradually transform the land into a productive estate for tea, coffee and quinine. When he meets the independent-minded Jenny and their two sons are born, Rudolf is happier than he thought possible. But for Jenny, the damp austerity of their home, her fertility, her father's secret, and the native spirits of the land grow to overshadow their marriage and the life they've strived for together. Lusciously atmospheric and masterfully drawn, this is an unforgettable story of aspiration, determination, rivalry and romance on a tropical plantation.Trade ReviewA graceful, marvellously achieved improvisation that only a novelist of the greatest imagination and sympathy could have written -- Julian Evans * Guardian *Put it at the top of your reading list * Stylist *Haasse has created a compelling piece of innovative historical fiction ... [She] effortlessly combines an evocation of the plantation's heady, lush vegetation with her articulation of the growing distance between man and wife. And her aptly chosen metaphors are all skillfully conveyed in Ina Rilke's translation * Sunday Times *Displays a knowledgeable and intimate empathy for plantation life, sucking you into the steaming Indonesian jungles and cut-glass propriety of Dutch colonial society without suspending judgement on colonialism itself -- Claire Allfree * Metro *The large cast of characters is convincingly displayed and deftly manipulated. The evocation of Java is vivid and full of feeling -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *Haasse's atmospheric historical novel receives an elegantly idiomatic translation from Ina Rilke ... an affecting portrait of a life devoted to duty, which asks whether the sacrifice was worth the emotional costs. -- Adrian Turpin * Financial Times *Translated into graceful prose, this morally challenging work, constructed from documents and letters, has already become a novel by which others, inside and outside its tradition, can be judged. -- Paul Binding * Independent *

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Book SynopsisMike Mitchell has revised his translation and a new introduction has been added.''A superbly atmospheric story set in the old Prague ghetto featuring the Golem, a kind of rabbinical Frankenstein''s monster, which manifests every 33 years in a room without a door. Stranger still, it seems to have the same face as the narrator. Made into a film in 1920, this extraordinary book combines the uncanny psychology of doppelganger stories with expressionism and more than a little melodrama... Meyrink''s old Prague ? like Dickens''s London ? is one of the great creation of city writing, an eerie, claustrophobic and fantastical underworld where anything can happen.'' Phil Baker in The Sunday Times

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Book SynopsisYukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor - the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he performed. Several films have been made from his novels, including The Sound of Waves, Enjo which was based on The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels Confessions of a Mask and Thirst for Love and the short story collections Death in Midsummer and Acts of Worship. The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On 25 November 1970, the day he completed The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppTrade ReviewJapan's foremost man of letters * Spectator *Thirst for Love contains all of the elements that make Mishima a compelling, disturbing writer * Columbus Dispatch *

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Book SynopsisAlienated from society, Harry Haller is the Steppenwolf, wild, strange and shy. His despair and desire for death draw him into an enchanted, Faust-like underworld. Through a series of shadowy encounters, romantic, freakish and savage by turn, Haller begins to rediscover the lost dreams of his youth.Trade ReviewThe gripping and fascinating story of disease in a man's soul, and a savage indictment of bourgeois society * New York Times *Existential masterpiece * The Times *A profoundly memorable and affecting novel * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisA literary sensation from its first publication, The Master and Margarita is considered a masterpiece of twentieth-century Russian literature. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library, a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold-foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is translated by Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O’Connor, and features an introduction by Orlando Figes.In Mikhail Bulgakov's imaginative extravaganza, Satan, disguised as a magician, descends upon Moscow in the 1930s with his riotous band, which includes a talking cat and an expert assassin. This visit has several aims, one of which concerns the fate of the Master, an author who has written a novel about Pontius Pilate and is now in a mental hospital. By turns satiric, fantastic and ironically philosophical, The Master and Margarita constantly surprises and entertains as the action switches back and forth between twentieth-century Moscow and first-century Jerusalem.Trade ReviewFunny and frightening * London Review of Books *Incandescent . . . One of those novels that, even in translation, make you feel that not one word could have been written differently . . . It has too many achievements to list, but the way it keeps faith in love and art even in moments of unspeakable humiliation and cruelty must be the greatest * New York Times *It had everything: Satan and a wise-cracking cat, Jesus as a wise simpleton, doomed love, hints of sex, blasphemy -- Jonathan Grimwood * Independent *I read it as a book about how to go on living when your spirit is broken -- Viv Groskop * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisWhen Pauline Quenu is taken to the seaside to live with her relatives, her love of life contrasts with the pessimism which infects the family. This is the twelfth novel in Zola's Rougon-Macquart series, remarkable for it's depictions of intense emotions and physical and mental suffering.Trade ReviewThis excellent edition offers a finely judged and authoritative translation of one of Zola's more peculiar novels. * Richard Niland, Translation and Literature *

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Book SynopsisIt's world history. But not as we know it.c.1000AD: Erik the Red's daughter heads south from Greenland1492: Columbus does not discover America1531: the Incas invade EuropeFreydis is the leader of a band of Viking warriors who get as far as Panama. Nobody knows what became of them. Five hundred years later, Christopher Columbus is sailing for the Americas, dreaming of gold and conquest. Even when captured, his faith in his mission is unshaken. Thirty years after that, Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, arrives in a Europe ready for revolution. Fortunately, he has a recent guidebook to acquiring power - Machiavelli's The Prince. So, the stage is set for a Europe ruled by Incas and, when the Aztecs arrive on the scene, for a great war that will change history forever.'Binet's best book yet: the work of a major writer just hitting his stride. A delightful counterfactual novel' ***** - Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewGlorious, funny and profound * Daily Telegraph *A wild romp of a book that turns history on its head * Guardian *A bold and thrilling experiment in counter-factual history from a masterful storyteller * Financial Times *Characteristically ambitious, brilliant...Combining all the pleasure of a period romp with vital questions about our shared origin stories...a triumph * i *A propulsive 'counter-factual' romp...both dizzying and fun -- Claire Allfree * Metro, *Summer Reads of 2021* *

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Book Synopsis1945: a lost German bomber crashes on the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland.Inexplicably, in the midst of World War Two, there are both German and American officers on board.Trade ReviewRather than using excessive language and unnecessary description, Indriðason chooses a minimal style, which drip-feeds the details and keeps the reader guessing... Operation Napoleon is an intriguing novel, bleak and harsh in its description of cold, military narratives -- Sophie Gordon * Aesthetica *There are hints of some of Indridason's trademark motifs-emotionally distant parents, brotherhood, the harsh Icelandic wilderness-but it's clear that he is using Operation Napoleon to address what seems to be a deeply controversial factor in Icelandic life: the US military presence at Keflavik * Euro Crime *An international literary phenomenon - and it's easy to see why. His novels are gripping, authentic, haunting and lyrical -- Harlan Coben

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Book Synopsis''Only the earth is immortal...the earth we love enough to commit murder for her.''Zola''s novel of peasant life, the fifteenth in the Rougon-Macquart series, is generally regarded as one of his finest achievements, comparable to Germinal and L''Assommoir. Set in a village in the Beauce, in northern France, it depicts the harshness of the peasants'' world and their visceral attachment to the land. Jean Macquart, a veteran of the battle of Solferino and now an itinerant farm labourer, is drawn into the affairs of the Fouan family when he starts courting young Françoise. He becomes involved in a bitter dispute over the property of Papa Fouan when the old man divides his land between his three children. Resentment turns to greed and violence in a Darwinian battle for supremacy.Zola''s unflinching depiction of the savagery of peasant life shocked his readers, and led to attacks on Naturalism''s literary agenda. This new translation captures the novel''s blend of brutality and lyricism in its evocation of the inexorable cycle of the natural world.ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewZola's novel is rich in insights like this. Its an outstanding example of Zola's storytelling in the service of a bigger picture, revealing the complexity of small village life without romanticising it or populating it with unrealistic quirky characters. Highly recommended! * Reading Zola Blog *

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Book Synopsis''A groundbreaking, earthquaking vision, a story and a manifesto, and a literary performance so energetic it almost demands to be read aloud'' Guardian ''To love, to sacrifice oneself, and to submit! Was this what all women were destined for?''When her carefree, aspirational childhood in a seaside town is brought brutally to an end, the nameless narrator of Sibilla Aleramo''s blazing autobiographical novel discovers the shocking reality of life for a woman in Italy at the dawn of the twentieth century. As she begins to recognize the similarities between her own predicament and the plight of her mother and the women around her, she becomes convinced that she must escape her fate. Unashamed and remarkably ahead of its time, A Woman is a landmark in European feminist writing.''Aleramo was ahead of her time'' Times Literary SupplementTrade ReviewA groundbreaking, earthquaking vision, a story and a manifesto, and a literary performance so energetic it almost demands to be read aloud . . . Readers who like to underline striking passages will need to keep their pencils sharp -- John Self * Guardian *What makes A Woman stand out is the rawness of its story ... and the fact that Aleramo was ahead of her time -- Caroline Moorehead * TLS *Searing . . . astonishingly sharp . . . such a modern book it's hard to believe it was written more than 100 years ago -- Laura Waddell * Scotsman *She blurred the boundaries of autobiography and the novel, singular self and narrative other -- Selby Wynn SchwartzThe first Italian feminist novel ... her voice brings us back to the present, with the dose of courage needed to freely choose one's destiny * La Repubblica *Powerful -- Luigi Pirandello

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Book Synopsis“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 GuardianA sensational tale of deceit and back-stabbing in an isolated community in which only Inspector Maigret can intervene“She came forward, the outlines of her figure blurred in the half-light....‘I gather you wish to talk to me, Inspector...but first of all please sit down...’ Her accent was more pronounced than Carl’s. Her voice sang, dropping on the last syllable of the longer words.”Maigret has been interrogating Carl Andersen for seventeen hours without a confession. He’s either innocent or a very good liar. So why was the body of a diamond merchant found at his isolated mansion? Why is his sister always shut away in her room? And why does everyone at Three Widows CrossrTrade ReviewCompelling, remorseless, brilliant. -- John GrayOne 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 *

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Book SynopsisSERGEI LUKYANENKO is the author of over 25 books. The Night Watch' series has sold over two million hardbacks. The Night Watch and The Day Watch were both made into internationally successful films. Sergei Lukyanenko lives in Moscow.Trade ReviewPraise for The Night WatchJK Rowling, Russian style.... [a] cracking read, owing more to Rowling or Philip Pullman than it does to the horror genre... Surprisingly readable and addictive...it relies on suspense and psychological drama and a good dose of humour - rather than blood and guts. * Daily Telegraph *Magical... Modern, new and distinctly creepy... the magic is rooted in the realities of modern Russia. Inventive, sardonic, and imbued with a surprising the sense that, for this author and his audience, much of this stuff is new-minted. * Independent *So good that the film feels like a trailer for it * Time Out *[a] dazzling fantasy * Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisMonsieur Linh and His Child is a remarkable novel with an extraordinary twist, a subtle portrait of friendship and a dialogue between two cultures.Trade Review'an impossibly elegant novel, one that makes you sort of wistful at the beauty of the words and their meaning' Black Sheep Dances. * Black Sheep Dances *'A delicately sympathetic portrayal of trauma, as well as a poignant evocation of guilt' Maya Jaggi, Guardian. * Guardian *'This is an extraordinary, powerful and moving novel of the refugee experience ... Highly recommended' Sarah Bower, Historical Novels Society. * Historical Novels Society *'Claudel maintains a simplicity and sensitivity throughout the book, mirroring the compassion and sympathy that the men share for each other' Irish Times. * Irish Times *'Exquisite' Allan Massie, Scotsman. * Scotsman *'An exquisitely crafted little gem of a book' Rebecca Isherwood, Skinny. * Skinny *'Like all good fables, it conveys the sense of a greater significance beyond itself' Daniel Hahn, Independent. * Independent *'There is nothing sentimental about the prose, which is as restrained and delicate as a piece of Indochinese artwork' Ophelia Field, Guardian. * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisIn the middle of Kigali is a swimming pool at the Hôtel des Mille-Collines. It is a magnet for a privileged group of residents, a place where middle-class Rwandans drink with melancholy expatriates and prostitutes. But beyond the walls of the hotel exists a chaotic society in which millions live in poverty, surrounded by violence and disease. In this troubled world, Valcourt, a Canadian journalist, falls for Gentille, a beautiful Hutu waitress.A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali is a poignant love story, a stirring hymn to humanity and a modern classic of spellbinding power, confronting the nightmare that ravaged Rwanda in the 1990s.Trade ReviewExceptional . . . you must read it * * Sunday Times * *A Heart of Darkness for today -- YANN MARTELIntense and gut-wrenching, poetic and disquieting * * Observer * *Illuminating and horrifying, compassionate and scathing * * Times Literary Supplement * *Astounding . . . It's no surprise that this book has won so many prizes * * Daily Mail * *Courtemanche's time in Rwanda, where he worked as a journalist, may have produced the first great novel of the catastrophe that befell that country * * Guardian * *Haunting, graceful . . . with a journalist's unblinking eye and an appreciation of bitter irony * * New York Times * *An intense affair, urgent and nerve-wrackingly ominous, with a surprisingly boisterous humour * * Financial Times * *Courtemanche's work has an enormous quality . . . Read this book * * Spectator * *Very powerful . . . I urge you to read it * * Literary Review * *

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times top crime read of the year. A journalist on the track of an old case attempts suicide. An ordinary couple return from a house swap in the states to find their home in disarray and their guests seemingly missing. Four strangers struggle to find shelter on a windswept spike of rock in the middle of a raging sea. They have one thing in common: they all lied.And someone is determined to punish them...WHY DID YOU LIE is a terrifying tale of long-delayed retribution from Iceland''s Queen of Suspense.Trade ReviewA tour de force... Sigurdardottir handles the different plot strands brilliantly, bringing them together in an unforgettable climax. * The Sunday Times, Crime Book of the Month *Iceland's outstanding crime novelist is spoiling us in her latest offering, with three juicy storylines for the price of one... I doubt many readers will guess what in the blue blazes can possibly connect these three mysteries before all is revealed, but I'm sure all will revel in the customary Sigurdardottir mixture of creepy atmospherics and sardonic humour. She is a treasure. * Daily Express *Other crime writers might as well give up now. In her new novel, Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurdardottirhas found the single most terrifying place on earth to be stuck in the middle of a murder mystery...taut and compelling * Crime Scene Magazine *Spine-chilling... keeps us on the edge of our seats * Independent *A masterpiece of plotting and suspense * I Paper *Three separate stories are gradually and skilfully merged together and bring this readable, enjoyable thriller to a melodramatic finish * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2018 Sapir Prize. You need to bribe someone into giving you weed? Don't worry, just step into this court room and call the defendant a murderer. You're a rich, lonely man and you want the joy of company? Don't worry, just buy up people's birthdays, and you'll have friends calling every day. You need to get girls into bed? Don't worry, your writer friend will write you a very persuasive story. You're standing on the edge of a very high building, with all of your wretched sorrows? Don't worry, fly already! In these 22 short stories, wild capers reveal painful emotional truths, and the bizarre is just another name for the familiar. Wickedly funny and thrillingly smart, Fly Already is a collage of absurdity, despair and love, written by veteran commentator on the circus farce that is life.Trade ReviewI am in awe of Keret's ability to simultaneously make me laugh while crying, explore the joy and horror of every day life with precision, brevity and great psychological depth. His recognition of and engagement with the absurd is profound and he never loses his humanity, his heart long the way -- AM HomesBrilliantly edgy, unsettling, Kafkaesque and often very funny -- Joyce Carol OatesA reminder that writing can be accessible, creative, intelligent, transgressive, challenging, funny - and popular - all at the same -- Graeme SimsionReading Fly Already is like settling down for a ride in a luxurious car with a world-class driver who has an extremely crazy worldview that doesn't interfere with his amazing driving. Is there any better way to see the world? -- Elif Batuman

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Book SynopsisOld Kiln follows the daily life of a tight-knit village over one year of the Cultural Revolution as it is increasingly punctuated by violence. When the two families that dominate the village turn into warring revolutionary factions, for Inkcap, being an outcast might just save him - but for everyone else, can the broken pieces be put together again?

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Book SynopsisA SEARING HOT SUMMER READ FOR FANS OF SALTBURN AND THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY.'Addictive, evocative and effortlessly stylish' Culturefly 'Very much for fans of The Secret History . . . glamorous' Pandora Sykes 'A cool smart choice for the beach this summer' Daily MailWhen Hanna moves to Spain for an internship at the prestigious Prado gallery, she finds herself spending her days buried in the museum's stifling archives, and her nights alone in a tiny rented flat.Then one day she sees them; Tom, Samuel, and Leah. Glamorous and elegant, they are also foreigners in the city. But unlike her they are fabulously wealthy, their lives an endless whirl of creativity and hedonism. And when Hanna discovers an uncatalogued 17th century etching in the archive, she makes a decision which changes everything . . . Taking us from the sultry streets of Madrid to the gleaming world of Mediterranean luxury villas and exclusive art world parties, The Group is a timeless story of hidden identity and obsession. (Translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles).

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