Fiction in translation
Quercus Publishing Daughter of the Tigris
Book SynopsisThe follow-up to the internationally acclaimed The President''s GardensAl-Ramli is a remarkable storyteller, and in Daughter of the Tigris he creates a dynamic, intricately plotted narrative, brimming with stories and a host of memorable characters Susannah Tarbush, Banipal On the sixth day of Ramadan, in a land without bananas, Qisma leaves for Baghdad with her husband-to-be to find the body of her father. But in the bloodiest year of a bloody war, how will she find one body among thousands? For Tariq, this is more than just a marriage of convenience: the beautiful, urbane Qisma must be his, body and soul. But can a sheikh steeped in genteel tradition share a tranquil bed with a modern Iraqi woman? The President has been deposed, and the garden of Iraq is full of presidents who will stop at nothing to take his place. Qisma is afraid - afraid for her son, afraid that it is only a matter of time before her father''sTrade ReviewAl-Ramli offers laughter, sorrow, and a breathtakingly grim climax. * Mail on Sunday. *Al-Ramli is a remarkable storyteller, and in Daughter of the Tigris he creates a dynamic, intricately plotted narrative, brimming with stories and a host of memorable characters. -- Susannah Tarbush * Banipal *
£10.44
Quercus Publishing The Mountain
Book SynopsisA CURSED PLACE. A COLD CASE. A KILLER WHO LEFT NO TRACE.The huge International bestseller.Gripping, unputdownable and packed with twists, The Mountain is a thriller that you will never forget.Can be compared (with no fear of hyperbole) to Stephen King and Jo Nesbø - Massimo Vincenz, La Repubblica.Jeremiah Salinger blames himself. The crash was his fault. He was the only survivor. Now the depression and the nightmares are closing in. Only his daughter Clara can put a smile on his face. But when he takes Clara to the Bletterbach - a canyon in the Dolomites rich in fossil remains - he overhears by chance a conversation that gives his life renewed focus. In 1985 three students were murdered there, their bodies savaged, limbs severed and strewn by a killer who was never found. Salinger, a New Yorker, is far from home, and these Italian mountains, where his wife was born, harbour a close-knit, tight-Trade ReviewA canyon in the Italian Dolomites, beautiful yet sinister, provides a stunning setting for Luca D'Andrea's first thriller . . . D'Andrea piles on the action at the atmosphere with the panache of a seasoned writer. -- Marcel Berlins * The Times. *Smart, stylish and extremely scary. * Sunday Mirror. *Can be compared (with no fear of hyperbole) to Stephen King and Jo Nesbø. -- Massimo Vincenz * La Repubblica. *D'Andrea is a real master. -- Sergio Pent * La Stampa. *An entertaining read with a wide cast of possible suspects, not all of them human. The book's twists and turns continue right until the end. * Western Mail. *A perfectly constructed thriller . . . Draws the reader right in. * Bayerischer Rundfunk TV “Capriccio” *A brilliant, enthralling debut. * Stern. *An unbelievably nail-biting thriller. * Alpin - Das BergMagazin. *Sentences like lightning bolts, twists like avalanches: a spectacular thriller. * Playboy. *An electrifying debut in the new wave of Italian thriller writing. D'Andrea's a name to add to your Eurocrime list. -- David Hewson, author of the Nic Costa novels and The KillingA first-rate thriller. * ZDF Morgenmagazin. *Scenic, pacy, rock hard, with seriously disturbing moments, this a clever, complex thrilling and thoroughly brilliant tale. * Sunday Sport. *The Mountain is a rich, disturbing and multi-layered thriller, the kind you can very easily lose yourself in, just as I did. Just wrap up warm - this is a thriller that chills. * For Winter Nights *D'Andrea's superb debut thriller mines the darkness that hides beneath the surface of Siebenhoch, a beautiful, remote Italian village . . . A genuinely unexpected denouement hits like a freight train, perfectly bringing together all the pieces of a macabre, utterly riveting puzzle. * Publishers Weekly. *The novel contains some fantastic writing and a twist you will NOT see coming! I was genuinely amazed at how much this seemingly cold case, gripped me. * Anne Bonny Book Reviews *D'Andrea's story sweeps away the reader in an avalanche of life-threatening revelations that make The Mountain a complete success as a debut thriller. * New York Journal of Books. *
£12.88
Quercus Publishing The House with the StainedGlass Window
Book SynopsisThe acclaimed story of a young girl's awakening - set in the the evocative, beautiful Ukrainian/Polish city of LvivTrade ReviewThe House with the Stained-Glass Window is remarkable, a gripping, Lvivian evocation of a city and a family across a long and painful century, at once personal and political, a novel of life and survival across the ages * Philippe Sands *Zanna Sloniowska writes beautifully; with empathy, sensitivity, and with real political impact. As a Ukrainian from the multicultural city of Lviv, she provides an important new voice in Polish literature. -- Olga TokarczukFew novels will engage the heart and mind as cohesively as this emphatic performance that triumphs through its depiction of the human stories overshadowed by history. * Financial Times. *Sloniowska writes subtly and beautifully - every phrase conjures up images, casting colourful lights just like the stained-glass window of the title.This story could only have happened in Ukraine. And then again it could have happened anywhere, because the blood on the blue-and-yellow flag is just the beginning of an intimate tale about four generations of women. * Zwierciadlo. *Sloniowska is a fascinating story-teller who also gives insight into the reality of life in Ukraine. This is an astonishing literary discovery. * Polityka. *A city of women's mysteries, and History, which the author constantly re-interprets. Zanna Sloniowska surprises and seduces. * Krytycznym Okiem. *This novel was written as a challenge to crushing, cruel history; it arose from a desire to give a voice to the individual experiences of women. But at a certain point it turns in a direction contrary to its original ambitions, and the counter-history disappears in the fog of exploding smoke grenades. * Gazeta Wyborcza. *A moving, incisive saga about women entangled by historical events. * Newsweek Polska. *
£9.49
Quercus Publishing A Long Night in Paris Winner of the Crime Writers
Book SynopsisFrom a former Israeli spy, comes the most realistic and authentic thriller of the year. The Times Number One BestsellerWinner of the CWA International Dagger.A Times, Telegraph and FT pick for Summer Reads 2019, and an FT Thriller of the YearThe year''s best espionage thriller Daily Telegraph Best Books of 2019Gripping, smart and shot through with dry wit. A terrific read Simon BeckettWhen an Israeli tech exec disappears from Charles de Gaulle airport with a woman in red, logic dictates youthful indiscretion. But Israel is on a state of high alert nonetheless. Colonel Zeev Abadi, the new head of Unit 8200''s Special Section, just happens to have arrived on the same flight.For Commissaire Léger of the Paris Police, all coincidences are suspect. When a second young Israeli from the flight is kidnapped, this time at gunpoint frTrade ReviewA timely addition to the canon of international thrillers ... races along with pace and verve to a satisfying ending -- Adam LeBor * Financial Times *This is deeply enjoyable espionage thriller with plenty of juicy details about modern spycraft, and although he is sometimes as sardonic and cynical as John Le Carré, Alfon's style is light and relaxed. He invests his heroes, Bond-esque spymaster Colonel Zeev Abadi and his beautiful, brilliant deputy Lt Oriana Talmor, with his own agreeable sense of humour . . . A spy novel with lead characters that are genuinely likeable. -- Jake Kerridge * Daily Telegraph. *Some terrific action sequences in this fiendishly complicated yet pacey thriller. Readers who relish technical detail will appreciate the wealth of information about the Israeli intelligence services, cheek-by-jowl with political shenanigans, Chinese gangsters and mysterious blonds -- Laura Wilson * Guardian *So self-possessed and jaw-clinchingly good . . . escapes the ghetto of genre fiction through some great writing. Highly recommended -- Greg Dixon * NZ Listener *Rarely can so much action have been crammed into a story of espionage covering just one day . . . Dov Alfon, a former intelligence officer and the editor-in-chief of an Israeli newspaper, knows about secrets and how to tell stories . . . Breathlessly exciting. -- Marcel Berlins * The Times. *A genuinely thrilling espionage novel . . . Chinese gangsters, French detectives, Russian models and charismatic, backstabbing Israeli spies, all locked into a brilliantly choreographed danse macabre. -- John Williams * Mail on Sunday. *I can't remember any previous Israeli thriller so brilliant, lean and sleek . . . A novel for our post-truth times, totally believable and impossible to put down. -- Aharon Lapidot * Israel Hayom. *Alfon takes over from John Le Carre and the old masters of the spy novel. -- Guy Horowitz * Haaretz. *Alfon breaks the limits of previous generation thrillers and creates the 21st century spy novel, sleek, highly political, funny, romantic and unforgettable. -- Talma Admon * Maariv. *Thriller of the year... I'm in love with this duo of intelligence officers, they'll never let me down. -- Galit Dahan-Carlibach * NRG. *Best novel of the year... John Le-Carre and scores of Mossad agents can happily retire and leave room for Dov Alfon and his Unit 8200 wizards, who change the shape of espionage thrillers with enormous talent, depth and intensity. A masterpiece. -- Shay Golden * Makor Rishon. *The best Israeli thriller ever written. -- Meira Barnea-Argaman * TV Channel 2. *If you want to sleep during your flight, do *not* buy this thriller at the airport! The pages fly by themselves and prey on my thoughts long after I landed. -- Haim Hecht * Radio Kol-Rega. *Dov Alfon has written a first-class thriller, utterly knowing, richly detailed and rigorously researched . . . A wonderful book, riveting and ingenious. I couldn't put it down till the final twist. -- Gal Perl * Al-Hakavenet. *Best read... Alfon knows so much about the ways the Israeli intelligence corps work that it adds a lot to the enjoyment of the book... His characters are great, and the plot is full of suspense and very fast-paced. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. -- Adi Shtamberger * Jerusalem Post. *An amazing achievement... This thriller captures the zeitgeist with enormous power . . . Equal parts suspense and entertainment, you simply can't put it down. -- Ilan Lukatch * Radio Tel-Aviv. *Fast action, clever plotting and a Bond-esque lead character who drives the narrative forward at every turn . . . This is high octane spy action with a genuinely fascinating ability to take us behind the scenes of a modern intelligence service. -- M.C. Scott
£10.44
Quercus Publishing Eyes of the Rigel
Book SynopsisThe third novel in a historical trilogy that began with the International Booker shortlisted The UnseenTrade ReviewA fascinating study of the complex reality of postwar society . . . The novel shimmers with characteristically striking imagery . . . Jacobsen can make almost anything catch the light -- Johanne Elster Hanson * Times Literary Supplement *The third part of a remarkable series of books . . . Don Bartlett and Don Shaw deserve much praise for their translation: their ingenious rendering of Ingrid's island dialect, which closely echoes the original Norwegian, is accompanied by the lyrical simplicity of Jacobsen's descriptions. -- Theodora Danek * Guardian. *Taken together, Jacobsen has given us an epic of Norway's experience of the first half of the 20th century that is subtle and moving. -- David Mills * Sunday Times. *
£8.54
Quercus Publishing All Human Wisdom
Book Synopsis'Terrific . . . Easily the most purely entertaining novel I have read so far this year' - David Mills, The Sunday Times'A really excellent suspense novelist' - Stephen KingThe second volume of Pierre Lemaitre's enthralling, award-winning between-the-wars trilogyIn 1927, the great and the good of Paris gather at the funeral of the wealthy banker, Marcel Péricourt. His daughter, Madeleine, is poised to take over his financial empire (although, unfortunately, she knows next to nothing about banking). More unfortunately still, when Madeleine's seven-year-old son, Paul, tumbles from a second-floor window of the Péricourt mansion on the day of his grandfather's funeral, and suffers life-changing injuries, his fall sets off a chain of events that will reduce Madeleine to destitution and ruin in a matter of months.Using all her reserves of ingenuity, resourcefulness, and a burning desire for retribution, MaTrade ReviewAn epic inhabited by flamboyant characters and imbued with an all-consuming drama * Figaro *Literature with conviction; a furious talent * L'Obs *Confirms the genius of a great novelist and storyteller * Express *Terrific . . . Easily the most purely entertaining novel I have read so far this year -- David Mills * The Sunday Times *A perfectly orchestrated comédie humaine * Journal du Dimanche *Lemaitre is always readable and his caustic wit shines through -- Antonia Senior * The Times *Pierre Lemaitre: unleashed * Libération *
£17.09
Quercus Publishing The Painting Time
Book SynopsisOne of contemporary fiction''s most gifted sentence builders Beejay Silcox, GuardianBehind the ornate doors of 30, rue du Métal in Brussels, twenty students begin their apprenticeship in the art of decorative painting - that art of tricksters and counterfeiters, where each knot in a plank of wood hides a secret and every vein in a slab of marble tells a story.Among these students are Kate, Jonas and Paula Karst. Together, during a relentless year of study, they will learn the techniques of reproducing materials in paint, and the intensity of their experience - the long hours in the studio, the late nights, the conversations, arguments, parties, romances - will cement a friendship that lasts long after their formal studies end.For Paula, her initiation into the art of trompe l''œil will take her back through time, from her own childhood memories, to the ancient formations of the materials whose depiction she strives to master. And from theTrade ReviewAs she has so often done, de Kerangal shows there is poetry to be found in our jargon, and stories embedded in our tools . . . This is writing that defies haste, that slows the eye. It is also a mighty feat of translation . . . Cements [de Kerangal's] reputation as one of contemporary fiction's most gifted sentence builders -- Beejay Silcox * Guardian *The book is a joyful testament to the rigours of research, and to the translator's art too . . . Maylis de Kerangal is mining a rich and individual seam -- Jonathan Gibbs * TLS *Intensely alive, encompassing both the technical and the poetic, emotion and cerebrality -- Raphaëlle Leyris * Le Monde *Always brilliant, executed in flowing, lyrical prose that had already reached the firmament in [Mend the Living] . . . De Kerangal finds fiction in reality; precise, technical vocabulary is imbued with rich imagination and meaning. And mastering trompe-l'œil - isn't that the ideal metaphor for the work of a novelist? -- Frédérique Roussel * Libération *The art of painting in perfect harmony with de Kerangal's writing; visual, flamboyant, assured . . . in perfect alignment with her subject -- Marine Landrot * Télérama *Kerangal's elegant, sexy, subtly Proustian, and fluidly dimensional drama of discipline and passion, imitation andimagination is resplendently evocative and exhilarating. -- Donna Seaman * Booklist *Long looping sentences, beautifully translated from the French by Jessica Moore, are balanced by taut scene changes . . . De Kerangal conjures the same painterly realism that her characters hope to achieve in paint * London Magazine *
£15.29
Quercus Publishing Phantoms of Breslau An Eberhard Mock
Book SynopsisEberhard Mock's third investigation - another cerebral, stylish and compelling noir from the dark and squalid underbelly of Breslau.Trade Review'A classicist at Wroclaw University, Marek Krajewski - in his splendid series of crime novels about inter-war Breslau - disinters this buried metropolis like a fictional archaeologist... Breslau 1919 lives again... If the secret of these deaths lurks in the wartime past, the ritualistic dogma that surrounds them very faintly hints at an equally grim future' Boyd Tonkin, Independent. * Independent *'Krajewski was lecturer at the University of Wroclaw, and he prides himself on historical accuracy. His Breslau is populated by pimps, prostitutes and cynics, and it isn't hard to believe that the city will one day become one of Hitler's strongholds' Joan Smith, Sunday Times. * Sunday Times *'Phantoms of Breslau is a cynical, moody thriller which solidifies Krajewski's position as a distinctive voice in contemporary European fiction' Val Nolan, Irish Examiner. * Irish Examiner *'Polish author Marek Krajewski does a fine job of conjuring the chaos of Breslau (now the Polish city of Wroclaw), while Mock - a man of conflicts and contradictions - makes for a refreshing protagonist' Fachtna Kelly, Sunday Business Post in Ireland. * Sunday Business Post in Ireland *
£9.49
Quercus Publishing The Arc of the Swallow
Book SynopsisThe follow-up to The Dinosaur Feather exposes a scandal in an addictive scientific thriller.Trade ReviewSissel-Jo Gazan has demonstrated that her acclaimed mystery, The Dinosaur Feather was no fluke . . . The author has an uncanny knack for quickly drawing a reader into the minds of her characters . . . The domestic intrigues of Marie and her relatives, and of Soren and Anna, prove as engrossing as the criminal conspiracies at hand. * Wall Street Journal *The Dinosaur Feather, Sissel-Jo Gazan's acclaimed debut, proved that scientific controversy could feature in crime fiction... This is a terrific novel, involving bitter rivalries among scientists. * Sunday Times *
£9.49
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Sundiata An Epic of Old Mali
Book SynopsisPart history, part legend, this is the story of Sundiata Keita: the heroic figure who founded the empire of Mali. A thirteenth-century oral epic, Sundiata sees the full-length tale captured in print for the first time. This is Sundiata, the epic tale of a man ''great among kings'' who, through his legendary deeds and exploits, came to father an empire. For over 800 years, this story has been passed down to generations of listeners through spoken word.D.T. Niane''s novelisation captures all the mystery and majesty of medieval African kingship. This ambitious story ranks alongside the Ancient Greek and Roman classics as one of the world''s great adventure stories.
£9.49
St Martin's Press Where Dogs Bark with Their Tails
Book SynopsisThe tales of one family and their larger-than-many-lives sister, Antoine, weaves together the vibrant, epic story of Guadeloupe and its diaspora in Where Dogs Bark with Their Tails.This is Antoine's life story: an ill-fated romance between her upper-class mother and farmer father; a childhood spent deep in the countryside; the splendors and slums of Guadeloupe's great city, Pointe-à-Pitre; the eruption of modernity; the rifts in a deeply hierarchical society under colonial ruleand the reasons she left it all behind. And to whom might she tell it? A young woman born on the outskirts of Paris yearns to understand her lineage and métis identity. Her memories of occasional childhood visits are all that connects her to her father's home. It is at her request that old Aunt Antoine, the eccentric and indomitable matriarch of the Ezechiels, unwinds the unforgettable tale of their family and with it a rich, layered account of Guadeloupe and its diaspora over the
£13.49
Hodder & Stoughton Dead Before Dying
Book SynopsisFrom the author of Thirteen Hours - A Sunday Times ''100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945'' pickONE COP. ONE KILLER. TWO CAPTIVES OF THE PAST.Mat Joubert, once a rising star of the South African police force, had it all. Then his wife was murdered, and his hopes died with her. Alcoholic, depressed and overweight, he is a shadow of his former self.Then a new killer appears on the streets of Cape Town, murdering at random. Mat throws himself into the case, viewing it as his last chance for redemption.But, as their shared desire for revenge threatens to destroy both him and the mysterious killer he is hunting, Mat soon learns that he is not the only one with ghosts to lay to rest . . .Trade ReviewI really enjoyed DEAD BEFORE DYING. I liked the complexity of the main character, the interactions between the detectives, and their dogged determination to find both the robber and the serial murderer . . . A sad, tense denouement ends the book, with an unexpected twist. I'd highly recommend this book. I've enjoyed all the Deon Meyer books I've read so far, and this one is no exception. * Eurocrime *An impressively tangled web and taut narrative keeps the reader guessing until the last couple of pages. * Heat *The atmosphere of a hot, turbulent country is very vividly evoked, and the characterisation is dynamic . . . A striking debut novel. * Crime Time *A plot-driven page-turner . . . Joubert is a haunted yet sympathetic protagonist. * Bookpage *Meyer subtly juxtaposes the heartbreak of the victims' families with the heartbroken detective assigned to their cases. Using humour and pathos in equal measure, Meyer builds a deeply moving portrait of a man in search of his own dignity. * Booklist *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton Dont Turn Out the Lights
Book SynopsisWhen a woman finds a suicide note in her mailbox, she can't imagine that it has anything to do with her. And yet it signals the end of her own life... but who is her enemy? Only Commandant Martin Servaz can find out...Trade ReviewA super-accelerated version of a Hitchcock thriller, with thrills and shocks on nearly every page...Minier reels out lurid, quick and dirty prose, dirty enough to blacken the fingers as we read * Spectator on Don't Turn Out the Lights *Minier keeps the suspense watertight and the whiplash-like twists coming...a powerful psychological thriller and one of the zippiest reads of the year. * Boston Globe on Don't Turn Out the Lights *Over the past few years, France has produced some of Europe's most striking and original crime novelists. Bernard Minier is up there with the best * Sunday Times on A Song for Drowned Souls *Bernard Minier's second novel A SONG FOR DROWNED SOULS confirms his status in the forefront of crime fiction's French renaissance...A gripping read * The Times *Minier delivers yet another absorbing thriller that will keep readers guessing until the final shocking pages...will entice fans of dark, gritty Scandinavian thrillers who will find Martin Servaz reminiscent of Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole * Library Journal on A Song for Drowned Souls *A publishing sensation in France, where it's rushed up the bestseller lists, this is Minier's first crime novel and this translation justifies its vast French reputation...With a villain possessing the intelligence of Thomas Harris's immortal Hannibal Lecter, this is great story-telling, with a creeping sense of dread that would not disgrace Stephen King at his best. * Daily Mail on The Frozen Dead *
£9.49
Hodder & Stoughton The Odessans
Book SynopsisAn epic and engrossing novel set at the beginning of the twentieth century, THE ODESSANS is the story of three families from Odessa in the Ukraine: the Russian Petrovs, the Jewish Geibers, and the Teslenkos, who are of Ukrainian and Polish descent. Throughout years of war, famine, political struggle and incredible hardship, their deep friendships sustain each of the families. Their lives are rent by tragedy; some friends are hounded by anti-Semites, while others join opposite sides in the Civil War or are forced to flee to Odessa. But through it all, their characteristic good humour and faith in each other enable their close circle to survive.
£10.44
Hodder & Stoughton CoDex 1962
Book Synopsis''A masterpiece . . . I challenge any author to top it!'' Sigridur Alberstsdottir, Icelandic National Broadcasting Service.Jósef Loewe enters the world as a lump of clay - carried in a hatbox by his Jewish father Leo, a fugitive in WWII Germany.Taking refuge in a small-town guesthouse, Leo discovers a kindred spirit in the young woman who nurses him back to health and together they shape the clay into a baby. But en route to safety in Iceland, he is robbed of the ring needed to bring the child to life. It is not until 1962 that Jósef can be ''born'', only to grow up with a rare disease. Fifty-three years on, it leads him into the hands of a power-hungry Icelandic geneticist, just when science and politics are threatening to lead us all down a dark, dangerous road.At once playful and profoundly serious, this remarkable novel melds multiple genres into a unique whole: a mind-bending read and a biting, timely attack on nationalism.Trade ReviewSjón is a raconteur of talent. He can flick from angelic frolics to seedy violence as if each tale were a smooth refraction of the last. He has a knack for high comedy, too. ... Victoria Cribb deserves equal praise for bringing all this zest into English so well. -- Cal Revely-Calder * The Daily Telegraph *This is a work of great ambition ... above all it feels like a work of virtuoso narrative for its own sake; an Icelandic 1001 Nights. * The Sunday Times *Sjón writes with a poet's ear and a musician's natural sense of rhythm. This extraordinary performance, consisting of three books in one, sets out to entertain, but also to prod the reader towards a stark realisation of human mortality and the games fate plays . . . The influence of Günter Grass's The Tin Drum is evident. Sjón has mastered the earlier fabulist's technique of merging history with high-speed comedy and surreal profundity. With a man made of clay and a bewildered angel struggling to get rid of a symbolic trumpet, there are shades of the Bible as well as Milton. Sjón, an heir of Mikhail Bulgakov and Laurence Sterne, eases literary references into the text as mere suggestions. With the light, fluid touch of Victoria Cribb, a resourceful, often inspired translator who is alert to Sjón's quick-change vocal register and genre-hopping artistry, the effect is hypnotic. The reader becomes a gleeful collaborator in an extravaganza in which Bosch meets Chagall, with touches of Tarantino . . . His wild, subversive imagination is among his great strengths, not only in CoDex 1962 but throughout his work . . . This wayward, exciting odyssey confronts death throughout. Nothing is quite what it seems, and there are no easy answers. Here, instead, is an artist preoccupied with questions. -- Eileen Battersby * Guardian, Book of the Day *This modern-day saga in three novels revolving around the life of Josef Löwe blends genres and illustrates the way stories can bring the most fabulous dreams - and nightmares - to life in a work that feels like The Tin Drum of our time. -- Johhn Freeman, Books of the Year * Boston Globe *Bewitching . . . His stories compound the dreamscapes of Surrealism, the marvels of Icelandic folklore and a pop-culture sensibility into free-form fables. Call it magic realism under Nordic lights . . . Sjón's finale anchors his ingenuity to a moving plea for solidarity Hrolfur, the entrepreneurial geneticist, yearns to "soar heavenwards into a world where imagination is the only law of nature that matters". CoDex 1962 applauds the aim, but distrusts his means and motive. The wild flight remains a mission not for scientists but for story-tellers. * The Economist *One blindingly beautiful section comprises a list of surrealist images, the nightly dreams of a group of townspeople . . . This book is a Norse Arabian Nights. Each section is a honeycomb. Stories are nested in stories and crack open to reveal rumour and anecdote, prose poems, tendrils of myth. This abundance isn't an empty show of virtuosity but rooted in Sjon's belief in the power and obligation of old-fashioned storytelling . . . [It] consumed me for the better part of a week. I can only echo Loewe, with gratitude, exasperation and awe. "This book's a bloody thief of time." -- Parul Sehgal * New York Times *Sure to delight the reader . . . irresistibly sweeps the reader away . . . a masterpiece, meticulously executed from the first page to the last -- Sigridur Albertsdottir * National Broadcasting Service Iceland *I found myself awed by its ambition, its uncommon narrative sophistication, its incredible emotional depth - especially in its concluding chapters - and, finally, most unexpectedly, its profound seriousness of purpose . . . it deserves all the attention and esteem it has received . . . every excess in CoDex 1962 is redeemed, accounted for, and justified by the end of the novel, which not only offers important revelations but also reconfigures everything that has preceded it so that the fantasy elements take on radical new meanings . . . far and away the best thing Sjón has ever written . . . It reads, on every page, like the work of a writer who is stretching his talents as far as they can go. It is one of the best novels of the year in any language - visceral, captivating, intellectually rewarding, and ultimately deeply moving - and its ambition and achievement are unlikely to be equalled by more than a handful of books this decade. -- Alex Dewar * Splice *This book is psychedelic, it's potent and it wants to consume the whole world . . . Sjón is a prodigal storyteller in all senses of the phrase . . . he is a master of atmosphere, a fine observer of the cross-hatchings of human motivation and a vivid noticer of detail. * New York Times Book Review *Sjón's novels are brilliant collisions of history and fable, psychology and fantasy -- Chris Power * Guardian *Dazzlingly funny and entertaining in sections, dramatic and tragic, light and serious, woven with the artistry we recognise in Sjón's other work ... he creates with his inexhaustible imagination a gorgeous and relevant ending -- Fridrika Benonysdottir * Frettabladid *Iceland's literary spell-binder ... A tantalising smoke of marvel and magic drifts through Sjón's work -- Boyd Tonkin * Economist 1843 *Sjón is one of our era's great writers. Like Ovid, Kafka, and Bulgakov, he is fascinated by metamorphosis and, from apparently limitless resources of the imagination, can convey what it must feel like -- Charles Baxter * Nation *An extraordinary and original writer -- A.S. ByattMasterful . . . [it] feels like a noble descendant from Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita . . . Yet as with all such works, it's not the categorising, of course, but the work's own strikingly individual, grounded yet independent streak that is such a delight. . . . Sjón is known as one of Iceland's top writers. With CoDex 1962, his place in English is strengthened, especially with this rigorously empathetic translation by his longtime collaborator, Victoria Cribb. . . . This novel is a wonderwork - and an insistently sheer joy to read. -- Andrew Singer * World Literature Today *
£9.49
Orion Publishing Co An Unreliable Man
Book Synopsis From the creative genius of Jostein Gaarder, author of modern classic Sophie''s World, comes a novel about loneliness and the power of words Jakop is a lonely man. Divorced from his wife, with no friends apart from his constant companion Pelle, he spends his life attending the funerals of people he doesn''t know, obscuring his identity in a web of improbable lies. As his addiction spirals out of control, he is forced to reconcile his love of language and stories with the ever more urgent need for human connection. An Unreliable Man is a moving and thought-provoking novel about loneliness and truth, about seeking a place in the world, and about how storytelling gives our lives meaning.Decades after his global bestseller Sophie''s World, Jostein Gaarder has written a poignant and funny book for our times - full of life and hope.Praise for Sophie''s World''ATrade ReviewSOPHIE'S WORLD is set to become a unique popular classic: a wonderfully engaging mystery story that also forms a completely accessible and lucid introduction to philosophy and philosophers - The Times on SOPHIE'S WORLDA marvellously rich book - Guardian on SOPHIE'S WORLDAn Alice in Wonderland for the 90s . . . a simply wonderful, irresistible book - Daily Telegraph on SOPHIE'S WORLDA modern fairytale - Heat on THE ORANGE GIRLIt should be read by all - Vogue on THE ORANGE GIRL
£8.54
Pan Macmillan The Axe Woman: A Gripping Thriller from the
Book Synopsis'A master of suspense' – Sunday TimesWhen Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti returns to work after a personal tragedy, his boss hands him a cold case to ease him back in. But the case doesn't stay cold for long . . . The Axe Woman is the fifth Inspector Barbarotti novel from bestselling author Håkan Nesser.Five years previously, Arnold Morinder simply vanished. His partner claimed he had travelled abroad, never to return. But Arnold’s partner was Ellen Bjarnebo: one of Sweden’s most notorious killers, having served over ten years in prison for killing her first husband and dismembering his body with an axe. And when Barbarotti seeks to re-interview Ellen, she is nowhere to be found . . .With neither a body nor a prime suspect, Barbarotti must use all the ingenuity at his disposal. And as the cold case begins to thaw and he finally begins to make progress, he realizes that nothing about Ellen Bjarnebo can be taken for granted . . .Trade ReviewOne of the best Nordic Noir writers * The Guardian *One of Sweden's best crime writers * The Mail on Sunday *A master of suspense * The Sunday Times *The godfather of Swedish crime * Metro *Some aficionados would argue that the Swede Hakan Nesser is the most accomplished writer in the [Nordic noir] field today, and The Axe Woman is choice fare -- Barry Forshaw * Financial Times *
£9.49
Skyhorse Publishing The Best Stories of Arsène Lupin
Book SynopsisBased on the popular Netflix series! In the early 20th century, esteemed writer Maurice Leblanc created Arsène Lupin, a French Sherlock Holmes-type who became known as the gentleman thief. Lupin's exploits, in pursuit of the rich, have been documented in more than twenty stories and books, as well as in film. In January 2021, Netflix released a major hit in the entertaining Lupin mystery-comedy series based on the stories.The Best Stories of Arsène Lupin is a collection of the most engaging of Leblanc's writing about Lupin, with a special foreword by West Point associate professor of English and writer Matthew Carey Salyer.
£11.69
Pan Macmillan Hinterland
Winner of the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German Translation'Both a great anti-war novel and a love story, full of tenderness – as around it the world shatters.' – Der Spiegel, 'Novel of the Year'The year is 1944 and Veit Kolbe, a young German soldier, injured fighting in Russia, is recovering at Mondsee, a village and a lake below Drachenwand mountain, close to Salzburg in Austria. Here he meets Margot and Margarete, two young women who share his hope that sometime, sooner or later, life will begin again.The war is lost but how long will it take before it finally comes to its end? In Hinterland, Arno Geiger tells of Veit’s nightmares and the strangely normal life of the small village, of the Brazilian who dreams of returning to Rio de Janeiro, of the landlady and her rallying calls, of Margarete the teacher with whom Veit falls in love, but who doesn't return his affection.But when Veit’s wounds are healed his next call-up orders arrive. The military outlook for Germany and Austria looks increasingly grim and Veit’s luck has run out . . .Translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch
£17.09
Pan Macmillan Hinterland
Book SynopsisWinner of the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German Translation'Both a great anti-war novel and a love story, full of tenderness – as around it the world shatters.' – Der Spiegel, 'Novel of the Year'The year is 1944 and Veit Kolbe, a young German soldier, injured fighting in Russia, is recovering in a small village below Drachenwand mountain in Austria. Here he meets Margot and Margarete, two young women who share his hope that sometime, sooner or later, life will begin again.The war is lost but how long will it take before it finally comes to its end? Arno Geiger’s Hinterland, translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch, tells of Veit’s nightmares and the strangely normal life of the village, of the Brazilian who dreams of returning to Rio de Janeiro, of the landlady and her rallying calls, of Margarete the teacher with whom Veit falls in love, but who doesn’t return his affection.But when Veit’s wounds are healed his next call-up orders arrive. The military outlook for Germany and Austria looks increasingly grim and Veit’s luck has run out . . .Translated from the German by Jamie BullochTrade ReviewA great anti-war novel, in the middle of which a love story . . . develops, full of tenderness - as around it the world shatters . . . This impressive, subtle book * Der Spiegel *A profound, distinctive and timeless investigation into what concerns everyone of us: aging and illness, home and family. A meditation on the things we find hard to deal with. A great work of literature about what makes life worth living no matter what * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung *A book about the search for a lost world, a lost home and a character presumed lost, as well as about a rediscovered relationship. A powerful, grown-up, curious, and touchingly delightful book -- Die Welt
£10.44
Pan Macmillan Red Queen: The Award-Winning Bestselling Thriller
Book SynopsisNow an Amazon Prime Original series, Red Queen is the first in Juan Gómez-Jurado's internationally bestselling thriller series, translated by Nick Caistor. Winner of the Cognac Prize 2022 with more than two million copies sold in Spain alone.Sunday Times - Best Thriller Books of the Year'A Spanish spin on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . . . A female Sherlock Holmes' – The Times'Fizzes with energy . . . echoes of Lisbeth Salander, but the crackling interplay . . . adds an extra layer of originality . . . sparkling' – Best Books of 2023, Financial TimesYou've never met anyone like her . . .Antonia Scott is special. Very special. She is not a policewoman or a lawyer. She has never wielded a weapon or carried a badge, and yet, she has solved dozens of crimes.But it's been awhile since Antonia left her attic in Madrid. The things she has lost are much more important to her than the things awaiting her outside.She also doesn't receive visitors. That's why she really, really doesn't like it when she hears unknown footsteps coming up the stairs.Whoever it is, Antonia is sure that they are coming to look for her.And she likes that even less.Praise for Red Queen:'Often compared with Lisbeth Salander . . . Antonia Scott looks destined to leave every bit as lasting an impression' – Daily Mail'One of the most extravagantly entertaining novels I’ve ever read. It's an electrifying serial-killer thriller . . . I loved every word' – A.J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the WindowTrade ReviewBest thriller books of 2023 . . . What impresses is the brainy brio of Gómez-Jurado's storytelling, as well as his striking depiction of Madrid as two cities, an elegant baroque facade concealing a gothic underworld * Sunday Times *Fizzes with energy and lively scene-setting, switching . . . There are obvious echoes of Lisbeth Salander, but the crackling interplay between Scott and Inspector Gutiérrez, a gay Basque policeman, adds an extra layer of originality, as does Nick Caistor’s sparkling translation. * Financial Times *An electrifying serial-killer thriller, a fiendishly clever puzzle mystery . . . Red Queen tops even The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as a thinking reader’s thriller. -- A.J. Finn, bestselling author of The Woman in the WindowA Spanish spin on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . . . stylish and stylised . . . A female Sherlock Holmes * The Times *Often compared with Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Antonia Scott looks destined to leave every bit as lasting an impression. * Daily Mail *What Gómez-Jurado excels at, as conveyed in Nick Caistor’s brisk translation, is pacing of the breakneck variety. Short chapters, funny asides, lethally potent descriptions: They all contribute to a frenetic page-turning momentum . .. you’ll have great fun reading it. * New York Times *This thriller is going to have you gripping that wine glass tight as you race through the pages. * Glamour Magazine *Fast paced, memorable characters and a cinematic story that draws you in hook, line and sinker. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next in the series. -- John Marrs, author of The OneJuan Gomez-Jurado has written a fast, exciting page-turner and it’s the first in a trilogy featuring Antonia and Jon. You’ll be wanting more. * The Record *Fans of Scandinavian crime thrillers might want to broaden their horizons with the first book in a Spanish trilogy featuring a mismatched duo . . . Already an international hit, Gómez-Jurado’s smart page-turner has been made into an Prime Video series that will debut later in 2023 * Washington Post *A fast-paced thriller . . . giving us a mash-up of Nordic noir and an old-school detective with a neurodivergent mind . . . Red Queen works because along with a genius-protagonist, Gomez-Jurado has successfully woven in the other ingredients that thrill a mystery reader: a diabolical antagonist, a twisty game and a ticking clock. * Open The Magazine *A labyrinth of mystery, crisply plotted and paced, way ahead of the pack. -- Steve Berry, New York Times bestselling author of The Kaiser's WebSuspenseful and terrifying . . . A bit of Clarice Starling and a lot of Lisbeth Salander make Antonia a thoroughly compelling character, who will return in two more translations to complete Gómez-Jurado’s trilogy, -- Jane Murphy * Booklist starred review *Exciting . . . a nice balance among character, action, and setting . . . The next two, Loba Negra (Black Wolf) and Rey Blanco (White King), must be translated into English, because thriller fans will be waiting. Fast-moving and quirky fiction from Madrid. * Kirkus Reviews *Nail-biting . . . tantalizing . . . Lizbeth Salander fans will find much to like. * Publishers Weekly *This has all the velocity and thrills of Stieg Larson’s Millennium series but none of the eyeroll-inducing misogyny . . . it's all-engrossing. * First Clue (starred review) *Fresh and appealing to those that enjoy interesting characters and stories that constantly move forward and tales that end in unexpected ways. * Mystery and Suspense *Red Queen is a smart, addictive thriller, beautiful in both its complexity and devotion to characterization. Between the stunning plot twists, bold structural choices and surprising moments of wry humour, you won’t be able to put this one down -- Alafair Burke, New York Times bestselling author of Find MeThis terrific novel has all the page-turning elements of the very best thrillers, but what makes it truly remarkable is the writing itself. Engaging and heartbreaking, witty and wry and immersive . . . Juan Gómez-Jurado has written an instant classic -- Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of Her Perfect LifeReaders are going to fall for Antonia Scott. This character is, without a doubt, the best thing that has happened to the international thriller in the last ten years * ABC *Red Queen is terrific – a complex story that unfolds at breakneck speed, a compelling plot filled with twist after twist, a story told with rich, fluid language, and a fascinating, well-realized unlikely pair of characters, especially the brilliant Antonia Scott. -- David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of Murder as a Fine ArtThe most compelling and original detective since Lisbeth Salander * The Times South Africa *
£15.29
Hodder & Stoughton Of Fangs and Talons
Book SynopsisPowerful and compelling' Guardian'Mathieu, a wonderful writer, echoes the grittiness and compassion of Émile Zola in Germinal' Sunday TimesAfter the closure of a small-town factory is announced, the local community is hit by the prospect of mass unemployment. With nothing left to lose, the desperate workers take matters into their own hands. Martel, a former trade union rep, and Bruce, a bodybuilder on steroids, resort to extreme measures. And after an attempted kidnapping goes horribly wrong, they are dragged into a spiraling frenzy of crime. In the political tradition of Balzac and Zola, Of Fangs and Talons announces Nicolas Mathieu as one of the most urgent contemporary voices in French literature.'Nicolas Mathieu has written one of the best crime novels of the year'Le MondeTrade ReviewBefore Nicolas Mathieu won the Prix Goncourt in 2018 for And Their Children After Them he wrote this remarkable novel about two small-town scallies who resort to crime when the local factory closes down . . . Mathieu, a wonderful writer, echoes the grittiness and compassion of Émile Zola in Germinal * Sunday Times *There are several intersecting stories in this bleakly uncompromising portrait of working-class life in the Vosges . . . this tale of helpless, resentful people with nothing to lose is powerful and compelling. -- Laura Wilson * Guardian *Award-winning novelist Nicolas Mathieu portrays how the destruction of working-class communities has fed cynicism and despair. -- Conrad Landin * Jacobin Magazine *A first novel of rare power * Le Figaro Littéraire *Nicolas Mathieu has written one of the best crime novels of the year * Le Monde *
£9.49
John Murray Press Coffee and Cigarettes: Scenes from a Writer's
Book SynopsisA TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023'Marvellously unpredictable . . . by the end of the book you wish it was twice as long' (Daily Telegraph)'Beautifully translated . . . The perfect way into [Ferdinand von Schirach's] oeuvre' TLSHow does the legacy of a family past shape who we are?Ferdinand von Schirach is one of Germany's most eminent criminal defence lawyers and an internationally bestselling crime writer. He is also the grandson of Baldur von Schirach, leader of the Hitler Youth movement.In Coffee and Cigarettes, his most personal book, von Schirach confronts his family history, through autobiographical vignettes and short stories drawn from his life and career. From conversations with imprisoned clients, great writers and supreme court judges; meditations on art, film, writing and smoking; to reflections on Germany's heavy history, Coffee and Cigarettes is a portrait of the author, and our modern world, depicted in von Schirach's signature cool and incisive prose. Revealing, revelatory and thought-provoking, these essays confirm von Schirach as one of the most inimitable writers in Europe today.Trade ReviewVeering between the insightful and the oblique, some of these jottings sear themselves onto your mind instantly [. . .] one quickly develops a taste for von Schirach's unpredictable musings, a taste which has become such a full-blown addiction by the end of the book that you wish it was twice as long -- Jake Kerridge * Telegraph *Beautifully translated . . . the volume thrives on the tension between von Schirach's deceptively simple prose and his profoundly humane view of the ethical calamities of our age. Combining moving character studies with essayistic contemplations of the nature of justice, human dignity and our collective human frailty, von Schirach reflects both on our capacity for cruelty and on our ability to experience healing moments of connection * TLS *
£15.29
John Murray Press Crime
Book Synopsis'Mesmerising and utterly absorbing' New York Times'A magnificent storyteller' Der Spiegel A retired small-town doctor takes a garden axe to his cruel wife.A woman laces her brother's food with barbiturates.Two men steal a priceless Japanese tea bowl with brutal consequences.What drives a person to commit a crime?Our narrator knows that behind every misdeed is a story waiting to be told. In this collection of chilling cases, a nameless lawyer recounts the love, obsession, selfishness and despair that influenced his clients' irrevocable choices. Drawn from Ferdinand von Schirach's eminent career as a criminal defence lawyer, Crime blends fiction with real life, each story a revealing, unsettling insight into what may compel a person to act beyond the law.Trade ReviewMesmerizing . . . a slim, utterly absorbing collection of 11 stories plucked from [von Schirach's] legal career and told in a cool, patient voice that immediately draws the reader in -- Olen Steinhauer * New York Times *Praise for Ferdinand von Schirach * - *Addictive . . . fascinating * The Spectator *Ice-cool, effortlessly classy prose * Observer *Tantalising and disturbing in equal measure -- Laura Wilson * Guardian *An exceptional prose stylist * New York Times *A magnificent storyteller * Der Spiegel *Psychologically raw . . . delivered in a crisp translation by Katharina Hall, his unfussy prose is icily effective . . . it suggests that all justice systems are flawed, that they are all just processes. And, with immense empathy, von Schirach's stories show what happens to people when they are processed. -- Christian House * Financial Times *The stories are cool, meticulously crafted, pithy and mordantly amusing . . . this is an unsettling, affecting, extremely powerful book. Highly recommended -- Declan Hughes * Irish Times *An impressive page-turner with substance and bite * Bookmunch *Thrilling and edgy, often carrying a twist in the tale -- To the Ends of the Word blog
£9.49
Quercus Publishing The Therapist: From the mind of a psychologist
Book SynopsisFrom the mind of a psychologist comes a chilling domestic thriller that gets under your skin.**One of Cosmopolitan's 25 of the best books to read this summer 2021**"A wonderful storyteller" Chris Whitaker "Creepy, compelling and very well written" Harriet Tyce"Wonderfully creepy, twisty and compelling" Karen Hamilton"Masterfully paced and hauntingly written" Anna Bailey"Gets under your skin" Jo Spain"I couldn't put it down" Sarah WardAt first it's the lie that hurts.A voicemail from her husband tells Sara he's arrived at the holiday cabin. Then a call from his friend confirms he never did. She tries to carry on as normal, teasing out her clients' deepest fears, but as the hours stretch out, her own begin to surface. And when the police finally take an interest, they want to know why Sara deleted that voicemail.To get to the root of Sigurd's disappearance, Sara must question everything she knows about their relationship.Could the truth about what happened be inside her head?Translated from the Norwegian by Alison McCulloughTrade ReviewA sharply observed thriller with a plot packed full of psychological suspense. I couldn't put it down. -- Sarah Ward, author of Bitter ChillTense and atmospheric, this psychological thriller gets under your skin. Helene Flood keeps presenting questions to her reader, sending us every which way, as she builds towards the stunning and satisfying conclusion. -- Jo SpainMasterfully paced and hauntingly written, The Therapist creeps up on you and leaves you looking over your shoulder long after you've turned the last page. -- Anna Bailey, author of Tall BonesDark, absorbing and richly complex. Helene Flood is a wonderful storyteller and The Therapist kept me guessing till the final, devilish twists. -- Chris WhitakerWonderfully creepy, twisty and compelling, with a rising sense of dread that will keep readers turning the pages right through to the unexpected ending. -- Karen Hamilton, author of The Perfect GirlfriendCreepy, compelling and very well-written. The Norwegian setting and the questions it poses about crime and punishment are particularly interesting. -- Harriet Tyce, author of Blood OrangeTense and atmospheric . . . Well plotted with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. -- Breda Brown * Irish Independent. *A marvellously assured debut thriller. -- Declan Burke * Irish Times. *Flood takes her time but manipulates audience expectations with considerable aplomb. -- Barry Forshaw * Financial Times. *A striking debut. -- Andrew Rosenheim * Spectator *Will have you up all night with the lights on. * Elle. *Don't read this one at night. * Woman’s Weekly. *Chilling * Bella *We all love a Norwegian crime drama, and this is set to be your new favourite * Cosmopolitan *
£8.54
Quercus Publishing EEG
Book Synopsis*WINNER OF THE BEST TRANSLATED BOOK AWARD USA**SHORTLISTED FOR THE EBRD PRIZE**SHORTLISTED FOR THE OXFORD-WEIDENFELD PRIZE*"A writer and thinker of ever greater relevance, a voice whose wide-ranging screeds we ignore at our peril" CLAIRE MESSUD"Her work is of such power and scope that had she remained alive, she would have been a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature" JOSIP NOVAKOVICH, Los Angeles Review of BooksAn urgent new novel about death, war and memory, and a bristling follow-on from Belladonna.In this extraordinary final work, Daša Drndic's combative, probing voice reaches new heights. In her relentless search for truth she delves into the darkest corners of our lives. And as she chastises, she also atones.Andreas Ban failed in his suicide attempt. Even as his body falters and his lungs constrict, he taps on the glass of history - an impenetrable case filled with silent figures - and tries to summon those imprisoned within. Mercilessly, fearlessly, he continues to dissect society and his environment, shunning all favours as he goes after the evils and hidden secrets of others. History remembers the names of perpetrators, not of the victims.Ban travels from Rijeka to Rovinj in nearby Istria, from Belgrade to Toronto to Tirana, from Parisian avenues to Italian palazzi. Ghosts follow him wherever he goes: chess grandmasters who disappeared during WWII; the lost inhabitants of Latvia; war criminals who found work in the C.I.A. and died peacefully in their beds. Ban's family is with him too: those he has lost and those with one foot in the grave. As if left with only a few pieces in a chess game, Andreas Ban plays a stunning last match against Death.Translated from the Croatian by Celia HawkesworthTrade ReviewThere is great wisdom, along with dark history, in these pages, for those ready to take on the challenge... E.E.G. reveals Drndic as a writer and thinker of ever greater relevance, a voice whose wide-ranging screeds we ignore at our peril. * Guardian *Funny, angry, informed and intent on the truth, no voice is quite as blisteringly beautiful as that of Daša Drndic . . . a major literary artist, a truthteller and custodian of the collective memory of forgotten European Jews * Financial Times *Her work is of such power and scope that had she remained alive, she would have been a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature * L.A. Review of Books *Her incisive skill and radical style render potentially grim reading compulsive. She was a voice of - and for - our times * T.L.S. *One of the handful of truly great artists of our beleaguered epoch, her historically-based, semi-autobiographical fictions are as exhilarating as they are disturbing; dense, profound and extraordinarily readable * Calvert Journal *Drndic will be remembered for her outspokenness, her refusal to be quiet, her interrogation of history, and her exploration of difficult or taboo topics * White Review *E.E.G. is a monument against the common notion that political convictions soften with age, as you learn to let the world off the hook. Neither Drndic nor her books did any such thing. * Harper's Review *This is a novel of ideas but also of exquisite poetry . . . An elegant search for lost time and a fitting valediction by a superb writer. * Kirkus *Reading Daša Drndic is not for the fainthearted. Anger radiates from Drndic's pages, and perhaps the book's greatest strength is the way in which it gives a voice to those people who are unable to tell their own stories. * Guardian *Drndic has in her own way composed an astonishment that extracts light from darkness * The Jewish Daily Forward *The formidable Daša Drndic has created something like a modern-day Homeric narrative of wars that are anything but glorious. In Celia Hawkesworth, she has a translator of genius who shares her vision. It is difficult to suggest a contemporary English-language novel with which to compare it, or one that might even approach its eloquence and daring. * Los Angeles Review of Books *It has become blurb fodder to describe a writer as "essential", but in the case of Daša Drndic this can be said with seriousness and certainty . . . Read everything by her. -- Ronan Hession
£10.44
Quercus Publishing Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv: Longlisted for the
Book Synopsis"Both a pleasure and a testament to life in Ukraine, before" Sunday Times"Ukraine's greatest living novelist" New European"A Ukrainian Murakami" GuardianA love letter to the beautiful city of Lviv, by the author of Death and the Penguin and Grey Bees.Strange things are afoot in the cosmopolitan city of Lviv, western Ukraine. Seagulls are circling and the air smells salty, though Lviv is a long way from the sea . . . A ragtag group gathers round a mysterious grave in Lychakiv Cemetery - among them an ex-KGB officer and an ageing hippy he used to spy on. Before long, Captain Ryabtsev and Alik Olisevych are teaming up to discover the source of the "anomalies".Meanwhile, Taras - who makes a living driving kidney-stone patients over cobblestones in his ancient Opel Vectra - is courting Darka, who works nights at a bureau de change despite being allergic to money.The young lovers don't know it, but their fate depends on two lonely old men, relics of another era, who will stop at nothing to save their city. Shot through with Kurkov's unique brand of black humour and vodka-fuelled magic realism, Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv is an affectionate portrait one the world's most intriguing cities.Translated from the Russian by Reuben WoolleyTrade ReviewPlayful and ebullient, shot through with magical twists and supernatural turns . . . A reminder of Kurkov's prodigious storytelling gifts and a throwback to an earlier, happier age * Observer *This beguiling literary postcard from a recent, now supplanted past brims with the bittersweet charm and rueful satire of the books, such as Death and the Penguin, that established Kurkov's international reputation * Financial Times *Both a pleasure and a testament to life in Ukraine, before -- David Sexton * Sunday Times *Entertaining and poignant . . . A multi-layered, Chagal-like picture of modern-day Ukraine. * Glasgow Herald *A craftily constructed novel that undermines and transforms itself in a consistently enjoyable manner without the haze of purple prose. * Irish Times *Charming . . . A love letter to Lviv, Ukraine's linguistic and cultural capital * Guardian *The characters are lovingly drawn and exude the sort of warmth with which the author imbues all of his creations. You enjoy the time spent in their company * The Times *Kurkov draws us with deceptive ease into a dense complex world full of wonderful characters -- Michael PalinA latter-day Bulgakov . . . A Ukrainian Murakami * Guardian *A post-Soviet Kafka * Daily Telegraph *A kind of Ukrainian Kurt Vonnegut * Spectator *Ukraine's greatest living novelist New European -- New European
£15.29
The New York Review of Books, Inc Agostino
Book SynopsisThirteen-year-old Agostino is spending the summer at a Tuscan seaside resort with his beautiful widowed mother. When she takes up with a cocksure new companion, Agostino, feeling ignored and unloved, begins hanging around with a group of local young toughs. Though repelled by their squalor and brutality, and repeatedly humiliated for his weakness and ignorance when it comes to women and sex, the boy is increasingly, masochistically drawn to the gang and its rough games. He finds himself unable to make sense of his troubled feelings. Hoping to be full of manly calm, he is instead beset by guilty curiosity and an urgent desire to sever, at any cost, the thread of troubled sensuality that binds him to his mother. Alberto Moravia’s classic, startling portrait of innocence lost was written in 1942 but rejected by Fascist censors and not published until 1944, when it became a best seller and secured the author the first literary prize of his career. Revived here in a new translation by Michael F. Moore, Agostino is poised to captivate a twenty-first-century audience.
£14.39
World Editions Woman Of The Ashes
Book SynopsisIn this vivid and enchanting novel, Mia Couto masterfully interweaves history with folklore and has managed to create a work of rare originality and imagination.
£10.79
Amazon Publishing Broken Summer: A Novel
Book SynopsisA death, a lie, a secret. For twenty-six summers he didn’t have the courage to face the past. Lee Hanjo is an artist at the peak of his fame, envied and celebrated. Then, on his forty-third birthday, he awakens to find that his devoted wife has disappeared, leaving behind a soon-to-be-published novel she’d secretly written about the sordid past and questionable morality of an artist with a trajectory similar to Hanjo’s. It’s clear to him that his life is about to shatter and the demons from his past will come out. But why did his wife do it? Why now? The book forces Hanjo to reflect on a summer from his youth when a deadly lie irreversibly and tragically determined the fates of two families. From master storyteller J. M. Lee, one of Korea’s most renowned authors, comes an unforgettable novel of hidden truths, denials, and their inevitable repercussions. Everyone still left standing from that terrible summer so long ago must finally reckon with the deceptions that started it all and, twist after shocking twist, reap both the suffering and the vindication that comes with revenge.Trade ReviewPraise for Broken Summer “Few things are as mysterious as what goes on in a marriage, sometimes even one’s own…[in] J.M. Lee’s emotionally wrenching Broken Summer.” —The New York Times “Skillfully rendered into English by translator An, the novel contemplates these issues in a murder mystery notable for its nuanced storytelling…A subtle psychological thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews “Lee excels at psychological realism, and Hanjo’s quest to learn the truth feels naturally driven by deep, painful emotions…This exquisite portrait of minds torn apart by mourning will appeal not just to mystery readers.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “This is an engrossing and beautifully written mystery, with complex characters that Lee delicately strips bare.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Peeling back layers with utmost precision, Lee bares a portrait of an artist as a desperately troubled young man; even more admirable are the masterful manipulations necessary for such decimating exposure.” —Booklist “Broken Summer is an elegiac thriller, a vivid family portrait, a study of guilt, deception and revenge across class divides, and the gifted JM Lee’s most accomplished novel to date.” —David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas and Utopia Avenue Praise for J.M. Lee “Channeling timeless quests from The Odyssey on while highly reminiscent of Vikas Swarup’s contemporary cult classic Q & A (the literary inspiration for celluloid sensation Slumdog Millionaire), Lee’s latest should guarantee exponential growth among savvy Western audiences searching for a universal story with global connections. In a phrase, read this.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Another outstanding thriller from Lee (after The Investigation, 2015), whose novels have garnered massive acclaim in Korea.” —Booklist “Lee’s novel touches on the literary need for character-driven stories that move beyond the strangeness and horror of life under the North Korean state. This, along with its thriller-like pace, make The Boy Who Escaped Paradise worth a read.” —Paste “A smart, riveting read.” —Publishers Weekly “The language is mesmerizing. An exciting adventure added to rich characters, all multiplied by stunning language, equals an unforgettable novel.” —Shelf Awareness
£8.54
Divided Publishing Flood Tide
£10.79
Quercus Publishing Silver Bullets
Book SynopsisFor Detective Edgar "Lefty" Mendieta, tormented by past heartbreak and dismayed by all-pervasive corruption, the murder of lawyer Bruno Canizales represents just another day at the office in Culiacán, Mexico's capital of narco-crime.There is no shortage of suspects in a city where it's hard to tell the gangsters from the politicians. Canizales was the son of a former government minister and the lover of a drug lord's daughter, and he nurtured a penchant for cross-dressing and edgy sex. But why did the assassin use a silver bullet? And why, six days later, did he apparently strike again? Mendieta's hunt for the killer takes him from mansions to low-life bars, from gumshoe reporters to glamourous transsexuals. Unearthing the truth can be as dangerous as any drug.Trade ReviewOne of the biggest names in Mexican literature . . . A true novelist . . . No one has captured the exciting and passionate nature of the Mexican vernacular like him -- Arturo Pérez-ReverteIf you are fed up with formulaic noir novels and looking for something fresher, Elmer Mendoza's dazzling Silver Bullets could be the answer * Sunday Times *Presents Mexico in a darkly surrealist light: corrupt politicos, a plague of narco-crime and only battered detective Edgar "Lefty" Mendieta on the side of the angels * Independent *Casts a wide net over modern Mexican life and an array of well-drawn characters, some powerful, some weak, some depraved . . . Mendoza's creation is nothing like standard pulp fiction * Times Literary Supplement *
£11.22
Pushkin Press Bonita Avenue
Book SynopsisA darkly hilarious tale of a model family's disintegration. Professor Siem Sigerius - maths genius, jazz lover, judo champion, Renaissance man. When Aaron meets his girlfriend Joni's family for the first time, her multitalented father could hardly be a more intimidating figure, but somehow the underachieving photographer manages to bluff his way to a friendship with the paterfamilias. With his feet under the table at the beautiful Sigerius farmhouse, Aaron feels part of the family. A perfect family. Until, that is, things start to go wrong in a very big way. A cataclysmic explosion in a firework factory, the advent of internet pornography, the reappearance of a forgotten murderer and a jet-black wig-all play a role in the spectacular fragmentation of the Sigerius clan... and of Aaron's fragile psyche. 'One wild ride: a swirling helix of a family saga...a new writer as toe-curling as early Roth, as roomy as Franzen and as caustic as Houellebecq. Don't let me forget to mention Jonathan Reeder's note-perfect English translation.' Anthony Cummins, Sunday Telegraph, 5-stars 'Dutch bestseller about internet porn lives up to hype....a considerable achievement for a seasoned writer, much less a newcomer...' James Kidd, Independent 'Fluent and complex, uncompromising and occasionally shocking...' Daily Mail 'Buwalda writes with ferocious dexterity... Bonita Avenue is a family epic seething with learning and regret, the kind with which commuting becomes a pleasure.' New Statesman 'A brilliantly constructed story, with complex characters tested to the limit' The Lady 'One of the first great European novels of the 21st century' Foyles Bookshop interview with author Highly, highly recommended reading.Savidge Reads If I had to choose one first novel, it would be the addictive bedlam of Bonita Avenue... deserves to be a book, not just a debut, of the year' Independent Books of the Year 'Dripping with sex and bursting with comedy... in a plot of fiendish ingenuity. Buwalda has a cold eye for the hilarity of human disaster that would make Evelyn Waugh blanch. Read this book, love it, and try to ignore the twisting in your gut.' Booktrust 'Great European art: the Dutchman Peter Buwalda explodes the bourgeois family saga. The narrative pyrotechnics alone are a tour de force.' Die Zeit Born in Brussels in 1971, Peter Buwalda is a Dutch novelist, formerly a journalist, editor at several publishers, and founder of the literary music magazine Wah-Wah. Bonita Avenue is his debut novel. Published in 2010 to critical acclaim, it was shortlisted for twelve prizes, going on to win the Academica Prize, the Selexyz Debut Prize, the Tzum Prize, the Anton Wachter Prize and the Leesclubboek van het jaar. It spent two years on the bestseller lists, and has since been translated into seven languages. Bonita Avenue is a suspenseful, incendiary and unpredictable debut-of relationships torn apart by lies, and minds destroyed by madness.Trade ReviewAn instant literary classic, loaded with suspense -- Herman Koch, author of The Dinner [A] dazzling family saga... [Buwalda's] brilliance is unique -- Kate Saunders The Times One wild ride: a swirling helix of a family saga...a new writer as toe-curling as early Roth, as roomy as Franzen and as caustic as Houellebecq. -- Anthony Cummins Sunday Telegraph, Best Novels and Fiction Books of 2014 Fluent and complex, uncompromising and occasionally shocking... Daily Mail Deftly constructed, dark, disturbing and sharply funny, Bonita Avenue is a masterpiece of characterisation and one of the first great European novels of the 21st century Foyles, Best Fiction of 2014 If I had to choose one first novel, it would be the addictive bedlam of Bonita Avenue... [It] deserves to be a book, not just a debut, of the year -- James Kidd Independent, Best Debuts of the Year Buwalda writes with ferocious dexterity... Bonita Avenue is a family epic seething with learning and regret, the kind with which commuting becomes a pleasure. New Statesman Dripping with sex and bursting with comedy... in a plot of fiendish ingenuity. Buwalda has a cold eye for the hilarity of human disaster that would make Evelyn Waugh blanch. Read this book, love it, and try to ignore the twisting in your gut Booktrust Buwalda's magnificent first novel offers proofof Tolstoy's dictum that 'every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way' Publishers Weekly (starred review) A brilliantly constructed story, with complex characters tested to the limit The Lady Highly, highly recommended reading Savidge Reads Dutch bestseller about internet porn lives up to hype... a considerable achievement for a seasoned writer, much less a newcomer. -- James Kidd Independent The Dutch answer to Jonathan Franzen NRC Handelsblad Great European art: the Dutchman Peter Buwalda explodes the bourgeois family saga: the narrative pyrotechnics alone are a tour de force Die Zeit Peter Buwalda's impressive family saga is a genuine page-turner, with a forceful, precise style. The author races with unstoppable speed towards the finish, without getting entangled in the numerous gripping narrative strands, without even steering out of the curve. Libris-Prize Jury Report, 2011 Buwalda's debut novel [is] daring in its linguistic power and freedom, and impressive, even frightening, in its psychological sharpness and precision ... great and outrageous. Frankfurter Rundschau A literary sensation. Bonita Avenue is no less than a phenomenal masterpiece tip berlin Extraordinarily gripping. A dream debut HP/De Tijd The plot orchestration and lively character renderings of "Bonita Avenue" are dazzling The New York Times Book Review A robust dark farce ...Whatever literary benchmark you use, the book's hyperbolic excess and willingness to plunge recklessly to the depths are what make it work The New York Times Book Review A bold and assured debut, Bonita Avenue deftly alternates between narrators and settings to keep readers morally unsettled and in suspense... both sprawling and meticulously constructed... a satisfying, psychologically nuanced read Huffington Post It's a fantastic debut which, at over 500pages, doesn't outstay its welcome Glasgow Herald Buwalda's debut...becomes increasingly compulsivereading as it nears its dark close...This tumultuous saga of a family breakingdown...is an international bestseller and award winner. A significant literaryachievement Booklist, (starred review) This award-winning debut novel is flat-outextraordinary. The rich layer of detail would be impressive if applied to onetopic, but Buwalda creates multiple complex worlds around vastly differentsubjects... An outstanding literary suspense story that will appeal to a widerange of readers Library Journal, starred review Dazzling... [A] giddily twisting family drama Penthouse
£8.54
Pushkin Press An Untouched House
Book SynopsisA partisan fighting with the Red Army in Germany comes across a grand, abandoned house, seemingly untouched by the devastation sweeping the country. Exhausted, he falls asleep in the living room, but wakes to find a German patrol marching up the garden path. His only hope is to pose as the house's owner, but how will he keep up the pretence when the real owner returns? Dazzling, dark and scorchingly violent, with the breakneck pace of a thriller, this timeless classic is a vivid depiction of what happens when the mask of decency is cast aside in the savagery of war.
£7.59
Pushkin Press The Mirror of Simple Souls: A Novel
Book Synopsis'A rich, surprising and devastating story of a female institution long-forgotten' Marj Charlier, author of The Rebel Nun A heretical text, a vengeful husband, a forbidden love... It's 1310 and Paris is alive with talk of the trial of the Templars. Religious repression is on the rise, and the smoke of execution pyres blackens the sky above the city. But sheltered behind the walls of Paris's great beguinage, a community of women are still free to work, study and live their lives away from the domination of men. When a wild, red-haired child clothed in rags arrives at the beguinage gate one morning, with a sinister Franciscan monk on her tail, she sets in motion a chain of events that will shatter the peace of this little world-plunging it into grave danger.Trade Review'Brilliantly juggles history and fiction' - Le Figaro'Sensitive and subtle in substance, carnal and poetic in form... A luminous novel' - Huffingtonpost.fr'Leads us with brio into a little-known Middle Ages of strong, erudite, supportive, and generous women' - Page des libraires
£15.29
Pushkin Press Swann in Love
Book SynopsisStunning edition of the standalone novella from Proust's great masterpiece, in a new translation When Charles Swann first lays eyes on Odette de Crécy, he is indifferent to her beauty. Their paths continue to cross in the drawing rooms and theatres of Parisian high society, and the seeds of desire in Swann begin to flourish. What follows is a journey through self-delusion, jealousy and delirious fantasy, which will take Swann far from the sedate comfort of his society life. A standalone novella from Proust's monumental masterpiece, Swann in Love is a sublimely witty and poignant story of the illusions of love and desire. Full of the rich social satire and penetrating insight that distinguish Proust's style, it is the perfect introduction to one of the world's great novelists.Trade Review “Where to start with... Marcel Proust.” --Lucy Raitz, The Guardian “If you can’t handle 1.5 million words of Proust, try Swann in Love.” --The Washington Post “Surely the greatest novelist of the 20th century.” --Sunday Telegraph “One of the miracles of European literature.” --Guardian
£11.69
Pushkin Press Will: Available on Netflix
Book SynopsisTHE TIMES HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR A FINANCIAL TIMES TRANSLATED FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR __________ It is 1941, and Antwerp is in the grip of Nazi occupation. Young policeman Wilfried Wils has no intention of being a hero - but war has a way of catching up with people. When his idealistic best friend draws him into the growing resistance movement, and an SS commander tries to force him into collaborating, Wilfried's loyalties become horribly, fatally torn. As the beatings, destruction and round-ups intensify across the city, he is forced into an act that will have consequences he could never have imagined. A searing portrayal of a man trying to survive amid the treachery, compromises and moral darkness of occupation, Will asks what any of us would risk to fight evil.Trade Review'A brilliant, uncomfortable exploration of the moral compromises necessary to live alongside evil' - The Times, Historical Fiction Book of the Year'I loved this book. Will is a vivid, complex, and captivating novel about the grubby moral compromises of life under occupation' - Bart van Es, author of The Cut Out Girl'A masterful book, a gripping epic, necessary and gorgeously written' - Stefan Hertmans, author of War and Turpentine'Constantly grapples with what the ordinary man might do when faced with a horror so huge that to resist might threaten his very survival. Olyslaegers bravely explores moral compromise, betrayal and collaboration - and throws our polarised times into sharp relief' - Observer'It is Will's inner darkness that drives this book, and it lends a ferocious energy to the narration... Olyslaegers seems intent on pulling the scales from our eyes' - Guardian
£9.49
Pushkin Press Vertigo
Book SynopsisAn irresistible gift edition of the mindbending thriller that inspired Hitchcock's Vertigo He isn't a cop anymore, but when an old friend asks Flavières to keep an eye on his dazzlingly beautiful wife, how can he refuse? And so he begins to scour the streets of wartime Paris in search of a woman who belongs to no one, not even to herself. Soon, intrigue is replaced by obsession, and dreams by nightmares, as the boundaries between the living and the dead begin to blur... This is the original breath-taking psychological thriller behind Hitchcock's legendary film-the story of a desperate man, tormented by his search for the truth, and ultimately destroyed by a dark, terrible secret.Trade Review'This story of obsession, deceit and human frailty has an almost overpowering intensity... Alongside Patricia Highsmith Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac deserve recognition as part of the great tradition of chilling psychological crime fiction.' - Crime Fiction Lover'Makes a fascinating companion to the Hitchcock film, and is, I think, an amazing book in its own right' - Lit Love'Gallic noir at its most psychologically acute' - Crime Scene'A fantastic book' - Col's Criminal Library'One of the pleasures of reading the book is noting how it compares with, and in places even improves on, the film' - The National
£11.69
Granta Books Fracture
Book SynopsisA survivor of the atomic bombs dropped in Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Mr Watanabe has evaded the memory for most of his nomadic life. When the 2011 earthquake strikes, triggering the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the past becomes the present, and Mr Watanabe begins a journey that will change everything. Written with intimacy and compassion, Fracture is a remarkable novel about collective trauma, love and the complexities of human life.
£9.49
Granta Books An Ordinary Youth: A Novel
Book SynopsisA bestseller in Germany, Walter Kempowski's autobiographical novel is a sensorial coming of age story during the years of World War II and a chilling exploration of how one family adjusted to life under the Nazis Growing up in Rostock, in the north of Germany, Walter has a comfortable upbringing: quiet and content, he spends his days scheming with school friends and resisting the torment of his older siblings. But, as the country rolls toward war, the attitudes of his teachers, peers and family begin to slide, and it isn't long before the roar of falling bombs, charged silences and mounting intolerance begin to puncture Walter's carefree youth. Following the Kempowski family from the months before the outbreak of war through to the fall of Berlin, An Ordinary Youth is the fascinating story of an ordinary childhood in extraordinary times. Here, Walter's academic struggle sits alongside his father's conscription; his brother's love of jazz burgeons amid the destruction of the barrages. And all the while, the horrors of Nazism loom in the peripheries - communicated in furtive looks or hushed conversations - running alongside the Kempowski family's daily rituals and occasional scandals. A bestseller in Germany on publication, An Ordinary Youth is all the more unnerving for the warmth, humour and empathy with which Kempowski imbues his hometown. Written with a sensorial immediacy, it is a meticulous chronicle of daily life in 1930s Germany, and a discomfiting exploration of the many forms that complicity can take.Trade ReviewFascinating and disturbing. Kempowski plunges the reader into the already running tide of one of history's great horrors so that we see it as if from within... An Ordinary Youth weaves an impressionistic web of nostalgia, complicity, terror, denial, love and dissidence into an unflinchingly honest re-creation of a time and place that still beggars understanding -- Carol BirchCompellingly immersive in all its intensely evocative detail, sometimes very funny, sometimes not funny at all, An Ordinary Youth reveals once again Kempowski's extraordinary gift... The appalling events of mid-twentieth-century Europe have been the subject matter of many fine writers: arguably none more truthful to the unsentimental, unheroic reality of the lived experience than Kempowski -- David Kynaston, author of Engines of PrivilegeDeeply uncanny. Doing justice to both the innocence of the boy he was and the moral judgment of the man he became, Kempowski creates an appealing and appalling case study in the banality of evil -- Adam KirschMesmerising... Intimate and immediate... A hypnotic immersion deep inside one of our continent's darkest periods and a book that from some angles feels chillingly contemporary * New European *
£17.09
Quercus Publishing The Silent War
Book SynopsisAs the head of Swedish Intelligence in Brussels Bente Jensen has many enemies, even among those who ought to be her allies, like Jonathan Green of MI6. In a city heaving with competing espionage agencies he is the person she fears and distrusts most. She has good reason. They share a past.Green has been part of an MI6 conspiracy to hold, interrogate, torture and kill its political prisoners in a safe house in Syria. This explosive information has been leaked to Bente by a conscience-stricken British operative. When it is clear she can expose this operation MI6 uses its full arsenal of dirty tricks to shame her, disgrace her, destroy her relationships and remove her from active service.But Green's private life has more in common with Bente's than he acknowledges. He is far from fireproof himself. Both spies will find themselves targets of the UK establishment's precisely calculated revenge.Like its highly acclaimed predecessor Into A Raging Blaze Andreas Norman's new novel is a morally and politically complex international thriller. Its nail-biting plot and sympathetic characters show the tragic human consequences of private and public treachery.Trade ReviewThis impressive novel shifts between Brussels, London and Syria in a horrifying and moving exploration of different kinds of betrayal. * Literary Review *Norman is an innovative stylist: the fast-paced narrative, fluently rendered in translation by Ian Giles, is written in the third person present tense with an omniscient narrator. This brings a sense of intimacy that is almost claustrophobic, especially at the roller-coaster climax * Financial Times *In this taut, engaging and fascinating thriller . . . the writing is crisp, the action fast paced, the plot is psychology convincing and the subject matter both credible and contemporary. . . Andreas Norman will be one to watch. * Shotmag *With a credible plot and believable characters, this is a high-tension thriller of dirty tricks and calculated revenge * Choice Magazine *
£17.00
Quercus Publishing Limit: Part 2
Book SynopsisPerfect for fans of Neal Stephenson and Peter F. Hamilton: the blockbuster conclusion to the international sci-fi thriller by German's Number One thriller writer.It's 2025, and the Chinese and the Americans are going head to head on the Moon for helium-3, the rare mineral which will solve all the Earth's energy needs. But not everyone is happy.Billionaire Julian Orley's space-elevator revolutionised space travel; now he's taking a group of international movers and shakers on the trip of a lifetime: to the first-ever hotel on the Moon, hoping to woo them into investing in the future of humanity.But not all of Orly's guests are humanitarians: at least one is pursuing his own dark plot - and now there's a time limit. And how is this linked with the cyber-detective Owen Jericho, the dissident hacker Yoyo, oil magnate Gerald Palstein - and the mysterious organisation called Hydra, who have their own - not very charitable - plans for the universe?Trade ReviewEnthralling and visionary * Thomas Reiter, Astronaut *Full of excitement and danger. [A] complex and well-woven thriller [that] combines a thoughtful vision of the future with relics of the present and creates an atmosphere both alien and familiar * Library Journal *
£13.49
Quercus Publishing The Ropewalker: Between Three Plagues Volume I
Book SynopsisThe first part in an epic historical trilogy - The Estonian answer to Wolf Hall - by the nation's greatest modern writer Jaan Kross's trilogy dramatises the life of the renowned Livonian Chronicler Balthasar Russow, whose greatest work described the effects of the Livonian War on the peasantry of what is now Estonia. Like Hilary Mantel's Thomas Cromwell, Russow is a diamond in the rough, a thoroughly modern man in an Early Modern world, rising from humble origins to greatness through wit and learning alone. As Livonia is used as a political football by the warring powers of Russia, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania, he continues to climb the greasy pole of power and influence. Even as a boy, Russow has the happy knack of being in the right place and saying the right thing at the right time. He is equally at home acting as friend and confidante to his ambitious patron and as champion for his humble rural relatives. Can anything halt his vertiginous rise? Like most young men he is prey to temptations of the flesh . . .Trade ReviewHe's a marvellous novelist - his scope and depth make him a world writer - and they should just hurry up and give him the Nobel -- Doris Lessing.He deserved a Nobel prize and would probably have got it had he written in any other language but Estonian -- Neil Taylor * Guardian. *He's almost alone in writing in the older European tradition of the large-scale historical novel. I'd argue that Kross is heir to the 'great' Russo-European 19th century novelists; his fiction has Tolstoyan sweep. On reading him, moreover, we rediscover that Estonia was always resolutely in Europe and not some obscure outpost this side of the Urals -- Fiona Sampson.No stranger to oppression himself, Kross writes about it with a poignancy devoid of anger -- Adam Zamoyski.
£11.69
Vintage Publishing Skylight
Lisbon, late-1940s. The inhabitants of an old apartment block are struggling to make ends meet. There’s the elderly shoemaker and his wife who take in a solitary young lodger; the woman who sells herself for money and jewellery; the cultivated family come down in the world; and the beautiful typist whose boss can’t keep his eyes off her.Poisonous relationships, happy marriages, jealousy, gossip and love – Skylight brings together the joys and grief of ordinary people. One of his earliest novels, it provides an entry into Saramago’s universe but was lost for decades and published, as per his wishes, after his death.
£9.49
Vintage Publishing Amulet
Book SynopsisAuxilio Lacouture is trapped.For twelve days she hides alone in a lavatory on the fourth floor of her university. Staring at the floor, she begins a heartfelt and feverish tale: she is the Mother of Mexican poetry.A highly charged first-person semi-hallucinatory novella, Amulet is a potent stream of consciousness through which the poets of Mexico rage and swirl. Filled with wild, dark literary prophecies, heroic poets, mad poets, artists choked by the brilliance of youth', Auxilio's passionate narration both heartbreaking and lyrical is suffused with the essence of Roberto Bolaño's art.TRANSLATED BY CHRIS ANDREWS''Encapsulates the violence and tragedy of recent Latin American history'' The TimesRoberto Bolaño redefined the form of the novel in his masterpiece 2666; with the hallucinatory narrative of Amulet, he reimagines what literature can become' New Statesman
£9.49
Oneworld Publications City of Jasmine
Book Synopsis A poignant story of three young adults trying to make a future for themselves in war-torn Damascus Syria - a country at war. Amal, Hammoudi and Youssef are young and ambitious, the face of modern Syria. But when civil war tears through their homeland, they are left with a horrifying choice: risk death by staying in the country they love, or flee in search of a new life elsewhere? From one of Germany's most talented literary voices comes this intricately woven story of brutality, loss, and how hope can shine through when darkness feels overwhelming.Trade Review‘Grjasnowa’s measured undemonstrative writing style (the book is beautifully translated from German by Katy Derbyshire) is central to the novel’s success... A significant literary and moral success.’ * Big Issue *‘There are few authors writing in German as sensuously and vividly as Grjasnowa.’ * KulturSpiegel *‘Grjasnowa provides a close-as-skin understanding of what it's like to suffer bombardment, torture, and dislocation while remaining human and hopeful... Highly recommended.’ * Library Journal, Reading Around the World: 12 Top Spring Titles for the Library Market *‘An important and painful book.’ * Deutschlandradio Kultur *‘Olga Grjasnowa's sentences crack like a whip.’ * Süddeutsche Zeitung *‘It is wonderful that there are writers like Grjasnowa who can write brilliantly and decisively about the real world.’ * Brigitte *‘A dark, tragic story with the resilient light of humanity shining through it... It truly spoke to my soul.’ * Marjorie's World of Books, blog review *‘Olga Grjasnowa writes from the nerve center of her generation.’ * Die Zeit *‘Grajsnowa’s extraordinary novel offers an opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with one of the great tragedies of our time - to remember what that nation once was, why and how the conflict began and what it has led to…Grajsnowa’s measured undemonstrative writing style (the book is beautifully translated from German by Katy Derbyshire) is central to the novel’s success…The reader isn’t patronised or manipulated, and the emotional impact is all the greater. Characters come and go and live and die as the novel heads for its masterly, shattering denouement. A significant literary and moral success.’ * Big Issue *‘A truly gifted writer...[who] has a very bright future ahead of her.’ * Yahoo! Voices *
£9.49
Oneworld Publications The Only Child: ‘An eerie, electrifying read.’
Book SynopsisThe Only Child is a shockingly unnerving psychological thriller from bestselling Korean author Mi-ae Seo ‘An eerie, electrifying read.’ Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box ‘A chilling, nuanced examination of today’s and tomorrow’s serial killers and the families who spawned them, The Only Child is a valuable addition to the growing list of Korean crime fiction.’ LA Times ‘Fans of Mindhunter and Silence of the Lambs will love this dark, cognitive duel between psychologist and serial killer.’ Jonathan Trigell, author of Boy A Criminal psychologist Seonkyeong has two new people in her life. A serial killer whose gruesome murders shook the world but who has steadfastly remained silent. Until now. A young, innocent looking stepdaughter from her husband’s previous marriage, who unexpectedly turns up at the door after the sudden death of her grandparents. Both are unsettling. Both are deeply troubled. And both seem to want something from her. Can she work out just who is the victim in all of this? Before it’s too late... Trade Review'Wholly absorbing, but without any pandering on the author's part, so that the language, the style, and the mood grow about you, as you slip deeper into the story and realize, quite suddenly, you are immersed. An eerie, electrifying read.' * Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box *'A chilling, nuanced examination of today’s and tomorrow’s serial killers and the families who spawned them, The Only Child is a valuable addition to the growing list of Korean crime fiction available to American audiences.' * LA Times *'In this twisted web of coincidence, criminal psychologist Seonkyeong untangles the pasts and motivations of two new acquaintances...as both become increasingly menacing presences in her life.' -- Vanity Fair'Fans of Mindhunter and Silence of the Lambs will love this dark, cognitive duel between psychologist and serial killer.' * Jonathan Trigell, author of Boy A *'This is one creepy book. Come for the serial killers, criminal profilers and spooky children, stay for the twisting character studies and insight into domestic trauma. But check all the locks first.' * Thomas Mullen, author of Darktown *'For fans of Mindhunter, Mi-Ae Seo’s novel The Only Child feels like true crime but is a tour de force of twisty fiction with a shocking ending you won’t be able to stop thinking about. Family secrets abound in this fine novel of psychological suspense.' * Alma Katsu, author of The Deep and The Hunger *'An addictive and shocking psychological thriller... There is a twist here that has to be read to be believed.' -- Refinery29'Korean author Seo’s U.S. debut is a dark dive into the mind-set of serial killers... Fans of Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs, and Zoje Stage’s Baby Teeth will find this admirable.' * Library Journal *‘While much of crime fiction features a parade of children in danger, what about those novels featuring children who are the danger? For those looking to be terrified by sociopathic youths, or those just looking for an all-round nailbiter of a thriller, we recommend The Only Child, in which a behavioural psychologist who studies serial killers becomes the caretaker of a very, very, creepy little girl.’ * CrimeReads best of International Crime Fiction *'With cold precision, Seo creates a chilling and engrossing profile of a next-generation serial killer.' * Kirkus *'The story moves along swiftly; you quickly develop sympathy for the main characters [...] The ending scenes are real page-turners and the final twist was totally unexpected. A gripping psychological thriller which looks at the experiences which make a serial killer, and asks if it's possible to reverse that damage.' * Promoting Crime Fiction *'Korean author Seo makes her debut with a creepy psychological thriller ... Seo stealthily spins an ever-tightening narrative web setting up a doubly shocking climax. It’s a measure of Seo’s skill that she manages to find flashes of humanity in a ruthless murderer. Fans of Netflix’s Mindhunter should feel right at home.' * Publishers Weekly *'This novel feels perfect for fans of the authors Natsuo Kirino and Kanae Minato, plus the films Silence of the Lambs and The Bad Seed. The Korean author’s debut explores nurture vs nature and dark criminal minds as a young and optimistic criminal psychologist is called upon to talk to a convicted killer. It's a great slow-burn read filled with suspense.' * Novel Suspects *'I absolutely loved this debut thriller...expertly plotted, fantastic characters, an absolute pleasure to read... This has a really good chance of being one of my top crime thriller reads this year!' * Independent Book Reviews *'Never in my history of reading thrillers have I ever been invested in the development and safety of every character including the villain...This novel is written with such poise and restraint that I was left all the more speechless in the end.' * Something Bookish *
£11.69
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Breakout at Stalingrad
Book Synopsis'One of the greatest novels of the Second World War' The Times. 'A remarkable find' Antony Beevor. 'A masterpiece' Mail on Sunday. Stalingrad, November 1942. Lieutenant Breuer dreams of returning home for Christmas. But he and his fellow German soldiers will spend winter in a frozen hell – as snow, ice and relentless Soviet assaults reduce the once-mighty Sixth Army to a diseased and starving rabble. Breakout at Stalingrad is a stark and terrifying portrait of the horrors of war, and a profoundly humane depiction of comradeship in adversity. The book itself has an extraordinary story behind it. Its author fought at Stalingrad and was imprisoned by the Soviets. In captivity, he wrote a novel based on his experiences, which the Soviets confiscated before releasing him. Gerlach resorted to hypnosis to remember his narrative, and in 1957 it was published as The Forsaken Army. Fifty-five years later Carsten Gansel, an academic, came across the original manuscript of Gerlach's novel in a Moscow archive. This first translation into English of Breakout at Stalingrad includes the story of Gansel's sensational discovery.Trade ReviewOne of the greatest novels of the Second World War * The Times *Gerlach's truly magnificent novel [...] is a devastating account of the appalling privations suffered by the German army, left to their fate by the foundering, over-stretched Fatherland. A masterpiece * Mail on Sunday *A remarkable find -- Antony Beevor[It] is so deftly handled and well constructed... It is astonishing that [this] is Gerlach's first attempt at fiction' * The Sunday Times *This excellent book will shine a light on the horrors of the Eastern Front for a new generation of English-speaking readers... An absolute gem of a book' * Soldier magazine *[Written with] raw, vivid immediacy, which piles up compelling images and episodes... It is an exceptional, powerful and moving work' * Sunday Times *Anyone who wants an idea of what Stalingrad was really like should read this book... Gerlach records the lives and feelings of soldiers of all ranks' * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung *
£9.50
