Fiction in translation

Book SynopsisFeatures K., the unwanted Land Surveyor who is never to be admitted to the Castle nor accepted in the village, and yet cannot go home. As he encounters dualities of certainty and doubt, hope and fear, and reason and nonsense, K.'s struggles in the labyrinthine world where he finds himself seem to reveals a truth about the nature of existence.Trade Review"The new Schocken edition of The Castle represents a major and long-awaited event in English-language publishing. It is a wonderful piece of news for all Kafka readers who, for more than half a century, have had to rely on flawed, superannuated editions. Mark Harman is to be commended for his success in capturing the fresh, fluid, almost breathless style of Kafka's original manuscript, which leaves the reader hanging in mid-sentence." --Mark M. Anderson, Columbia University"The Castle, published here for the first time in 1930, was the first Kafka to arrive in America. After the war, Hannah Arendt remarked that The Castle might finally be comprehensible to the generation of the forties, who had had the occasion to watch their world become Kafkaesque. What will the generation of the nineties make of The Castle, now that its full message has arrived? Here is the masterpiece behind the masterpiece."--Elisabeth Young-Bruehl, Haverford College"Sparkles with comedy, with zest, and with a fresh visual power, which in the Muir translation were indistinct or lost. This is not just a new, brilliantly insightful, sensitive, and stylish translation, it is a new Castle, and it is a pleasure to read."--Christopher Middleton, University of Texas at Austin"This is the closest to Kafka's original novel and intention that any translation could get, and what is more, it is eminently readable. With this exceptional translation, the time for a new Kafka in English has finally come." --Egon Schwartz, Washington University, St. Louis

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Insinuating, haunting and lyrically pervasive' The New York Times Book ReviewA new translation by Tim ParksTwenty years after making his fortune in America, Eel is drawn back to the closest thing he has to a home: the Piedmontese countryside where he grew up poor and illegitimate. Wandering the valleys and vineyards with his childhood friend Nuto, Eel remembers the farm where he worked, his employer's beautiful daughters, the rituals of rural life. Yet as he discovers more about what happened there during the war, he realizes that these timeless landscapes hide terrible, savage secrets. By turns fond and evocative, seductive and troubling, The Moon and the Bonfires is a lyrical masterpiece of memory and betrayal. Translated with an Introduction by Tim ParksTrade ReviewPavese is one of the few essential novelists of the mid-twentieth century -- Susan SontagPavese's nine short novels make up the most dense, dramatic, and homogeneous narrative cycle of modern Italy ... But above all they are works of an extraordinary depth where one never stops finding new levels, new meanings -- Italo CalvinoCesare Pavese's cool, contemplative voice was the most important among postwar Italian writers -- W. S. DiPieroInsinuating, haunting and lyrically pervasive * The New York Times Book Review *The Moon and the Bonfires [is Pavese's] masterpiece on the aftermath of the partisan war in the hills around Turin * The Daily Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe third and penultimate novel in the Detective Kyoichiro Kaga series by bestselling Japanese crime writer Keigo Higashino - a twisty, compelling and satisfying mystery with a vivid sense of place.Trade ReviewThrilling stuff! * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *A mystery puzzle ... a moral fable ... gives the reader much to ponder after the final page is turned * Wall Street Journal *The dark side-make that sides-of Tokyo, masterfully revealed * Kirkus Reviews *A stunning mystery that helps to secure Keigo Higashino's status as a modern master... Through the unique work of Kaga, the reader is able to marvel at a detective with a mental acuity that seems to rival that of Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot. This is the sort of mystery that fans of the genre need to read and savor * Book Reporter *

Read more less

Book SynopsisHiro Arikawa (Author) HIRO ARIKAWA is the multi-million-copy bestselling author of THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES and THE GOODBYE CAT. Passing through a scenic mountainous region of Japan, the famous Hankyu line is a privately run railway that connects Osaka and Kyoto and is famous for its maroon-coloured vintage-style carriages. One of its much-visited stops is the city of Takarazuka, where the author of this book lives. Published twenty years ago, this enduring Japanese classic has sold 1.4 million copies and has been published worldwide.Philip Gabriel (Translator) Philip Gabriel is the author of Mad Wives and Island Dreams: Shimao Toshio and the Margins of Japanese Literature and Spirit Matters: The Transcendent in Modern Japanese Literature and has translated many novels and short stories by the writer Haruki Murakami and other modern writers. He is recipient of the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the TranslationTrade ReviewAnyone who has ever unashamedly loved an animal will read this book with gratitude, for its understanding of an emotion that ennobles us as human beings, whether we value it or not * GUARDIAN *Fleet, funny and tender... Arikawa clearly knows cats as well as any human can. * TIME *It has the warmth, painterly touch, and tenderness of a Studio Ghibli film - and it is a delight to read * FINANCIAL TIMES *Bewitching… as self-possessed and comforting as – well, a cat * Sunday Telegraph *The Travelling Cat Chronicles is delightful. Like a tender feline companion the uniqueness of this book is its subtle yet persistent charm that insinuates itself into your heart long after the encounter has ended. * FIONA MELROSE *A book about kindness and love, and about how the smallest things can provide happiness * STYLIST *Arikawa has a lightness of touch that elevates this to a tale about loyalty and friendship ... while speaking to our basic human need for companionship * IRISH TIMES *Heart-wrenching but uplifting * RED MAGAZINE *The Travelling Cat Chronicles is why I read books. This beautiful story has everything. It's funny, heart-warming, heart-breaking and kind. * FOREWORD BOOKS *Prepare to have your heart strings tugged by this quirky tale . . . It's a deceptively gentle story that you won't need to be a cat lover to fall for. * SUNDAY MIRROR *Sweet, sad and lovely, this is a roadtrip novel with a difference * PSYCHOLOGIES MAGAZINE *This is the book I am giving everyone . . . the book I am recommending to anyone buying something Japan-related or cat-related, and, quite possibly, the book I am placing in someone's hand when they ask me what my favourite book is. For a bookseller, that is the highest accolade a book can ever receive * WATERSTONES YORK *A beautiful travelogue * SYDNEY MORNING HERALD *This story of a cat, a man, self-sacrifice and friendship will have you totally captivated ... An addictive tale of friendship and love. * WOMAN'S WEEKLY *i found myself sobbing ... unable, unwilling to let this joyful little book go * NPR *Stunningly beautiful. Tender, warm, sad and uplifting * THE LAST WORD REVIEW *I would urge people not to dismiss this as a 'cat book'; it is too much about human interaction and relationships to be so simply defined. A novel with wide appeal. I predict it will make a popular Christmas gift. * READINGS, BOOK GUIDE, AUSTRALIA *I'm not ashamed to say it had me at meow. * WASHINGTON POST *A book that stands out within the world of cat literature ... and it's a world worth exploring. * TIME MAGAZINE *I found myself sobbing ... unable, unwilling, to let this little book go. * NPR *The Travelling Cat Chronicles is as much a loving tribute to Japan’s obsession with and reverence for cats as it is an endearing introduction for non-Japanese readers to the country’s ever-fascinating culture and deeply rooted traditions. * SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE *A book that speaks volumes about our need for connection - human, feline or otherwise. * SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE *This touching novel of a brave cat and his gentle, wise human will resonate with lovers of animal tales, quiet stories of friendship, and travelogues alike. * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY *Gentle, soft-spoken, and full of wisdom * KIRKUS REVIEWS *A delight to read * FINANCIAL TIMES *Prepare to have your heartstrings tugged by this quirky tale * SUNDAY MIRROR *

Read more less

Book SynopsisJunko Takase (Author) Junko Takase is the critically acclaimed author of six novels. Her debut novel Things With The Shape of a Dog won the Subaru Literature Prize and Taking a Breath in Standing Water was nominated for The Akutagawa Prize. Her latest novel May You Have Delicious Meals won that prize and sold over 180,000 copies. She lives in Japan.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIt 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"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." -- The Observer"A vital and endlessly frightening question: under the cosh of an occupier, who among us would actually risk our lives or livelihoods for the sake of principle, or a fellow citizen?" -- The Guardian "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

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn old woman is awoken in the dead of night by knocks at her front door. The woman opens it to find her daughter, Doruntine, standing there alone in the darkness. She has been brought home from a distant land by a mysterious rider she claims is her brother Konstandin. But unbeknownst to her, Konstandin has been dead for years. What follows is chain of events which plunges a medieval village into fear and mistrust. Who is the ghost rider?Trade ReviewHis fiction offers invaluable insights into life under tyranny - his historical allegories point both to the grand themes and small details that make up life in a restrictive environment. He is a great writer, by any nation's standards. -- Ben Naparstek * * Financial Times * *One of the most important voices in literature today. -- Alan Chadwick * * Metro * *One of the great writers of our time. * * Scotsman * *A master storyteller. * * John Carey * *Ismail Kadare is one of Europe's most consistently interesting and powerful contemporary novelists, a writer whose stark, memorable prose imprints itself on the reader's consciousness. * * Los Angeles Times * *Spooky and intellectually challenging. * * The Herald on Sunday * *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA compelling novel about the urgent personal quest of an Israeli soldier to reconcile duty, expectations and individual instinct.

Read more less

Book Synopsis"A provocative and knotty debut." The New York Times Nivedita (a.k.a. Identitti), a doctoral student who blogs about race with the help of Hindu goddess Kali, is in awe of Saraswati, her superstar postcolonial and race studies professor. But Nivedita's life and sense of self are upturned when it emerges that Saraswati is actually white. Hours before she learns the truth Nivedita praises her tutor in a radio interview, which calls into question her own reputation and ignites an angry backlash among her peers and online community. In her thought-provoking, genre-bending debut, Mithu Sanyal collages the commentary of real-life intellectuals, blogs, articles, race theory, academic warfare and coming-of-age drama. A darkly comedic tour de force, Identitti showcases the outsized power of social media in the current debates around identity politics and the power of claiming your own voice.Trade Review"From the first page, I knew Sanyal was going to take me to filthy, funny, strange places. She didn't disappoint. Buy the ticket and take the wild ride as Identitti tries to make sense of race, belonging and truth." Jarred McGinnis, author of The Coward

Read more less

Book SynopsisNOW A #1 BLOCKBUSTING FILM. The Sun is dying. Earth will perish too, consumed by the star in its final death throes. But rather than abandon their planet, humanity builds 12,000 mountainous fusion engines to propel the Earth out of orbit and onto a centuries-long voyage to Proxima Centaurai... Cixin Liu is one of the most important voices in world Science Fiction. A bestseller in China, his novel, The Three-Body Problem, was the first translated work of SF ever to win the Hugo Award. Here is the first collection of his short fiction: ten stories, including five Chinese Galaxy Award-winners. This collection's title story, The Wandering Earth, is the biggest SF movie ever to come out of China – taking the world's #1 box office ranking in February 2019. Liu's writing takes the reader to the edge of the universe and the end of time, to meet stranger fates than we could have ever imagined. With a melancholic and keen understanding of human nature, Liu's stories show humanity's attempts to reason, navigate and, above all, survive in a desolate cosmos. 'Cixin's trilogy is SF in the grand style, a galaxy-spanning, ideas-rich narrative of invasion and war' GUARDIAN. 'Wildly imaginative, really interesting... The scope of it was immense' BARACK OBAMA, 44th President of the United States. Trade ReviewComplex and grandiose... this is a mind-altering and immersive experience' * Daily Mail *A marvellous mélange of awe-inspiring scientific concepts... exhilarating, mind-stretching' * TLS *Top-flight SF; smart, informative and engaging * SFX *Liu conjures up a genuine sense of wonder * SFX *Absolutely fantastic... The hardback is a thing of beauty and its translations are wonderful' * For Winter Nights *A wonderful collection and brings Cixin Liu's own unique flavour to the genre * SF Crows Nest *Liu uses the exotic foreignness of alien environments to lure readers into an enchanted literary escape pod. The story's backdrop might be one of spectacular beauty or entropic devastation but the distancing effect its abnormality provides is always stirring * Big Issue *Short stories [...] allow an idea to be developed without getting bogged down with having to fill hundreds of pages and in this collection Cixin Liu has ably demonstrated the form... One of the most interesting books I have read' * Concatenation *Liu has continued to write and publish stories which share similar ideas and offer a vision for a better world through scientific fantasy * New European. *As with other Chinese works in the genre, it is tempting to draw parallels with the Communist regime, even when the writers themselves do not - and dare not - make those analogies explicit. For Western readers, Chinese sci-fi thus offers a window into the country's hopes and fears. Especially its fears * Economist. *Beautifully written, the Sun hangs 'motionless in the sky, surrounded by a faint, dawn-like halo'. The ten other stories collected here are just as great * Wired *Earth-shattering... While built around a hard-science outlook that acknowledges the bleakness of humanity's chances, these stories also feature a lot of the heart and hopefulness that draw readers to science fiction in the first place. Liu conjures a sense of wonder while grounding his tales in well-wrought characters. This is a masterwork' * Publishers Weekly *

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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 *

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book Synopsis''An astonishing portrait of an innocent on the verge of discovering the cruelties of love... there are whispers here of the future work of Elena Ferrante'' Elizabeth Strout, from the introduction''Life was a perpetual holiday in those days...''It''s the height of summer in 1930s Italy and sixteen-year-old Ginia is desperate for adventure. So begins a fateful friendship with Amelia, a stylish and sophisticated artist''s model who envelops her in a dazzling new world of bohemian artists and intoxicating freedom. Under the spell of her new friends, Ginia soon falls in love with Guido, an enigmatic young painter. It''s the start of a desperate love affair, charged with false hope and overwhelming passion - destined to last no longer than the course of a summer.The Beautiful Summer is a gorgeous coming-of-age tale of lost innocence and first love, by one of Italy''s greatest writers.''Pavese, to me, is a constant source of inspiration'' Jhumpa Lahiri''One of the few essential novelists of the mid-twentieth century'' Susan Sontag''[Pavese writes books of] extraordinary depth where one never stops finding new levels, new meaning'' Italo Calvino''For my trip to Los Angeles, I''m packing The Beautiful Summer, a slender account of love in 1930s Italy'' Jessie Burton, bestselling author of The Miniaturist and The MuseTrade ReviewAn astonishing portrait of an innocent on the verge of discovering the cruelties of love... an inimitable read... there are whispers here of the future work of Elena Ferrante -- Elizabeth Strout, from the introductionOne of the few essential novelists of the mid-twentieth century -- Susan SontagThere is never any doubt of Pavese's talent * The Times *[Pavese writes books of] extraordinary depth where one never stops finding new levels, new meanings -- Italo CalvinoThere is something about [Pavese] that is insinuating, haunting and lyrically pervasive * New York Times Book Review *Cesare Pavese's cool, contemplative voice was the most important among postwar Italian writers -- W. S. DiPieroPavese, to me, is a constant source of inspiration -- Jhumpa LahiriFor my trip to Los Angeles, I'm packing Cesare Pavese's The Beautiful Summer, with an introduction by Elizabeth Strout, a slender account of love in 1930s Italy -- Jessie Burton, bestselling author of 'The Miniaturist' * Guardian Best Summer Books 2018 *Reminds one very much of the trajectory of the relationship between two young people at the heart of André Aciman's Call Me By Your Name * RTE Recommended Summer Reads *Penguin's re-release of Cesare Pavese's The Beautiful Summer (as choice a pick as its title implies) is simply gorgeous * Marie Claire - Best Books to Read This Summer *Pavese writes with a vivid quietude that is always engaging * Guardian *[A] remarkable author * Scotsman *We must be grateful to the Penguin European Writers series, a precious venture in these dark times -- John Banville

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less

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

Read more less