Fiction in translation

Book SynopsisResurrection (1899) is the last of Tolstoy''s major novels. It tells the story of a nobleman''s attempt to redeem the suffering his youthful philandering inflicted on a peasant girl who ends up a prisoner in Siberia.Tolstoy''s vision of redemption achieved through loving forgiveness, and his condemnation of violence, dominate the novel. An intimate, psychological tale of guilt, anger, and forgiveness, Resurrection is at the same time a panoramic description of social life in Russia at the end of the nineteenth century, reflecting its author''s outrage at the social injustices of the world in which he lived.This edition, which updates a classic translation, has explanatory notes and a substantial introduction based on the most recent scholarship in the field. 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 ReviewTolstoy magisterially condemns society's social inequities by holding a mirror up to its flawed face; gripping and sombre. * The Observer *

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Book SynopsisComing back to the "nest" of his family home in Russia after years of fruitless endeavours away from his roots, Lavretsky decides to turn his back on the vacuous salons of Paris and his frivolous and unfaithful wife Varvara Pavlovna. On his return he meets Liza, the daughter of one of his cousins, whom he had known when they were children and who rekindles in him long-smothered feelings of love. News of Varvara's death arrive from France, offering Lavretsky the prospect of a new life, but a cruel twist threatens to shatter his dreams and forces him to re-evaluate his plans. Hailed as a masterpiece of Russian literature, A Nest of the Gentry - Turgenev's most successful and widely read novel, here presented in a new translation by Michael Pursglove - deals with the personal struggles of the individual in a period of turbulent social change.Trade ReviewTurgenev to me is the greatest writer there ever was. -- Ernest Hemingway

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Book SynopsisThis is the story of Isak, a worker of the land, with its roots in man's deepest myths about the struggle to cultivate the land and make it fertile. Sweeping and panoramic, the story moves at the pace of the passing seasons and with the growth of the crops on which the characters' lives depend.Hamsun's themes of individual freedom, and the fundamental human need to reconcile man with the natural world, speak even more resonantly than when the novel was first published.Trade ReviewOne of the great writers of this century... Hamsun's novels have the simplicity of total self-possession. * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisNot so long ago Emilio Brentani was a promising young author. Now he is an insurance agent on the fast track to forty. He gains a new lease on life, though, when he falls for the young and gorgeous Angiolina-except that his angel just happens to be an unapologetic cheat. But what begins as a comedy of infatuated misunderstanding ends in tragedy, as Emilio's jealous persistence in his folly-against his friends' and devoted sister's advice, and even his own best knowledge-leads to the loss of the one person who, too late, he realizes he truly loves. Marked by deep humanity and earthy humor, by psychological insight and an elegant simplicity of style, As a Man Grows Older (Senilità, in Italian; the English title was the suggestion of Svevo's great friend and admirer, James Joyce) is a brilliant study of hopeless love and hapless indecision. It is a masterwork of Italian literature, here beautifully rendered into English in Beryl de Zoete's classic translation.

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Book SynopsisThe Flanders Road' is not only a masterpiece of stylistic innovation, but also a haunting portrayal - based on a real-life incident - of the chaos and savagery of war.Trade ReviewHis imagination, working through the controlled riot of words, flames and flares magnificently, and nowhere is he better than in conveying the sense of disintegration that overtook the French in 1940. * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe Overnight Kidnapper is the twenty-third Inspector Montalbano mystery, from the international bestselling author Andrea Camilleri.After a hectic morning involving two rather irritating cases of mistaken identity, Inspector Montalbano finally arrives in his office ready to find out what’s troubling Vigàta this week. What he discovers is unnerving. A woman on her way home from work has been held up at gunpoint, chloroformed and kidnapped, but then released just hours later – unharmed and with all her possessions – into the open countryside.Later that day, Montalbano hears from Enzo, the owner of his favourite restaurant, that his niece has recently been the victim of the exact same crime. Before long, a third instance of this baffling overnight kidnapping has been reported. As far as Montalbano can tell, there is no link between the attacker and the victims. So what exactly is this mystery assailant gaining from these fleeting kidnappings? And what can he do to stop them? Montalbano must use all his logic and intuition if he is to answer these pressing questions before the kidnapper finds his next victim . . .The Overnight Kidnapper is followed by the twenty-fourth gripping Montalbano mystery, The Other End of the Line.Trade ReviewMontalbano’s colleagues, chance encounters, Sicilian mores, even the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction today * Guardian *Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . Simply superb * Sunday Times *One of fiction’s greatest detectives and Camilleri is one of Europe’s greatest crime writers * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisWhite Shroud (Balta drobule, 1958) is considered by many to be Lithuania's most important work of modernist fiction. Drawing heavily on the author's own refugee and immigrant experience, this psychological, stream-of-consciousness work tells the story of an emigre poet working as a bellhop in a large New York hotel during the mid-1950s. Via multiple narrative voices and streams, the novel moves through sharply contrasting settings and stages in the narrator's life in Lithuania before and during WWII, returning always to New York and the recent immigrant's struggle to adapt to a completely different, and indifferent, modern world. Skema uses language and allusion to destabilise, drawing the reader into an intimate, culturally and historically specific world to explore universal human themes of selfhood, alienation, creativity and cultural difference. Written from the perspective of a newcomer to an Anglophone country, the novel encourages an understanding of the complexities of immigrant life.

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Book Synopsis The Cook of the Halcyon is the penultimate novel in the Inspector Montalbano mystery series from the master of Sicilian crime, Andrea Camilleri.Moments later the all-white schooner, which looked like a hospital ship, began to pass ever so slowly before him, as if wanting to show itself off in all its beauty. The name on the prow said: Halcyon.Two deaths – the suicide of a recently fired worker and the murder of an unscrupulous businessman – lead Inspector Montalbano to the Halcyon, a mysterious ship that visits Vigàta’s port each day. With very few crewmen, no passengers, and a stern large enough to land a helicopter, it piques the Inspector’s interest straight away. In the midst of this, a rare trip to Genoa to visit Livia ends with the Vigàta police department in disarray, and Inspector Montalbano’s position as the head of the commissariat in jeopardy. It will be up to Montalbano to fix the damage done.Trade ReviewMontalbano’s colleagues, chance encounters, Sicilian mores, even the contents of his fridge are described with the wit and gusto that make this narrator the best company in crime fiction today * Guardian *Among the most exquisitely crafted pieces of crime writing available today . . . Simply superb * Sunday Times *One of fiction’s greatest detectives and Camilleri is one of Europe’s greatest crime writers * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisAndres, an Estonian peasant, purchases a smallholding in a marshy part of the country, which the novel is named after. He takes his young wife, and an incident with their cow sets the tone for a life of struggle in which the family grows and gradually lifts itself out of extreme poverty. They don’t only have to strive against the elements, but also against their neighbour Pearu, a wily and ruthless man. This Tolstoyan epic amongst the peasantry and the restless city (in volumes 2 – 4) tells the story of how Tsarist Estonia developed into the First Republic through the experiences of a family and in particular the partly autobiographical character of Indrek, who leaves the land to get an education at the end of this volume. This monumental work by Estonia’s greatest writer is a European classic which has for too long been neglected in the English-speaking world.

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE PRIX ANAÏS NIN Jeanne moves from room to room. In the anonymous hotel bedrooms of Paris - Hotel Agate, Hotel Prince Albert, Hotel Prince Monceau, Hotel Coypel, Hotel Nord & Champagne - she undresses man after man, forgetting faces, names, pleasures, thoughts, and all physical attributes but one. In her head, a palace of memories is being built, image by new image, lover by new lover. There is no pathologizing Jeanne; she resists it. There is no way to impose a story on Jeanne; she escapes it. There is no pitying Jeanne, no lusting after Jeanne, no uncovering the secret to Jeanne; she won't allow it. Jeanne moves from room to room.Trade Review[T]ranslator Laura Francis does a fine job of capturing Leger's poise and poetry... t's a reminder of how rare it still is to have a female gaze on the aesthetic aspects of sex... Leger's writing is doing something different...cool, detached, specific... Genuinely fresh * Observer *A sustained assault on the authority of the phallus. . . Like a flickering pornographic video breaking up into pixels, [Jeanne] dissolves before us. . . In being nobody in particular, she can be anybody. . . there is a serious argument here * Sunday Times *[The Collection is a] provocative novel...creating a new kind of sex writing, in the surreal shapes and syntax of a direct yet viscous, particulate prose. . . In Laura Francis's supple translation, Leger's novel challenges, mesmerises, and impresses... it knowingly complicates its genre, offering a tantalising glimpse of a female desire unburdened by the debt of explanation...daring, direct and richly imagined * Arts Desk *Utterly brilliant. I love how Leger has taken a depersonalised perspective to open up such an intimate subject - this intrinsically erotic disparity has produced a completely fresh cliché-free kind of sex writing -- Claire-Louise BennettWith her unapologetic, searching heroine, and her refusal to answer 'why', Nina Leger opens up spaces of possibility in the reader. She draws us into a complex world of pleasure with a language as striking and sharp as the erotic imagination at play is tender, vulnerable and wild -- Saskia VogelI revelled in Jeanne's mesmeric, nihilistic sex life. The Collection is filled with slight-of-hand sensuality. Choreographic in its treatment of the gendered gaze -- Eli GoldstoneLeger's rendering of Jeanne's penile preoccupation is virtuosic and precise while also surprising, even surrealist. . .The Collection is short and focused... [Leger's] book is urgently necessary: because there are still men out there who don't understand how rare and revolutionary it is for a woman to write about what their penises look like to her. For a woman to adopt the surrealist approach, and show, for once, a man in pieces * Guardian *[A] bold, mischievous novel. . . truly fresh. . . a distinctive and evocative novel. . . A book for adventurous readers * Dublin Sunday Business Post *I am gripped by its weirdness...Jeanne's insatiable libido and darkly comic fixation on grotesque penises in The Collection defy the patriarchal archetype of female desire * frieze *

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Book SynopsisA banker hanged from Gallows Rock... An unknown child discovered in his flat...Iceland's Queen of Crime is back with a chillingly dark murder mystery.Trade ReviewPraise for Gallows Rock * : *Nail-biting... Iceland's long dark nights are at their most minatory in Sigurðardóttir's atmospheric thrillers * Financial Times *Sigurdardottir is as confident a writer as ever * The Sunday Times *The multi-award winning Icelandic writer has a growing UK fan base. The fourth thriller featuring child psychologist Freyja and detective Hulder, is as chilling as Scandi noir should be * Peterborough Telegraph *Sigurðardóttir hooks her readers very quickly... Eventually, justice is done and the loose ends are satisfactorily tied up * Literary Review *Pacey dealing out of the plot twists amid uniquely Icelandic characters and circumstances * The Sunday Times Crime Club *You'll devour it with fascination and you'll be head over heels with Sigurðardóttir's writing * Daily Record *Packs an all too timely punch - 5 Stars * Heat *Well-paced police procedural with a twist you may not see coming * Choice Magazine *

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Book SynopsisDoctor Pascal is the twentieth and final novel in Zola's great Rougon-Macquart series. Pascal Rougon has spent his life chronicling the hereditary patterns and illnesses of his family, using medicine to attempt cures, whilst his niece Clotilde places her faith in God.Trade ReviewThe excellence of this particular edition is consistent with the standard set by the indefatigable Brian Nelson who has been responsible for almost half the translations of the preceding Rougon-Macquart novels. * Robert Lethbridge, Journal of European Studies *As a translator, Australian Julie Rose is able to encompass the wide range of moods within Zola's writing. [..] Rose's Zola comes alive in a way that feels entirely fresh and very much its own thing. * Peter Boyle, The Australian *Table of ContentsIntroduction Translator's Note Select Bibliography A Chronology of Émile Zola Family Tree of the Rougon-Macquart Doctor Pascal Explanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisIn the city of Yong’an, a fiction writer and amateur cryptozoologist is commissioned to uncover the stories of its fabled beasts. These creatures, with their greenish stomachs or gills or strange birthmarks, live alongside humans in near-inconspicuousness, some with ancient forbears, others engineered as artificial breeds.Guided – and often misguided – by her elusive university professor and his scrappy sidekick-student Zhong Liang, our narrator finds herself on a mission to track down each species. And as she blunders from one implausible situation to the next, she comes one step closer to revealing her own multifaceted beastliness…Part detective story, part metaphysical enquiry, Strange Beasts of China addresses existential questions of identity, being, love and morality with whimsy and grace.

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Book Synopsis**THE No.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER****A THE TIMES TOP 10 CRIME BOOK OF THE DECADE**HARRY HOLE'S DEADLIEST ENEMY IS BACK... AND OUT FOR BLOODHarry is in a bad place: Rakel has left him, he's working cold cases and notorious murderer Svein Finne is back on the streets.THE FIRST KILLER HARRY PUT BEHIND BARS IS OUT TO GET HIM.Harry is responsible for the many years Finne spent in prison but now he's free and ready to pick up where he left off.A MAN LIKE HARRY BETTER WATCH HIS BACK.When Harry wakes up with blood on his hands, and no memory of what he did the night before, he knows everything is only going to get worse...'This is the king of Norwegian crime on top form' Observer*JO NESBO HAS SOLD OVER 55 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE*The explosive new Harry Hole thriller Killing Moon is out now!Jo Nesbo was a Sunday Times number one bestseller with Macbeth on 20/09/2018Trade ReviewKnife shows Nesbo back on form… This is a police procedural that breaks the bounds of the format with abandon… Nesbo manhandles the reader into contented…submission * Financial Times *The sharp-as-a-knife Nesbo at his best. A first-class mix of thriller and murder mystery... Nesbo has done it again... Knife is a fantastic and exhilarating suspense novel * Dagbladet *Skilfully plotted…Nesbo…uses the vast, cold landscapes of Norway to excellent effect in building dread * UK Press Syndication *Nesbo weaves the strands of his elaborate narrative with the ease of a gifted storyteller, tantalising the reader with misdirections and a plateful of red herrings. Yet it's remarkable how quickly he can disentrangle an intricate plot. And momentum? He's a genius at that - the 500-plus pages just fly by...never underestimate Nesbo - he's a writer with a seemingly endless supply of stories to tell * The Times *[Knife] may be Nesbo’s best storytelling yet. It’s not just clever; it’s diabolical, and let’s be glad it is, because the corkscrewing plot provides a measure of relief from the pain on view in this uncompromisingly intense and brilliant novel * Booklist *

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Book SynopsisLord of All the Dead is a courageous journey into Javier Cercas'' family history and that of a country collapsing from a fratricidal war. The author revisits Ibahernando, his parents'' village in southern Spain, to research the life of Manuel Mena. This ancestor, dearly loved by Cercas'' mother, died in combat at the age of nineteen during the battle of the Ebro, the bloodiest episode in Spain''s history. Who was Manuel Mena? A fascist hero whose memory is an embarrassment to the author, or a young idealist who happened to fight on the wrong side? And how should we judge him, as grandchildren and great-grandchildren of that generation, interpreting history from our supposed omniscience and the misleadingperspective of a present full of automatic answers, that fails to consider the particularities of each personal and family drama?Wartime epics, heroism and death are some of the underlying themes of this unclassifiable novel that combines road trips, personTrade ReviewThere is no-one writing in English like this: engaged humanity achieving a hard-won wisdom -- David Mills * The Times *A remarkable act of personal history: brave, revelatory and unflinchingly honest -- William BoydCercas' candid wranglings with how to tell this tale, his own deep discomfort and the grave maturity with which he acknowledges he can't feel morally superior to Mena make him a wonderfully warm and wise guide through this sad, small chapter of the Spanish Civil War. -- Siobhan Murphy * The Times *One of the strengths of Lord of All the Dead is the breadth of its subject matter. . . In this elegant and penetrating narrative Cercas shows us how important it is that Mena's life is not forgotten -- Nick Major * Glasgow Herald *It's a subversive and disenchanted view of war in general and the Spanish conflict in particular, in a fine translation by Anne McLean . . . It can be moving, unexpectedly funny,racy, demotic or deadpan. -- Lee Langley * Spectator *An excellent novel . . . fascinating both in its exploration of the past and in the playful creativity of its own narrative. -- Ángel Basanta * El Cultural *An admirable novel, truly unique -- Alberto Moreiras * La marea *Only Cercas could have written a novel like this, at the peak of his maturity as a writer; he is one of the best we have -- José María Pozuelo Yvancos * ABC *A brave, persuasive novel -- José-Carlos Mainer * El País *A powerful work of D.I.Y. history . . . It may help Spaniards, and people further afield, to better understand the lure of Fascism, a pressing task in today's world" * New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisA Siberian Heart of Darkness Julian BarnesOn the far eastern borders of the Soviet Union, in the sunset of Stalin''s reign, soldiers are training for a war that could end all wars, for in the atomic age man has sown the seeds of his own destruction. Among them is Pavel Gartsev, a reservist. Orphaned, scarred by the last great war and unlucky in love, he is an instant victim for the apparatchiks and ambitious careerists who thrive within the Red Army''s ranks. Assigned to a search party composed of regulars and reservists, charged with the recapture of an escaped prisoner from a nearby gulag, Gartsev finds himself one of an unlikely quintet of cynics, sadists and heroes, embarked on a challenging manhunt through the Siberian taiga. But the fugitive, capable, cunning and evidently at home in the depths of these vast forests, proves no easy prey. As the pursuit goes on, and the pursuers are struck by a shattering discovery, Gartsev confrTrade ReviewMasterful . . . Makine has been justly compared with Tolstoy, but here I think the better reference is Joseph Conrad. -- James McNamara * Spectator. *Makine's customary clear-eyed vision and shimmering prose impart, yet again, the heavy knowledge that what is "essential" is experienced by few and obliterated by many. -- Kate Mcloughlin * Times Literary Supplement. *Pleasingly clever stuff . . . has an ambition of romantic grandeur that feels genuinely, soulfully Russian. -- David Mills * Sunday Times. *A powerful story of metaphysical adventure. -- Marianne Payot * L'Express *A thrilling manhunt through the taiga. -- Claire Devarieux * Libération *As good as Stendhal or Tolstoy . . . I would rather read him than anyone else now writing -- Allan Massie * Literary Review. *One of the significant novelists of our age. -- Stephanie Merritt * Observer. *Makine packs great steppes-full of history into compact, bejewelled boxes of prose. -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent. *Makine's wonderful economy of image and phrase convey far more than one could think possible about the Russian soul. -- Anthony Beevor * Daily Telegraph. *

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Book SynopsisWhat is history, undocumented? How do we archive censored lives? A poetic reflection on authorship and erasure, *A Book, Untitled* is an intimate and innovative approach to autofiction and the act of remembering. In her first novel, Armenian writer Shushan Avagyan tells the story of a fictional encounter between Shushanik Kurghinian and Zabel Yesayan, two early twentieth-century pioneers of feminist literature, whose legacies have been obscured in Armenian history. Their fictive meeting is interspersed with conversations between the author and her friend Lara, who are researching the work of Kurghinian and Yesayan. While sifting through censored documents, unpublished works, and unfinished drafts, they linger in speculation and piece together lives that have been overshadowed by the Tsarist and Stalinist regimes. At once electric and ephemeral, *A Book, Untitled* is a story of re-cognition otherwise—posthumous, imagined, and intricately powerful.Trade Review"The English-speaking world already owes Shushan Avagyan a tremendous debt for her essential translations of the Russian formalist Viktor Shklovsky. Now she has composed a brilliant novel of her own. A Book, Untitled is a powerful pastiche of voices and eras, as well as a feminist reclamation of Armenian women writers lost to time. For all its shifting, its purposeful resistance, its sharpness and darkness, I found this book simply delightful.”- Martin Riker, author of The Guest Lecture; "At once lyrical and theoretical, personal and protest, Avagyan’s singular approach fabricates a polyvocal palimpsest tinged with exile and opacity, distortion and estrangement. Authorship, and the hegemony from which it hails, will never be the same.” - Alex Brostoff, co-translator of Ailton Krenak's Life Is Not Useful

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Book SynopsisA moving novella about a misunderstood young girl, from the author of The Woman in the Purple Skirt - part of Pushkin's second Japanese Novella series Meet young Amiko. She's one of a kind-full of life and good intentions, but with no filter or boundaries. She happily inhabits a world of her own making, oblivious to offences given or taken. But when it comes to expressions of love, where conflicting signals are hard to grasp and a heart is easily broken, there can be unintended consequences. An aching, tender depiction of belonging and loss, This is Amiko, Do You Copy? is a portrait of childhood through the eyes of an irrepressible young girl.Trade ReviewImamura definitely has a rare talent for depicting people who are a little out of the ordinary -- Yoko Ogawa, author of 'The Memory Police'

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Book Synopsis"Tender, terrifying, and heart-rending . . . A must read" GEETANJALI SHREE, author of International Booker Prize-winning Tomb of SandA Fistful of Moonlight is a collection of fourteen stories that explore love, identity, politics, fantasy and a fresh take on an age-old fairy tale, transporting readers into the heart of contemporary writing from Assam.A man is so fascinated by shoes that he sees the world through the lens of footwear. A daughter's forced death sparks generations of trauma until the family confront their curse. A young girl is liberated when she chops away her long tresses and along with them the pain of several identities. The oilfield disaster at Baghjan claims a life and a community struggles to make sense of their loss. Social taboos prevent a love match leaving emotional wounds that will last forever. A family's future is at risk when they are forced to leave their home yet again.UNTOLD is a writer development programme for marginalised writers in areas of conflict and post-conflict. These stories are the culmination of a literary project led by Untold and BEE Books in Kolkata, and include four stories by more established Assamese writers. A companion volume to My Pen is the Wing of a Bird: New Fiction by Afghan Women, it introduces new and diverse voices to audiences worldwide.Trade ReviewTender, terrifying, and heart-rending, these are soulful tales of loss and suffering. Of women and men overwhelmed by societal and State tyranny and the relentless fury of Nature and the Corporates. Shot through with an ominous gloom, occasionally heightened by black humour, the tales permit no looking away from the urgency of the situation. The English translation carries well the flavour and spirit of the Assamese original. A must read. -- Geetanjali Shree * author of International Booker Prize-winning TOMB OF SAND *

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Book SynopsisPopulated by a cast of imagined con artists, holy fools, drag queens, and partisans – as well as some very factual politicians, priests, and generals – this novel started life as a pseudonymous blog written ‘live’ by ‘Shalash’ during and after the Second Iraq War. Never written to be published, all but lost save for disintegrating printouts treasured by its devotees, Shalash the Iraqi is here presented in its first authorised translation, with the blessing and commentary of ‘Shalash’ himself. The second U.S. invasion of Iraq began in the spring of 2003. By the autumn of 2005, though the Saddam Hussein regime had reached its bloody end, ordinary Iraqis were seeing little improvement in their daily lives. In the midst of this turmoil, a hero arose – or, rather, a jester. In a country where electricity was only intermittently available, a series of blog posts began to appear at a soon-to-be-defunct website and took Baghdad by storm. Individual entries were printed out and passed around for months, until the pages were nearly shredded. Where neither computers nor printers were available, the posts were retold aloud, then passed along at second- and third-hand. What could inspire such devotion? Signed ‘Shalash the Iraqi’, the posts proved to be nothing less than portions of a madcap serial novel thumbing its nose at Iraq’s new normal. From drunken monologues to prayers, from poetry to dirty jokes, from fairy tales and folk stories to pratfall humour, this novel delights readers and sheds light on Iraq in equal measure.

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Book SynopsisFamily, obsession, and privilege boiled down by the icy-hot Swiss-Italian master stylist Fleur Jaeggy. Even among Jaeggy’s singular and intricate works, The Water Statues is a shiningly peculiar book. Concerned with loneliness and wealth’s odd emotional poverty, this early novel is in part structured as a play: the dramatis personae include the various relatives, friends, and servants of a man named Beeklam, a wealthy recluse who keeps statues in his villa’s flooded basement, where memories shiver in uncertain light and the waters run off to the sea.Fleshed out with Jaeggy’s austere yet voluptuous style, The Water Statues delivers like a slap an indelible picture of the swampiness of family life. ‘Reading Jaeggy is not unlike diving naked and headlong into a bramble of black rose bushes, so intrigued you are by their beauty: it’s a swift, prickly undertaking, and you emerge the other end bloodied all over’ -Daniel Johnson, The Paris ReviewTrade Review‘Stark, surprising prose. It’s hard to capture in a line or two the strange precision of Jaeggy’s prose. Darkness seems never far away.’ Martin Riker, New York Times Book Review ---- ‘It is hard not to be impressed by Jaeggy’s own spiritual and aesthetic grandeur, which casts her stories in such a compellingly cool light. She, too, has a startling ability to go beyond: beyond the sentimental heart, the writerly niceties, the conventions that bind us, and the messy effusions of contemporary life. She once said, in an interview, “One should be in one’s own void. Void is silence. Solitude. An absence of relationships. . . . The void is a plant that must continually be watered.” It is our good fortune that she sits at her swamp-green typewriter, watering it.’ Sheila Heti, The New Yorker ---- ‘Jaeggy’s astute compression of narrative detail is at once serene and startling. Beneath a placid, opalescent surface lurks a threat of violence that may or may not be realised, but which contributes to the profound impression that people and their lives are unpredictable, coursing with icy, barren wildness.’ Emily Labarge, Los Angeles Review of Books ---- ‘Jaeggy seems to have crushed a glass in her palm and tweezed out a few shards for the page. Her prose is indeed extraordinary – it is also frightening.’ The Rumpus ---- ‘Reading Jaeggy is not unlike diving naked and headlong into a bramble of black rose bushes, so intrigued you are by their beauty: it’s a swift, prickly undertaking, and you emerge the other end bloodied all over.’ Daniel Johnson, The Paris Review ---- ‘It is thrilling to live in Jaeggy’s worlds, which are so intense they threaten to boil over.’ Publishers Weekly ---- ‘A beautiful but inscrutable book about disconnection and the passage of time.’ Kirkus ---- ‘In this strange and shimmering nonlinear text from Swiss writer Jaeggy, the lonely children of the wealthy and their eccentric employees negotiate the boundary between companionship and solitude...In short, enjoyably expressionistic sections, Jaeggy sketches the emotional lives of people marooned but not content to remain entirely alone. What emerges is a fascinating and memorable portrait of a milieu obsessed with the passing of time.’ Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisAfter their successful solving of three cold cases and exposing corruption at the very highest level of the Paris police force, Anne Capestan''s squad of misfits and no-hopers should be in a celebratory mood. However, now despised by their colleagues at 36 quai des Orfèvres and worried for their future, morale has never been lower among the members of the Awkward Squad.Capestan does her best to motivate her troops, but even she cannot maintain a cheerful façade when she has to investigate the murder of Commissaire Serge Rufus, the father of her ex-husband. Worse, it soon appears that his murder is linked to two other victims, both of whom were warned by the killer before they struck . . .

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Book SynopsisThis second volume of A.H. Tammsaare's monumental pentalogy portrays the education of Indrek who emerges here as the protagonist and will remain so throughout the next three volumes. This is a story of moving to the polyglot city and abandoning the countryside which at that time was the heartland of the Estonian language. This new environment is a vortex of prejudices and national rivalries nevertheless held together in practice by a strange and very human tolerance. Here Tammsaare writes with his trademark wit and deep understanding of human nature, and we find ourselves in the company of a vast gallery of larger-than-life characters who jostle, scheme and argue over both trivialities and the great issues of the human condition. They may do the latter out of their own intellectual narcissism or simply for the joy of debate, but the ensuing dialogues rival those of the great Russian novelists. The boarding school is as dysfunctional as any Dickensian one, but it is a great deal more benevolent. Russians, Germans, Poles, Latvians and Caucasians mix with the Estonian majority, speaking in a mix of Russian, German and Estonian, and somehow compromises are nearly always arrived at in spite of, or possibly because of some extraordinary theatrics, in which Mr Maurus must outperform not only all the other characters in the book but very probably all other celebrated headmasters created by European literature over the centuries. Indrek not only has to come to terms with this world so utterly unsuited to his shy and innocent rural upbringing, but he also has to deal with his first encounters with love and death.

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Book SynopsisFlorence, 1429 Giovanni de' Medici is dead. A lifetime of shrewd investment, strategic alliance and sly manipulation saw Giovanni climb from mere money-lender to the top echelon of Florentine society. But success has left a slew of bitter enemies in his wake – and there are whispers his untimely demise wasn't accidental. Florence is a nest of vipers, and with the Medici family's wealth in the hands of Giovanni's untested sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo, there are those who feel that now is the time to strike, to destroy the upstarts and seize their holdings. First in an award-winning, bestselling quartet charting ten generations of rise to power. Praise for Matteo Strukul: 'Strukul has a brilliant style and a rare imagination' TIM WILLOCKS 'One of the most important new voices in Italian crime fiction' JOE R. LANSDALETrade ReviewPRAISE FOR MATTEO STRUKUL: 'Matteo Strukul is one of the most important new voices in Italian crime fiction' Joe R. Lansdale, Edgar Winner for The Bottoms. 'Strukul has a brilliant style and a rare imagination' -- Tim Willocks, bestselling author of Green River Rising

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Book SynopsisA murderous game. The killer makes the rules. Death hangs on the roll of the dice. In murder investigations, it pays to keep things simple: motive, method, opportunity. But the case in front of Detective Fabian Risk is a nightmare. A killer who strikes out of nowhere. No apparent motive. No consistent method. Victims are tortured, strangled, burned, dismembered – each grisly killing carried out with savage precision, as if following the rules of a hellish game. Fear and chaos have spread through the seaside town of Helsingborg. While Fabian Risk hunts the killer, his life is falling apart: a son on the run from the law; a daughter gravely injured; a colleague with dark secrets of his own. But there's no turning back now. The game of death is on, and Fabian Risk must play to win. After all, there are many ways to die... This explosive thriller from Scandinavia's most inventive storyteller concludes the epic events of Motive X. Reviews for Stefan Ahnhem: 'Atmospheric and complicated... with great cop characters and some imaginatively grisly perps' Sunday Times (star pick) 'More gripping than Jo Nesbo, blacker than Stieg Larsson and more bleakly human than Henning Mankell' Tony Parsons 'Epic in scale and ambition' Daily Mail 'An intense journey, with an intricate plot... Ahnhem has mastered atmosphere, pacing and intrigue' Crime Review 'Masterly plotting, grisly murders and chilling suspense: Stefan Ahnhem keeps the threads of this complex, two-country narrative pulled tense' Better ReadingTrade ReviewA tense, atmospheric rollercoaster with multiple strands criss-crossing like a complex piece of knitting... With a plethora of twists and turns and unexpected events and incidents, with a dialogue that sparkles and with well-developed, believable characters the suspense is never ending and, like one of those old black and white cowboy and injun movies, the action is relentless and doesn't disappoint. If one is looking for an intricate, multi-layered, edgy, high calibre read, this book has it in spades. Highly recommended' * Promoting Crime Fiction *PRAISE FOR STEFAN AHNHEM: 'More gripping than Jo Nesbo, blacker than Stieg Larsson and more bleakly human than Henning Mankell' Tony Parsons. 'Atmospheric and complicated... with great cop characters and some imaginatively grisly perps' Sunday Times. 'Epic in scale and ambition' Daily Mail. 'An intense journey, with an intricate plot... Ahnhem has mastered atmosphere, pacing and intrigue' Crime Review. 'Masterly plotting, grisly murders and chilling suspense: Stefan Ahnhem keeps the threads of this complex, two-country narrative pulled tense' * Better Reading *

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Book SynopsisJunichiro Tanizaki was one of Japan's greatest twentienth century novelists. Born in 1886 in Tokyo, his first published work - a one-act play - appeared in 1910 in a literary magazine he helped to found. Tanizaki lived in the cosmopolitan Tokyo area until the earthquake of 1923, when he moved to the Kyoto-Osaka region and became absorbed in Japan's past.All his most important works were written after 1923, among them Some Prefer Nettles (1929), The Secret History of the Lord of Musashi (1935), several modern versions of The Tale of Genji (1941, 1954 and 1965), The Makioka Sisters, The Key (1956) and Diary of a Mad Old Man (1961). He was awarded an Imperial Award for Cultural Merit in 1949 and in 1965 he was elected an honorary member of the American Academy and the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the first Japanese writer to receive this honour. Tanizaki died later that same year.Trade ReviewA chilling climax. Tanizaki is a master of ambiguity in his own language and the subtle flavour of the work is skilfully preserved in this translation * The Times *One of Japan's most popular writers in this century. In this and his other books, he pulls aside the shoji that screens Japanese home life to eavesdrop on what people are really saying and thinking behind their polite facades * New York Times *It is important that the British public should become acquainted with this great twentieth-century Japanese fiction writer -- Anthony Burgess

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Book SynopsisFrom the reign of the Tsars in the early nineteenth century to the collapse of the Soviet Union and beyond, the short story has long occupied a central place in Russian culture. Included here are pieces from many of the acknowledged masters of Russian literature—including Pushkin, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitsyn—alongside tales by long-suppressed figures such as the subversive Kryzhanowsky and the surrealist Shalamov. Whether written in reaction to the cruelty of the bourgeoisie, the bureaucracy of communism, or the torture of the prison camps, they offer a wonderfully wide-ranging and exciting representation of one of the most vital and enduring forms of Russian literature.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. ReaderTrade Review“A smartly executed bid . . . to broaden our view of Russian literature and life.” —The Independent“As one might expect from one of UK’s leading translators, [Chandler’s] translations . . . are both accurate and highly readable.” —The East-West Journal“[An] entirely authoritative and marvellous collection.” —The Guardian

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Book SynopsisPreviously published as L''assommoir (The Dram Shop), Emile Zola''s The Drinking Den is an unflinching study of a desperate young woman struggling against the ravages of vice. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the French with an introduction by Robin Buss.Abandoned by her lover and left to bring up their two children alone, Gervaise Macquart has to fight to earn an honest living. When she accepts the marriage proposal of Monsieur Coupeau, it seems as though she is on the path to a decent, respectable life at last. But with her husband''s drinking and the unexpected appearance of a figure from her past, Gervaise''s plans begin to unravel tragically. The Drinking Den caused a sensation when it was first published, with its gritty depiction of the poverty and squalor, slums and drinking houses of the Parisian underclass. The seventh novel in Zola''s great Rougon-Macquart cycle, it was the work that made his reputation. And, in his movi

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Book SynopsisTolstoy's powerful semiautobiographical stories based on his time spent in the Russian army, part of our series of fresh new Tolstoy translations In 1851, at the age of twenty-two, Tolstoy joined the Russian army. The four years he spent as a soldier were among the most significant in his life and inspired the tales collected here. In The Cossacks, Tolstoy tells the story of Olenin, a cultured Russian whose experiences among the Cossack warriors of Central Asia leave him searching for a more authentic life. The Sevastopol Sketches bring into stark relief the realities of military life during the Crimean War. And Hadji Murat paints a portrait of a great leader torn apart by divided loyalties. In writing about individuals and societies in conflict, Tolstoy has penned some of the most brilliant stories about the nature of war.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700Table of ContentsThe Cossacks and Other StoriesChronologyIntroductionA Note on the TextsMapsThe CossacksSevastopol StoriesSevastopol in DecemberSevastopol in MaySevastopol in August 1855Hadji MuratNotesGlossary

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Book SynopsisSwann in Love is the story of Charles Swann and his infatuation with Odette de Crécy and the revealing psychological turmoil his relations with her involves. A study in jealousy and the indirections of desire; it is here that Proust first works through his devastating theory of love.Trade ReviewAs well as extensive notes at the back of the book, there is also a highly readable introduction by Adam Watt. * Lisa Hill, ANZ LitLovers *[An] excellent introduction (supplemented by copious notes) [by] the Proust specialist Adam Watt. * Adrian Tahourdin, Times Literary Supplement *[...] this new translation which concentrates on [Swann's] infatuation for Odette is a gentle and accessible introduction to Proust's monumental oeuvre, being quite self-contained and not nearly so daunting a read. * Robert Tanitch, Mature Times *Table of ContentsIntroduction Translator's Note Select Bibliography A Chronology of Marcel Proust SWANN IN LOVE Explanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisHoffmann is among the greatest and most popular of the German Romantics. This selection, while stressing the variety of his work, puts in the foreground those tales in which the real and the supernatural are brought into contact and conflict. The humour of these tales is a result of the incongruity of supernatural beings at large in an ostentatiously everyday world. They include The Golden Pot, recognized as Hoffmann''s masterpiece by himself and posterity; its spine-chilling companion tale, The Sandman, which Offenbach drew on for his opera Tales of Hoffmann, and which Freud examines in his essay `The Uncanny''; two longer and more elaborate fantasies, set respectively in Germany and Italy; and the late story, My Cousin''s Corner Window, which shows the powers of the imagination being applied to everyday urban life, and marks a transition in European literature generally from Romanticism to Realism.Ritchie Robertson''s detailed introduction places the stories in their intellectual andTable of ContentsThe Golden Pot ; The Sandman ; Princess Brambilla ; Master Flea ; My Cousin's Corner Window

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Book SynopsisThe first of Chekhov''s works to be published in a serious literary journal, `The Steppe'', with its masterly account of a spectacular thunderstorm, signifies his maturation as a writer of short stories. While the majority of his tales focus on the privileged classes, this selection shows that Chekhov never forgot his origins as the son of a failed provincial grocer, and characters as varied as the brutal soldier in `Gusev'', the downtrodden old constable in `On Official Business'', and the bemused peasants in `New Villa'' testify to the power and flexibility of his art. 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.Table of ContentsThe Steppe ; An Awkward Business ; The Beauties ; The Cobbler and the Devil ; The Bet ; Thieves ; Gusev ; Peasant Woman ; In Exile ; Rothschild's Fiddle ; The Student ; The Head Gardener's Story ; Patch ; The Savage ; In the Cart ; New Villa ; On Official Business ; At Christmas ; Fragment ; The Story of a Commercial Venture ; From a Retired Teacher's Notebook ; A Fishy Affair

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Book Synopsis''He had become the dandy of the unpredictable.''A quest for new sensations, and an avowed desire to shock possessed the Decadent writers of fin-de-siècle Paris. The years 1880-1900 saw an extraordinary, hothouse flowering of talent, that produced some of the most exotic, stylized, and cerebral literature in the French language. While ''Decadence'' was a European movement, its epicentre was the French capital. On the eve of Freud''s early discoveries, writers such as Gourmont, Lorrain, Maupassant, Mirbeau, Richepin, Schwob, and Villiers engaged in a species of wild analysis of their own, perfecting the art of short fiction as they did so. Death and Eros haunt these pages, and a polymorphous perversity by turns hilarious and horrifying. Their stories teem with addicts, maniacs, and murderers as they strive to outdo each other.This newly translated selection brings together the very best writing of the period, from lesser known figures as well as famous names. Provocative and unsettling,Trade Review[A] beautifully translated anthology * Graham Robb, TLS *Table of ContentsJULES BARBEY D'AUREVILLY (1808-89) ; Don Juan's Crowning Love Affair ; LEON BLOY (1846-1917) ; A Dentist Terribly Punished ; The Last Bake ; The Lucky Sixpence ; GUSTAVE GEFFROY (1855-1926) ; The Statue ; REMY DE GOURMONT (1858-1915) ; Danaette ; Don Juan's Secret ; The Faun ; On the Threshold ; JULES LAFORGUE (1860-87) ; Perseus and Andromeda ; JEAN LORRAIN (1895-1906) ; An Unidentified Crime ; The Man with the Bracelet ; The Student's Tale ; The Man Who Loved Consumptives ; PIERRE LOUYS (1870-1925) ; A Case without Precedent ; GUY DE MAUPASSANT (1850-93) ; At the Death-Bed ; The Night ; A Walk ; The Tresses ; CATULLE MENDES (1841-1909) ; What the Shadow Demands ; GUSTAVE MIRBEAU (1848-1927) ; The Bath ; The First Emotion ; The Little Summer-House ; On a Cure ; JEAN RICHEPIN (1849-1926) ; Constant Guignard ; Deshoulieres ; Pft! Pft! ; GEORGE RODENBACH (1855-98) ; The Time ; MARCEL SCHWOB (1867-1905) ; The Brothel ; The Sans-Gueule ; 52 and 53 Orfila ; Lucretius, Poet ; Paolo Uccello, Painter ; VILLIERS DE L'ISLE ADAM (1838-89) ; Sentimentalism ; The Presentiment ; The Desire to be a Man

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Book Synopsis''For certain men the stronger their desire, the less likely they are to act.''With his first glimpse of Madame Arnoux, Frédéric Moreau is convinced he has found his romantic destiny, but when he pursues her to Paris the young student is unable to translate his passion into decisive action. He also finds himself distracted by the equally romantic appeal of political action in the turbulent years leading up to the revolution of 1848, and by the attractions of three other women, each of whom seeks to make him her own: a haughty society lady, a capricious courtesan, and an artless country girl.Flaubert offers a vivid and unsparing portrait of the young men of his generation, struggling to salvage something of their ideals in a city where corruption, consumerism, and a pervasive sense of disenchantment undermine all but the most compromised erotic, aesthetic, and social initiatives. Sentimental Education combines thoroughgoing irony with an impartial but unexpectedly intense sympathy in a Trade Reviewa very fine translation by Helen Constantine, and IMO Sentimental Education deserves its place in 1001 Books * ANZ Lit Lovers Blog *It's a fascinating novel & it's good to be able to read more Flaubert who is mostly remembered now for just one book, Madame Bovary. * I Prefer Reading *

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Book Synopsis''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray ''The palm trees around the railway station were motionless, fixed in a Saharan sun . . . It really felt as if they were stepping into another world, and they were embarrassed to be entering it in the dark clothes that had been suited to the rainy streets of Paris the evening before.''An officer from Scotland Yard is studying Maigret''s methods when a call from an island off the Côte d''Azure sends the two men off to an isolated community to investigate its eccentric inhabitants.Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels in new translations.''His artistry is supreme'' John Banville''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 ReviewOne of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories * Guardian *A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness * Independent *The most addictive of writers . . . a unique teller of tales * Observer *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn especially irresistible psychological thriller . . . so tightly wound that there's no natural place to put it down -- Amanda Whiting * Independent *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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Book SynopsisTrade 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 Synopsis''His artistry is supreme'' John Banville''He had seldom been so perplexed by human beings. Would a psychiatrist, a teacher or a novelist...have been better placed to understand characters who had suddenly materialized from another century?''Maigret is called to the home of Armand de Saint-Hilaire, a highly respected official who has been found shot dead in his study by his housekeeper. After interviewing everyone concerned Maigret is at a loss to the identity of the perpetrator until he comes across a series of letters from the past fifty years between the victim and a recently widowed woman. As Maigret uncovers the details behind the two''s relationship he gets closer to discovering the tragic truth behind the official''s demise.This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret in Society.''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'' GuardianTrade 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 Synopsis''His artistry is supreme'' John Banville ''Why all of a sudden did this shock him? He was annoyed with himself for being shocked. He felt as if he had been sucked into the bourgeois, almost edifying, atmosphere that surrounded those epeople, ''good people'' so everyone kept telling him.''A retired manufacturer has been shot dead by his own pistol, last seen alive by his son-in-law. In this seemingly motiveless murder, Inspector Maigret must rely on his famous intuition to discover the truth. This novel has been published in a previous translation as Maigret and the Black Sheep.''One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century '' GuardianTrade 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 Synopsis''Compelling, remorseless, brilliant'' John Gray Inspector Maigret is followed home one evening by a man who reveals his intention to kill his wife and her lover. Maigret intervenes and speaks to the man daily but when the calls suddenly stop Maigret finds a murder on his hands.''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 ReviewOne of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories * Guardian *A supreme writer . . . unforgettable vividness * Independent *The most addictive of writers . . . a unique teller of tales * Observer *

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Book SynopsisThe Second World War. Poland. Our narrator has no intention of being a hero. He plans to survive this war, whatever it takes.Meticulously he recounts his experiences: the slow unravelling of national events as well as uncomfortable personal encounters on the street, in the café, at the office, in his love affairs. He is intimate but reserved; conversational but careful; reflective but determined. As he becomes increasingly and chillingly alienated from other people, the reader is drawn into complicit acquiescence. We are forced to consider what it means to be heroic and how we ourselves would behave in the same circumstances.Written in 1961, this is the masterpiece of one of the great Polish writers of the twentieth century.Trade Reviewprovocative, troubling, awkward . . . a proper classic * The Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIf you're in the market for something beautiful and deep, The Penguin Book of French Short Stories is a sumptuous treat for any book lover. -- Martin Chilton * The Independent *Tales with a certain ooh la la ... an eclectic, often steamy collection charting the history of the French short story [with] some gems by less famous figures ... high marks for quality and variety. -- Matthew Reisz * The Observer *A French version of The Thousand and One Nights ... Both volumes tell us something new about writing in French ... Such a creative arrangement forces us to rethink what we expect a short story to be or do ... Perhaps all short fiction reminds us that the end is nigh, in which case not the least of Patrick McGuinness's achievements is that of showing us how to read and live accordingly. -- Annabel Kim * Times Literary Supplement *It's hard to imagine a better introduction to French literature than this glorious two-volume bran tub of short fiction ... outstanding masterpieces all ... There's a welcome playfulness throughout. -- John Self * The Guardian *Patrick McGuinness's magisterial anthology teems with universes from each of its 84 authors ... There is so much to discover in these stories - both history and food for short story lovers everywhere. * Irish Times *Impeccably edited by Patrick McGuinness. The first volume stretches from the 16th century to the early 20th century ... Volume two takes us from there to the early 21st century, featuring more women and non-white authors than the first volume. Treat yourself: buy both. -- Tomiwa Owolade * Sunday Times *What a collection it is ... Both volumes fizz with the enthusiasm with which McGuinness has assembled stories that range across centuries and continents ... This will surely turn out to be the definitive anthology of French-language short fiction. -- Charlie Connelly * The New European *

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Book SynopsisThe short story collection that launched Tabucchi to fame, reflecting on the uncertainties, memories, mistakes and mysteries of life Eleven short stories pivoting on life''s ambiguities and the central question they pose in Tabucchi''s fiction: is it choice, fate, accident, or even, occasionally, a kind of magic that plays a decisive role in the protagonists'' lives? Set in Paris, Lisbon, Madras and New York and blended with the author''s wonderfully intelligent imagination, Tabucchi reflects on the elemental aspects of the human experience, exploring grief, uncertainty, adventure, memory and love.''One of the most admired Italian writers of his generation'' The TimesTrade ReviewTabucchi writes with what Italo Calvino, who shared the same translator, called "quickness" - an agility of mind and economy of narrative that pulls the reader along * Guardian *Elegant ... amusing ... the magic of language, artfully used ... Tabucchi manages to play simultaneously in the treble and in the bass * Los Angeles Times *Meticulously crafted stories marked by wit, emotion, memory and lost grandeur * Publishers Weekly *

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisAn epic novel of postwar, nuclear-age Japan, by the author of Territory of LightMitch and Yonko haven't spoken in a year. As children, they were inseparable, raised together in an orphanage outside Tokyobut ever since the sudden death of Mitch's brother, they've been mourning in their private ways, worlds apart. In the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, they choose to reunite, finding each other in a city undone by disaster.Mitch and Yonko have drifted apart, but they will always be bound together. Because long ago they witnessed an unspeakable tragedy, a tragedy that they've kept secret for their entire lives. They never speak of it, but it's all around them. Like history, it repeats itself.Yuko Tsushima's sweeping and consuming novel is a metaphysical saga of postwar Japan. Wildcat Dome is a hugely ambitious exploration of denial, of the ways in which countries and their citizens avoid telling the trutha tale of guilt, loss, and inevitable reckoning.''Tsushima evades any label, her fiction transcends gender to focus on the existential loneliness that is at the heart of humanity.'' Japan Times

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