Fiction in translation

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Book Synopsis''It is impossible to exaggerate the power of this short, unbearably poignant novel.'' Mail on Sunday''A bold and elegant novel'' Helen Dunmore, Guardian''A haunting story, beautifully told'' Viv Groskop, ObserverAn extraordinary story of love and endurance during the Siege of Leningrad lies at the heart of a magnificent novel about Russia past and present, and the human condition.One night in St Petersburg, two men meet, both adrift in the brash new Russia: Shutov, a writer visiting after years of exile in Paris, and Volsky, an elderly survivor of the Siege of Leningrad and Stalin''s purges. His life story - one of extreme suffering, courage and an extraordinary love - he considers unremarkable. To Shutov it is a revelation, the tale of an unsung hero that puts everything into perspective and suggests where true happiness lies.Trade ReviewIt is impossible to exaggerate the power of this short, unbearably poignant novel. It is both brutal and lyrical. Makine consciously invokes Chekhov but his grasp of history is positively Tolstoy-like in scale. I can't think of a writer who would be a more deserving recipient of the Nobel literature prize. * Mail on Sunday *Makine's laconic, sardonic portrait of the new Russia is laced with fury . . . a bold and eloquent novel. * Helen Dunmore, Guardian *Makine is a consummate literary artist, but he is teacher as well as storyteller and, best of all, enchanter. * Alan Massie, Scotsman *Like all his work, this novel has a wonderful flavour of a contemporary Checkhov with a splash of Proust...What starts out an intimate account bursts out into something more ambitious and universal. Ultimately it's a haunting story, beautifully told. * Viv Goskop, Observer *It is impossible to exaggerate the power of this short, unbearably poignant novel. It is both brutal and lyrical. Makine consciously invokes Chekhov but his grasp of history is positively Tolstoy-like in scale. I can't think of a writer who would be a more deserving recipient of the Nobel literature prize. * Mail on Sunday *Makine's laconic, sardonic portrait of the new Russia is laced with fury...a bold and eloquent novel * Helen Dunmore, Guardian *Like all his work, this novel has a wonderful flavour of a contemporary Checkhov with a splash of Proust...What starts out an intimate account bursts out into something more ambitious and universal. Ultimately it's a haunting story, beautifully told * Viv Groskop, Observer *Makine is a consummate literary artist, but he is teacher as well as storyteller and, best of all, enchanter * Allan Massie, Scotsman *'Thoughtful and humane' * Kate Saunders, The Times *Seamlessly translated by Geoffrey Strachan, Makine's novel explores the attempt of two 'ordinary' people to transcend suffering and find life's essential meaning. It is difficult to write without sentimentality about such a subject, but Makine's intelligence and truthfulness dismiss banality. * Pamela Norris, Literary Review *A powerful, thoughtful book about the reliability of memory and how time mutates the meaning of both literature and history. * Tina Jackson, Metro *His novels possess an eerie beauty invariably capable of surpassing the polemic...If he has an artistic kindred spirit it is most probably the South African Nobel laureate JM Coetzee * Eileen Battersby, Irish Times *Thrilling...Makine's most beautiful novel since Le Testament Français * Le Figaro *told with an intimacy made potent by Makine's lyrical, spare prose and Strachan's lucid translation... reconnects both the reader and the protagonist with Russia's blood soaked history, to startling effect * The Financial Times *deeply poignant * David Charter, The Times Saturday Book club *Pulls the reader's emotions tight... It is a beautiful story * Peter Lansley, The Times August 6 2011 *strikingly visual...there are numerous searing images: a ragged choir singing on the front line of a snow-covered battlefield as lives are snuffed out around them; the moment of clarity when Volsky realises that the siege has changed Mila beyond recognition; the brief glimpse of a red-headed boy running after the car bearing away the closest thing he has to parents. * Wendy Ide, Times *

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Book SynopsisSet in Florence in the 1960s, this is the third in the Inspector Bordelli series of atmospheric Italian crime.Trade Review'Once again [Vichi's] depiction of Italian history and culture is both fascinating and complex . . . As a portrait of a country struggling with its past, present and future, DEATH IN SARDINIA is a sharply observed slice of crime fiction with real depth.' * www.crimetime.co.uk *'A real find for anyone who likes their crime novels atmospheric, discursive, humorous and thought-provoking.' * Guardian *'Vichi's crime novels are enjoyable, mystifying and well worth reading.' * Literary Review *'[Italian] writers are justifiably growing in popularity here: Marco Vichi deserves to be among them . . . [Bordelli] is stubborn, womanless, cynical and impatient, but strangely appealing.' * Marcel Berlins, The Times *'Over the course of his police procedurals, Vichi shows us ever more secret and dark sides to an otherwise sunny and open city. But his happiest creation, in my opinion, remains the character of Inspector Bordelli, a disillusioned anti-hero who is difficult to forget.' * Andrea Camilleri *'An outstanding package combining an envious narrative, a colourful and multi-faceted detective and a cornucopia of Italian food to die for . . . Magical and moreish' * www.milorambles.com on DEATH AND THE OLIVE GROVE *[The Inspector Bordelli books] feature a fascinating cop and disillusioned anti-hero who rails against both injustice and the corrupt system but faces classic murder cases with a familiar Christie-like ring * Maxim Jakubowski *'Vichi's stellar first in a new mystery series introduces endearingly melancholic Inspector Bordelli . . . [and] delivers a plausible solution worthy of a golden age crime novel. Readers will look forward to seeing more of this flawed hero.' * Publishers Weekly, starred review for DEATH IN AUGUST *

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of Thirteen Hours - A Sunday Times ''100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945'' pickLEMMER is a professional bodyguard. Silent and invisible, he never gets involved. EMMA LE ROUX believed her brother died twenty years ago, until she sees him on the news as the prime suspect in the brutal killing of four poachers.As Lemmer and Emma join forces in pursuit of the truth, it soon becomes clear that someone is willing to do whatever it takes to stop them.When that someone tries to murder them both, Lemmer is forced to step out of the shadows for the first time in his life.Trade ReviewMeyer, who writes in Afrikaans, is far and away the best crime writer in South Africa. The action is as exciting as any reader of thrillers has a right to demand. The writing is fluent and coherent and full of insight into the problems of South Africa. As Meyer writes, money and poverty and greed do not lie well together. But they make a hell of a thriller. * Guardian *Pulsating and gripping. * Sunday Times *Meyer is a serious writer who richly deserves the international reputation he has built. BLOOD SAFARI manages to be both an exciting read and an eye-opening portrait of a nation with problems perhaps even more complex and agonizing than our own. * Washington Post *BLOOD SAFARI is my first exposure to the man billed by his publishers as the "king of South African crime thrillers". For once the publicity spinners are not guilty of hyperbole -- Meyer is simply excellent . . . Lemmer is too good a character to be a one-novel phenomenon. He is a sardonic, accurate observer of South African foibles, especially those of the Afrikaner. It is all rendered with enough wry, dry humour to make the reader laugh out loud. * Business Day *Meyer's stellar stand-alone thriller delivers muscular prose with a hero to match. * Publishers Weekly *In his signature style, Meyer delivers a stinging critique of contemporary South African society by vivifying the tensions between native Africans, conservationists, and corporate profiteers . . . the crisp action scenes are never less than thrilling. A solid addition to the prizewinning crime novelist's growing body of work. * Booklist *This is a detective story/thriller that really delivers: an extremely well-constructed, intelligent plot; a committed political and social stance; and a genuine emotional engagement with minor as well as main characters. * Eurocrime *This is a book that both takes you away and makes you think, but most of all, it's a wonderful bit of masterful storytelling, with a gorgeous setting and complex, original characters. * Globe and Mail *

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Book Synopsis* WINNER OF THE BBC INTERNATIONAL SHORT STORY AWARD 2012 *Prepare to discover a fascinating country; a land buffeted for centuries by power-struggles and revolts, lorded over by Turks, carved up by its neighbours, and subsumed into the Soviet Union. Yet also a land of proud and resilient people, of crawfish hunters and bagpipe makers, shepherds and gypsies, in which daily life goes on. So meet the teenager who swims by night across a border river to steal a kiss from his girlfriend, the ageing man who finds a cachet of loveletters his wife has kept for sixty years, and the post-Communist girl, an avowed thief with a heart of gold.Here are Miroslav Penkov''s beguiling, surprising and moving visions of his home country, Bulgaria: stories of people who mourn the way things were and long for what will never be, who wrestle with the weight of history, the debt to the family and the pangs of exile. And here is a remarkable new writer, who combines an eye for the absurd witTrade ReviewWINNER OF THE BBC SHORT STORY AWARD 2012. * . *Bulgaria past and present, its magical fables, absurdist realities and political exigencies, are presented through the eyes of homesick emigr?s and those who have remained. Penkov's stories combine toughness, vulnerability and bravado...he applies humour and compassion in equal measure: this is a sparkling collection. * Guardian *Humour, poignancy, tenderness and a deep sense of European history suffuse these lovely stories by a young Bulgarian writer of whom more will surely be heard. * Sunday Telegraph *His splendid prose can be fleet, leisurely, colloquial, or formal... These stories are not the promising work of a first-time author. They are already a promise fulfilled--wise, bright, and deep with sympathy. * Alec Solomita, The New Republic *There is a kind of magic at work in East of the West, a beautiful alchemy that combines wisdom and imagery, soul and story to render, finally, the pure gold of these tales. Miroslav Penkov is an extraordinary writer. May many books follow this one. * Bret Lott, author of Jewel and A Song I Knew by Heart *Miroslav Penkov unpacks his stories with great skill, drawing the reader so deeply into the world he has created that when the magic comes - a father wrapping his son's eyelash in a handkerchief - it knocks the wind right out of you. EAST OF THE WEST captures the moments that prove we are truly living. * Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief *Miroslav Penkov has successfully trapped two elusive creatures: the absurd beauty of Eastern Europe, and the emotional paradox of self-exile from that absurdity. His sense of history, his sense of humor, and his ability to create lasting characters make this book a dark yet hilarious pleasure. * Elizabeth Kostova, author of The Historian *I suspect that Miroslav Penkov would be a wonderful writer in any language, but lucky for us, it happens to be English, and what funny, tender, tragic, and soulful stories he spins from his adopted tongue. EAST OF THE WEST is, simply put, one of the best collections I have read in years, ambitious and accomplished enough in scope to encompass east, west, and all stations in between. * Ben Fountain, author of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara *Miroslav Penkov spins magical tales. There is wonderful humor here, and characters you will never forget. You will love this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough. * Ellen Gilchrist, National Book Award-winning author of A Dangerous Age and I Cannot Get You Close Enough *Every once in a while, but no more often than that, a first book by a young writer comes along to restore a reader's faith in things. I mean big, serious things which matter, ones like memory, imagination, words, creativity and moral judgement...Rarely has such an intriguingly disparate cast been so deftly and dryly assembled...Penkov's stories are ironic without being trite, melancholic, but with a whiff of whimsy, revealing that they remain distinctly eccentric. He is a considerable, quirky, new talent. * Canberra Times *a series of superb tales of love and hate, home and homesickness, passion, exile, violence, history and humour. * Bendigo Advertiser *These eight stories play with dimensions of Bulgaria's beleaguered past and Turkish occupation through the eyes of an endearing set of appealing and convincing characters. Exile, betrayal, courage, hope, joy, death and anguish flow through these stories. * Sunday Territorian *Bulgaria past and present, its magical fables, absurdist realities and political exigencies, are presented through the eyes of homesick emigrés and those who have remained. Penkov's stories combine toughness, vulnerability and bravado...he applies humour and compassion in equal measure: this is a sparkling collection. * Guardian *There is a kind of magic at work in East of the West, a beautiful alchemy that combines wisdom and imagery, soul and story to render, finally, the pure gold of these tales. Miroslav Penkov is an extraordinary writer. May many books follow this one. * Bret Lott, author of Jewel and A Song I Knew by Heart *

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Book SynopsisAn abandoned yacht, a young family missing - chilling crime from the queen of Nordic Noir.Trade ReviewA corker of a locked-room mystery, with one of the most dramatic twists in recent crime fiction. * The Sunday Times *Iceland's answer to Stieg Larsson. * Daily Telegraph *Yrsa is one of the most exciting new voices in the crime thriller world. -- Peter JamesA gripping thriller with enough mystery and horror to keep you sitting on the edge of your seat while you try to work out what happened. -- Peter Robinson

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Book SynopsisAll he wants is for them to say sorry... In the latest novel from the Queen of Icelandic crime, Freyja and Huldar must stop a ruthless killer taking revenge on teenage bullies.Trade ReviewFreyja and Huldar are one of the most intriguing crime detecting partnerships around and THE ABSOLUTION is a gripping, fascinating insight into the dark side of social media and children at risk. THE ABSOLUTION confirms Yrsa as a master storyteller with a satisfyingly slanted view of the world she recreates. -- William Ryan, author of A House of GhostsYrsa Sigurdardottir gets better and better with each book. The relationships and the humour lighten the darkest plot. -- Liz Nugent, author of Skin DeepSigurdardottir doesn't shy away from the hideous effects of bullying, combining a tough novel about a grim social phenomenon with a fast-paced plot * The Sunday Times *Praise for Yrsa Sigurdardottir's Freyja and Huldar series * . *Yrsa is a magnificent writer. -- Karin SlaughterOne of the best books I've read for a long time: dark, creepy, and gripping from beginning to end. -- Stuart MacBride, author of the Logan McRae seriesTHE RECKONING is another chilling, atmospheric tale from the undisputed Queen of Icelandic Noir. I loved it. -- Simon KernickIceland's outstanding crime novelist * Daily Express *Yrsa Sigurdardóttir has with her large-scale and genuinely intelligent stories attempted to find the core of Iceland's distinctive society, and thus pushed the Icelandic crime novel tradition many steps forward. -- Arne DahlA dark story by a brilliant author. A densely plotted, multifaceted and compelling book. Exceeds most novels in the thriller genre. -- Eric Axl SundIf you like your crime fiction dark and engaging, look no further. THE LEGACY is as brutal as it gets. A cracking start to a new series by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. -- Mari Hannah, author of the DCI Kate Daniels seriesThere's no waffle in The Reckoning: it is brutal, baroque and ends with a brilliant last-minute twist. * Evening Standard *It's addictive, bleak, and will give you thrills and chills in equal measures. * Cosmopolitan Magazine *Yrsa remains the queen of Icelandic thriller writers. * Guardian *Credited as the queen of Icelandic crime, Sigurdardottir's story about the dark side of school and social media is as gripping as it is grisly * Heat *

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Book SynopsisThe perfect summer read set on the Mediterranean island of Sicily - perfect for fans of Alexander McCall Smith and Inspector Montalbano.Trade ReviewMario Giordano - a Bavarian of Sicilian parentage who writes in German - has created a delightful detective and a lively, humorous portrait of Sicilian society and gastronomy * The Times, Book of the Month *Mario Giordano - a Bavarian of Sicilian parentage who writes in German - has created a delightful detective and a lively, humorous portrait of Sicilian society and gastronomy * The Times, Book of the Month *Giordano is a novelist of high skill and originality with an eye for eccentric comedy, idiosyncratic characters and vivid scenes. John Brownjohn's translation is stylish and this book is a masterly treat * Times Literary Supplement *Giordano is a novelist of high skill and originality with an eye for eccentric comedy, idiosyncratic characters and vivid scenes. John Brownjohn's translation is stylish and this book is a masterly treat * Times Literary Supplement *Wonderfully evocative . . . a joyful light read * Crime Review *Wonderfully evocative . . . a joyful light read * Crime Review *The whole book is alive with a tang of lemons to set the senses zinging. Refreshing * The Spectator *The whole book is alive with a tang of lemons to set the senses zinging. Refreshing * The Spectator *The most enchanting novel I've read in ages! Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions is a lush, sexy, and slightly madcap romp, much like Auntie Poldi herself. She's the aunt your mother warned you about - the one who never turns down a drink or a date with a dashing stranger, never mind the consequences . . . Mario Giordano has a gift for eccentric storytelling, snappy dialogue, and sly wit, making this a tart and delectable treat that you'll press on all your friends. I can't wait for the next installment! * Amy Stewart *The most enchanting novel I've read in ages! Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions is a lush, sexy, and slightly madcap romp, much like Auntie Poldi herself. She's the aunt your mother warned you about - the one who never turns down a drink or a date with a dashing stranger, never mind the consequences . . . Mario Giordano has a gift for eccentric storytelling, snappy dialogue, and sly wit, making this a tart and delectable treat that you'll press on all your friends. I can't wait for the next installment! * Amy Stewart *Cross Alexander McCall Smith with Janet Evanovich, add a sensuously imagined Sicilian setting and an exuberant narrator, and you get the feel of Mario Giordano's Auntie Poldi detective books * The Times *Cross Alexander McCall Smith with Janet Evanovich, add a sensuously imagined Sicilian setting and an exuberant narrator, and you get the feel of Mario Giordano's Auntie Poldi detective books * The Times *

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Book SynopsisThe President tells the story of a ruthless dictator and his schemes to dispose of a political adversary in an unnamed country usually identified as Guatemala. Drawing on his experience as a journalist writing under repressive conditions, Miguel Angel Asturias provides a blazing indictment of totalitarian government and its damaging psychological effects on society - from the harvest of terror to cowardice, to sycophancy, to treachery and intrigue, and the total sacrifice of human values to lust for power. Written in a language of freedom and originality, full of extraordinary symbolism, biting satire, poetry and dream sequences, with an imagination that is both lyrical and ferocious, The President is a surrealist masterpiece and one of the most influential books of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewA phenomenal work that will never dateAsturias leaves no doubt about what it is like to be tortured, or what it is like to work for a man who is both omnipotent and depraved - TLS

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Book SynopsisWELCOME TO A SCHOOL REUNION YOU WON'T FORGET...Twenty-five years after a tragic incident, three friends return to their high-school for one final reunion: there's a body buried in the building, and they're the ones who put it there...Trade ReviewExtraordinary. -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times Culture *The Reunion will see him hailed as one of the great thriller writers of our age. -- Stuart Winter * DAILY EXPRESS *This vastly satisfying mystery is a huge bestseller in France - and it fully deserves to be... Written with fluency and charm, this is breathtakingly good. Do not miss it. * Daily Mail *Hugely enjoyable and beautifully staged, with an audacious authorial coup at the death that is simply breathtaking. -- Declan Hughes * Irish Times *Stylish and streamlined, nostalgic... More please. -- Mark Sanderson * The Times *A fun read, spiced with pop-cultural references. -- Laura Wilson * Guardian (Thrillers of the Month) *This immensely satisfying thriller about a prep school scandal and three friends' buried secrets had me turning the pages well into the night. The Reunion has everything a masterful thriller should: gut-wrenching suspense, a twisting story with blindsiding surprises, and a narrator with a mysterious past. It's no wonder that Guillaume Musso is one of France's most loved, bestselling authors. * Harlan Coben *In Musso's masterful plotting, Thomas faces fresh dangers at every turn. The atmospheric finale - which unfolds at Villa Fitzgerald and along Smugglers Way, the coastal path near some of the most lavish properties on the Côte d'Azur - brings shocking revelations. * BBC.com (The 10 Smartest Beach Reads of 2019) *Despite the ticking-clock premise, Musso takes time to set the atmosphere, with lush details that transport the reader to a locale that's at once glamorous and also laced with a deep, abiding sadness. * Crime Reads (The Most Anticipated Books of Summer 2019) *The French call it a coup de foudre: a strike of lightning. That's how The Reunion zapped me, electrified me. For almost a decade, Guillaume Musso has reigned supreme as France's most popular author, and with this, his American debut, he's instantly poised to join the ranks of Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo. The Reunion zigzags so nimbly - between past and present, from intrigue to terror, amid possible suspects and potential victims - that you're at very real risk of whiplash. Witty, elegant, and peopled with complex characters, it's one of the most sheerly suspenseful novels I've read in years - and among the most enjoyable, too. * A.J. Finn, #1 bestselling author of THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW *This is a suspenseful and utterly consuming novel... Highly addictive! -- Helena Gumley-Mason * THE LADY *Generations and eras intertwine against the backdrop of a murderous school campus... The perfect summer book to devour while lounging by a swimming pool * Elle *A fine tale of suspense from France's best-selling author. * Booklist *Despite the ticking-clock premise, Musso takes time to set the atmosphere, with lush details that transport the reader to a locale that's at once glamorous and also laced with a deep, abiding sadness. * CrimeReads *Long-buried secrets will give way to the truth in this tragic, riveting, French-Riviera-set story. * Globe and Mail *A fast-paced thriller, set on the Cote d'Azur, packed with a glamorous missing girl, a dead body, and enough references to Twin Peaks and raves and Belle and Sebastian to tickle anybody who came of age in the 1990s. * Vanity Fair *Hitchcock meets Twin Peaks * Repubblica *With a sun-drenched Cote d'Azur setting and a deliciously tangled plot of teenage passion, secret assignations, threats andbrutal violence, this elegant thriller keeps its nerve-jangling suspense until the very last page. -- Jane Shilling * DAILY MAIL *

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Book SynopsisRoberto Saviano returns to the streets of Naples and the boy bosses who run them in Savage Kiss, the hotly anticipated follow-up to The Piranhas, the bestselling novel and major motion picture.Nicolas Fiorilla and his gang of children – his paranza – control the squares of Forcella after their rapid rise to power. But it isn’t easy being at the top.Now that the Piranhas have power in the city, they must undermine the old families of the Camorra and remain united among themselves. Every paranzino has his own vendettas and dreams to pursue – dreams that might go beyond the laws of the gang. A new war may be about to break out in this city of cut-throat bargaining, ruthless betrayal, and brutal revenge. Saviano continues the story of the disillusioned boys of Forcella, the paranzini ready to give and receive kisses that leave a taste of blood.Saviano’s Gomorrah was a worldwide sensation, and The Piranhas, called ‘raw and shocking’ by the New York Times Book Review, captured readers with its tale of raw criminal ambition, told with ‘openhearted rashness’ (Elena Ferrante). Savage Kiss, which again draws on the skills of translator Antony Shugaar, is a thrilling story from the brilliant Italian novelist.

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Book SynopsisA secluded hut in the middle of the woods. A double life that could be his downfall. The Secret Life of Mr Roos is the third Inspector Barbarotti novel from the ‘Godfather of Swedish crime’ (Metro), Håkan Nesser. At fifty-nine years old, Valdemar Roos is tired of life. Working a job he hates, with a wife he barely talks to and two step-daughters he doesn’t get on with, he doesn’t have a lot to look forward to. Then, one day, a winning lottery ticket gives him an opportunity to start afresh.Without telling a soul, he quits his job and buys a hut in the remote Swedish countryside. Every day he travels down to this man-made oasis, returning each evening to his unsuspecting wife. Life couldn’t be better, until a young woman arrives in paradise . . .Anna Gambowska is a twenty-one-year-old recovering drug addict. On the run from the rehab centre she hated and an abusive relationship she can’t go back to, all Anna’s prayers are answered when she comes across a seemingly vacant hut in the Swedish woodland. But it’s not long before Anna’s ex discovers her location, and an incident occurs that will mar the lives of both Anna and Valdemar forever.Inspector Barbarotti doesn’t take much interest when a woman reports her husband as missing. That is, until a dead body is found near the missing man’s newly bought hut, and Mr Roos becomes the number one murder suspect . . .The Secret Life of Mr Roos is the third novel in Håkan Nesser’s Inspector Barbarotti quintet.Trade ReviewThe godfather of Swedish crime * Metro *Told with wry humour and compassion, Nesser has four more Barbarotti stories to come – cherish them all -- Daily Mail on The Darkest DayA master of suspense * Sunday Times *In an exemplary translation by Sarah Death, this tangled tale of guilt and betrayal whets the appetite for translations of the other Barbarotti novels -- Financial Times on The Darkest DayOne of the best of the Nordic Noir writers * Guardian *One of Sweden’s best crime writers * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisRalf Rothmann is a German novelist, poet, and dramatist. His first novel to be translated into English, To Die in Spring, won the HWA Gold Crown for Best Historical Novel, was an international bestseller, and was translated into twenty-five languages.

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Book SynopsisThe Librarian of Auschwitz is ideal for readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Choice, this graphic novel is the story of the smallest library in the world – and the most dangerous. Based on a true story, it is an extraordinary novel of courage and hope by Antonio Iturbe and Loreto Aroca.‘It wasn’t an extensive library. In fact, it consisted of eight books and some of them were in poor condition. But they were books. In this incredibly dark place, they were a reminder of less sombre times, when words rang out more loudly than machine guns . . .’Fourteen-year-old Dita is one of the many imprisoned by the Nazis at Auschwitz. Taken, along with her mother and father, from the Terezín ghetto in Prague, Dita is adjusting to the constant terror that is life in the camp. When Jewish leader Freddy Hirsch asks Dita to take charge of the eight precious books the prisoners have managed to smuggle past the guards, she agrees. And so Dita becomes the secret librarian of Auschwitz, responsible for the safekeeping of the small collection of titles, as well as the ‘living books’ – prisoners of Auschwitz who know certain books so well, they too can be ‘borrowed’ to educate the children in the camp.But books are extremely dangerous. They make people think. And nowhere are they more dangerous than in Block 31 of Auschwitz, the children’s block, where the slightest transgression can result in execution, no matter how young the transgressor . . .Based on the incredible and moving true story of Dita Kraus, holocaust survivor and secret librarian for the children’s block in Auschwitz.Trade ReviewAn unforgettable, heartbreaking novel * Publishers Weekly, starred review *Like Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, it’s a sophisticated novel with mature themes, delivering an emotionally searing reading experience. An important novel that will stand with other powerful testaments from the Holocaust era. * Booklist, starred review *Though no punches are pulled about the unimaginable atrocity of the death camps, a life-affirming history. * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *this novel is one that could easily be recommended . . . alongside Elie Wiesel's Night and The Diary of Anne Frank . . . once read, will never be forgotten . . . A hauntingly authentic Holocaust retellingAn engrossing read, seamlessly translated from Iturbe's original Spanish. Iturbe retains the dignity and full horror of Dita's situation, while creating a narrative of hope and bravery in the face of fear. * Compass Magazine *

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Book SynopsisA bewitching novel by Brenda Lozano, one of the most prominent voices of the new generation of Latin American writers.'You can't really know another woman until you know yourself.'Weaving together two parallel narratives, this is the story of Feliciana, an indigenous curandera (healer), and of Zoë, a journalist: two women drawn together by the murder of Feliciana's cousin Paloma.In the tiny village of San Felipe in Jalisco province, where traditional ways of life and belief are a present reality, Feliciana tells the story of her life, her community's acceptance of her as a genuine curandera and the difficulties faced by her cousin Paloma who is a Muxe (both male and female), in her case a trans woman.Growing up in Mexico City, the heart of modern Mexico, Zoë attempts to find her way in a hostile world made for men, as she reflects on what drew her to Feliciana and Paloma, and her own relationship with the innate powers of a curandera.This extraordinary novel envisions the writer as healer, one who uses El Lenguaje (Language) to read El Libro (The Book) that contains the mystery of the world, and offers a generous and distinctly female way of understanding the complex world we all inhabit.Translated from the Spanish by Heather ClearyTrade ReviewBraiding together the voices of two women - a mystic and a skeptic - Witches, to borrow Brenda Lozano's words by way of Heather Cleary's translation, runs into shadows to bring light. This is a story of the world's repeated failure to control feminine power and the sheer magic of language itself. An enthralling, passionate story about secrets both holy and profane -- Catherine Lacey * author of Pew and Nobody is Ever Missing *Like the language of mushrooms: beautiful, brutal and beguiling, opening a new path to knowledge. -- Chloe AridjisHighly original, beautifully written and graced with a hypnotically compelling narrative style. A remarkable book -- Jon Lee AndersonAlternating between the quotidian and the incantatory, Witches weaves together two personal and political histories, casting a potent spell of fury and curiosity, heartache and healing. Sibylline, rich, and incredibly precise in its construction, Witches exhibits Lozano's total mastery of her art on every page, insisting on the primacy and power of storytelling, and the right of all Others to claim it -- Maryse Meijer * author of The Seventh Mansion *"Though the book chronicles violence against women and those who present as women, it highlights, in both rural and urban communities, an atmosphere of freedom and mobility that is a pleasure to read about" * New York Times *The language that Brenda Lozano invokes in Witches belongs to unknown realms but also builds bridges between worlds-it knits kinships and illuminates ancestral knowledge still present today. In this superb, precise and ethical translation by Heather Cleary, Lozano's language truly becomes a site of revelation -- Gabriela JaureguiThe two women's coming of age tales are simply and subtly told, and made more immediate by the book's structure with its emphasis on oral recall. Lozano manages to portray two disparate worlds convincingly, while persuading us of their parallels . . . [daring] to imagine a Mexico that sees commonalities across cultures and genders -- Patrick Graney * Literary Review *Lozano knows she is gifted and has no shame in showing it -- Margarita García Robayo * author of Fish Soup *Brenda Lozano is among several contemporary Mexican writers whose playfully innovative work has met with acclaim in the UK . . . Let's hope more of [her] work will follow * Guardian *An invitation for readers of all genders to disinherit themselves from their roles and to renounce the omnipresent male narrator * El Economista *An injection of electricity, a music that continues to be heard far beyond its pages * Mauro Libertella *Brenda Lozano is a splendid writer, brilliant, funny, subtly perverse, always moving -- Francisco Goldman

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Book SynopsisI might no longer exist here at this momentthis moment might no longer exist for meVioleta is driving along a lonely stretch of late-night motorway, caught in a tumultuous storm. When her tired eyes close for just a second, her car veers off the road, overturns, and comes to rest on an empty stretch of sodden ground.And as she lies amid the wreckage, suspended between this world and the next, Violeta's troubled life will quite literally flash before her eyes . . .Violeta Among the Stars weaves memories and feelings as Violeta reflects on her death and her life, the piercing highs and the seedy lows. An astonishing portrait of a seemingly insignificant life from one of Portugal's greatest living writers."An extraordinary piece of writing on the life of an ordinary woman" Litro"Absolutely compelling . . . this novel is truly unforgettable" Irish IndependentTranslated from the Portuguese by Ángel Gurría-QuintanaÁngel Gurría-Quintana is a historian, journalist and literary translator from Spanish and Portuguese. He writes regularly for the books pages of the Financial Times, and his translations include the anthology Other Carnivals: Short Stories from Brazil and The Return, by Dulce Maria Cardoso.With the support of the Creative Europe Programme of the European UnionTrade ReviewA vibrant style, a brilliant novel * De Standaard *Every word is in the right place and the result is pure music * De Volkskrant *A devastating novel * Matricule des Anges *A powerful, moving monologue that weaves intimate voices with the history of contemporary Portugal -- Véronique Rossignol * Livre Hebdo *Exceptional ... absolutely compelling ... this novel is truly unforgettable -- Anne Cunningham * Irish Independent *Quite extraordinary and a privilege to read . . . Devastating but immensely moving . . . Violeta among the Stars is related with rare eloquence -- Rosie Goldsmith * European Literature Network *Both the translator Ángel Gurría-Quintana and Cardoso herself are true masters of their craft . . . an artistic achievement in style and form that will move you, even if you don't want it to. It is an extraordinary piece of writing on the life of an ordinary woman. * Litro *

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Book Synopsis"Both a pleasure and a testament to life in Ukraine, before" Sunday Times"Ukraine's greatest living novelist" New European"A Ukrainian Murakami" GuardianA love letter to the beautiful city of Lviv, by the author of Death and the Penguin and Grey Bees.Strange things are afoot in the cosmopolitan city of Lviv, western Ukraine. Seagulls are circling and the air smells salty, though Lviv is a long way from the sea . . . A ragtag group gathers round a mysterious grave in Lychakiv Cemetery - among them an ex-KGB officer and an ageing hippy he used to spy on. Before long, Captain Ryabtsev and Alik Olisevych are teaming up to discover the source of the "anomalies".Meanwhile, Taras ­- who makes a living driving kidney-stone patients over cobblestones in his ancient Opel Vectra - is courting Darka, who works nights at a bureau de change despite being allergic to money.The young lovers don't know it, but their fate depends on two lonely old men, relics of another era, who will stop at nothing to save their city. Shot through with Kurkov's unique brand of black humour and vodka-fuelled magic realism, Jimi Hendrix Live in Lviv is an affectionate portrait one the world's most intriguing cities.Translated from the Russian by Reuben WoolleyTrade ReviewPlayful and ebullient, shot through with magical twists and supernatural turns . . . A reminder of Kurkov's prodigious storytelling gifts and a throwback to an earlier, happier age * Observer *This beguiling literary postcard from a recent, now supplanted past brims with the bittersweet charm and rueful satire of the books, such as Death and the Penguin, that established Kurkov's international reputation * Financial Times *Both a pleasure and a testament to life in Ukraine, before -- David Sexton * Sunday Times *Entertaining and poignant . . . A multi-layered, Chagal-like picture of modern-day Ukraine. * Glasgow Herald *A craftily constructed novel that undermines and transforms itself in a consistently enjoyable manner without the haze of purple prose. * Irish Times *Charming . . . A love letter to Lviv, Ukraine's linguistic and cultural capital * Guardian *The characters are lovingly drawn and exude the sort of warmth with which the author imbues all of his creations. You enjoy the time spent in their company * The Times *Kurkov draws us with deceptive ease into a dense complex world full of wonderful characters -- Michael PalinA latter-day Bulgakov . . . A Ukrainian Murakami * Guardian *A post-Soviet Kafka * Daily Telegraph *A kind of Ukrainian Kurt Vonnegut * Spectator *Ukraine's greatest living novelist New European -- New European

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Book SynopsisA powerful tale of honour, prejudice and the twentieth century's most maltreated hero, by the acclaimed author of THE GIRL IN THE SPIDER'S WEB.June 8, 1954. Alan Turing, the visionary mathematician, is found dead at his home in sleepy Wilmslow, dispatched by a poisoned apple. Taking the case, Detective Constable Leonard Corell quickly learns Turing is a convicted homosexual. Confident it's a suicide, he is nonetheless confounded by official secrecy over Turing's war record. What is more, Turing's sexuality appears to be causing alarm among the intelligence services - could he have been blackmailed by Soviet spies? Stumbling across evidence of Turing's genius, and sensing an escape from a narrow life, Corell soon becomes captivated by Turing's brilliant and revolutionary work, and begins to dig deeper. But in the febrile atmosphere of the Cold War, loose cannons cannot be tolerated. As his innocent curiosity takes him far out of his depth, Corell realises he has much to learn about the dangers of forbidden knowledge.Trade ReviewLagercrantz neatly intertwines the facts of Turing's life with the fiction of Corell's quest for knowledge to create an unsettling story of state secrets and sexual hypocrisy * Sunday Times *Has the faintest whiff of W.G. Sebald; haunted characters determined to pull others down into turbid, oppressive currents of memory and ideas. You are willingly drawn down with them * Spectator *Swedish crime fiction moves into Britain's heartland in this superbly written espionage and murder novel . . . Lagercrantz has the lingo, the mood and the place down pat. * Globe and Mail (Toronto) *Absorbing . . . Gets the synapses sparking . . . Lagercrantz is at home with a damaged hero who has more of an affinity with computers than humans * Sunday Telegraph *A persuasive evocation of Turing's genius and of a Britain still suffering under rationing and repression * Daily Mail *Perhaps the most signal achievement here is the clever melding of two narrative forms: a sympathetic biography of a real historical figure treated appallingly by the establishment, and a police procedural in which a dogged copper tries to crack a mystery in the teeth of bloody-minded intransigence * Independent *

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Book SynopsisOne of The Times' "Best Crime Novels by Women since 2000" "Rebecka Martinsson: the new Scandi-noir heroine to rival Saga Noren and Sarah Lund" iNews "In a television world now awash in female coppers, there aren't many as interesting and human as Rebecka" Wall Street JournalThe frozen body of a woman is found in a fishing ark on the ice near Torneträsk in northern Sweden. She has been brutally tortured, but the killing blow was clumsy, almost amateur. The body is quickly identified, raising hopes of an open-and-shut solution. But when a six-month-old suicide is disinterred, Rebecka Martinsson and Anna-Maria Mella find themselves investigating shocking corruption at the heart of one of Sweden's most successful mining companies. One that has powerful enemies of its own.Trade ReviewÅsa Larsson's genius is in telling the story from multiple viewpoints, so cleverly that you can't see the dots connecting until they hit you right in the face at the end * The Times *

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Book SynopsisOprah.com raved that Asa Larsson's Rebecka Martinsson is a crime fighter who has all the needed gut insticts," and listed the series as "Mysteries Every Thinking Woman Should Read." In Until Thy Wrath Be Past the body of a young woman surfaces in the River Torne, in the far north of Sweden. Meanwhile, Rebecka Martinsson is working as a prosecutor in nearby Kiruna. Her sleep has been disturbed by haunting visions of a shadowy, accusing figure. Could the body be connected to the ghostly young woman in her dreams?Joining forces once again with Police Inspector Anna-Maria Mella, Rebecka is drawn into a murder and missing-person investigation that becomes entangled with old rumors of a German supply plane that mysteriously disappeared in 1943. Shame and secrecy shroud the locals' memories of the war, with Sweden's early collaboration with the Nazis still a raw wound. And on the windswept shore of a frozen lake lurks a faceless killer determined to keep the past buried forever beneath half a century's silent ice and snow. With its psychologically complex twists and turns, this harrowing thriller captivates from the very first page.Trade ReviewLarsson's laid-back style makes her unflinching probing of the icy depths of the human heart all the more chilling * Telegraph *In a world awash with female coppers, there aren't many as interesting and human as Rebecka * Wall Street Journal *

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Book SynopsisThe first-ever English translation reveals the inner voice of a brilliant Bolshevik journalist and politician Through this dramatic history by Stefan Heym, we become intimate with the story of the maverick and internationalist Karl Radek, known as the editor of the newspaper of record throughout the Soviet era, Isvestia. Beginning as Lenin's companion at the dawning of the October Revolution, Radek later became Stalin's favorite intellectual - only to find himself entangled in the great purges of the late 1930s and scripting his own trial. In this, his last historical novel, Heym reveals Radek as a brilliant Bolshevik journalist and politician who found himself at every turn of the wheel of fate. A central figure of the communist world, Radek was such a controversial and perennially ambiguous personality that even his historical biography seems a work of fiction. With his thick glasses and most non-Aryan appearance, marked by what some might have seen as distinctively Jewish argumentative skills and humor, Radek's enormous talent as a writer, political acumen, and continuous curiosity carried him through event after event. In the struggles of the revolutionary movement Radek changed sides several times and came into conflict with Stalin, was exiled to Siberia, capitulated and resumed his editorial duties at Isvestia - only to get caught up in the purge trials and sentenced to prison, where he died. As Heym sculpts credible conversations with Lenin, Luxemburg, Liebknecht, Trotsky, Stalin, and many others (all seen from Radek's perspective) we come to know Radek as a man haunted by the fear that the insurgency will cease to move forward, living his life as a frenzied chase in pursuit of the continuation of the revolution, until the very end. Originally published in Munich in 1995, this first-ever English translation of Radek fashions the inner voice of a unique figure in the global revolutionary wave of the first half of the twentieth century.

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Book SynopsisIn 1933, Victor Serge was arrested by Stalin’s police, interrogated, and held in solitary confinement for more than eighty days. Released, he spent two years in exile in remote Orenburg. These experiences were the inspiration for Midnight in the Century, Serge’s searching novel about revolutionaries living in the shadow of Stalin’s betrayal of the revolution.  Among the exiles gathered in the town of Chenor, or Black-Waters, are the granite-faced Old Bolshevik Ryzhik, stoic yet gentle Varvara, and Rodion, a young, self-educated worker who is trying to make sense of the world and history. They struggle in the unlikely company of Russian Orthodox Old Believers who are also suffering for their faith. Against unbelievable odds, the young Rodion will escape captivity and find a new life in the wild. Surviving the dark winter night of the soul, he rediscovers the only real, and most radical, form of resistance: hope. 

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Book Synopsis"Trieste is a monumental feat of the imagination. Impassioned and lucid, it is impossible to read it and not come away with a new understanding of the world. Daša Drndic has given us a masterpiece that is not only brilliant, but uncompromisingly humane. How lucky we are" MAAZA MENGISTE, author of The Shadow King, shortlisted for the Booker Prize"Although this is fiction, it is also a deeply researched historical documentary . . . It is a masterpiece" A.N. Wilson, Financial Times"Trieste is a work of European high culture. Drndic is writing neither to entertain (her novel is splendid and absorbing nevertheless) nor to instruct (its subject, the Holocaust, is too intractable to yield lessons). She is writing to witness, and to make the pain stick" Craig Seligman, New York TimesAn old woman sits alone in Gorizia, north-eastern Italy. She is waiting to be reunited with her son. He was fathered by an S.S. officer and stolen from her sixty-two years before by the Nazi authorities during the German occupation. By focusing on the experiences of one individual, Drndic engages head-on with the traumatic history of WWII and the Holocaust and deals unsparingly with the massacre of Jews in Trieste's concentration camp. A literary collage comprising photographs, scraps of poetry, interviews and testimonies from the Nuremberg Trials, it is a formally daring work of immense power and scope.Translated from the Croatian by Ellen Elias-BursacTrade ReviewTrieste is a work of European high culture. Drndic is writing neither to entertain (her novel is splendid and absorbing nevertheless) nor to instruct (its subject, the Holocaust, is too intractable to yield lessons). She is writing to witness, and to make the pain stick. -- Craig Seligman * New York Times *Trieste is a monumental feat of the imagination. Impassioned and lucid, it is impossible to read it and not come away with a new understanding of the world. Daša Drndic has given us a masterpiece that is not only brilliant, but uncompromisingly humane. How lucky we are. -- MAAZA MENGISTE * author of The Shadow King, shortlisted for the Booker Prize *'Although this is fiction, it is also a deeply researched historical documentary ... It is a masterpiece' A.N. Wilson, Financial Times. * Financial Times *'Original, moving and beautifully translated and produced' Guardian. * Guardian *'A literary tour-de-force' Amanda Hopkinson, Independent. * Independent *'The multifarious elements that comprise Haya's story and its grand context are an incredibly dense and potent mixture' Daniel Dahn, Independent on Sunday. * Independent on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisIn Rituals, Amsterdam of the fifties, sixties and seventies is viewed from the perspective of the capricious Inni Wintrop. An unintentional suicide survivor, the unexpected gift of life returned lends him the curiousity, and impartiality, to survey others' lives and rountines. Inni's opposite, the one-eyed downhill skier Arnold Taads measures his life by the clock, while his disowned son Philip follows Japanese rituals which themselves seem to render his existence meaningless. A novel for those who seek to unravel our mysterious, apparently directionless lives...Trade Review'Sharp, elegant prose ... It recalls, in tone, Vladimir Nabokov. The language is, by turns, delicately allusive and rich, even ripely comic' D.J. Enright, T.L.S. * TLS *'Should appeal to anyone who likes Italo Calvino or Paul Auster' Michael Dirda, Washington Times. * Washington Times *

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Book SynopsisFrom the moment he first gazes at Marjory across the roulette table in the Côte d'Azur Jean-Marie is entranced, and when their feverish holiday romance comes to an end he decides to take the biggest gamble of his life - to follow the beautiful Englishwoman back to rainy Edinburgh. But no sooner has Jean-Marie arrived than his luck runs out. He is drawn into an impenetrable mystery and soon, with blood on his hands, trapped in the grey-granite labyrinth of the city, he is running out of time to save his sanity and his life. The King of Fools is a fiendish tale of passion, betrayal and murder.Trade ReviewThe French master of noir The Observer Alongside the Maigret novels of Georges Simenon there is a rich vein of period French crime still to be tapped. Frederic Dard is a case in point Daily Mail At heart, The King of Fools is another Dard Noir Romance, a book about a love story gone bad, which is charming and engaging far beyond the plot details International Crime Fiction The literary descendant of Simenon and Celine Le Figaro No question: for me, he was the greatest Philippe Geluck France's most popular post-war author L'Express His language is cutting, his point-of-view original and his verdict uncompromising... One of the few twentieth-century authors to win both critical acclaim and great popularity Solidarite Militaire

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Book SynopsisA feverish classic from one of the modern masters of French prose No one can keep up with Pierre Niox, the speediest antiques dealer in Paris - although not necessarily the most competent. As he dashes about at a dizzying pace, his impatience becomes too much to bear for those around him: his manservant, his only friend and even his cat abandon him. He begins to find that while he is racing through life, it is passing him by. But when Pierre falls in love with the languid, unpunctual Hedwige, the man in a hurry has to learn how to slow down. This feverish classic by one of the modern masters of French prose is a witty and touching parable for our busy times.Trade ReviewWithout doubt the best French writer of the twentieth century -- Philippe Sollers Admired both by Ezra Pound and by Marcel Proust as a pioneer craftsman of Modernist French prose... The sheer shapeliness of his prose recalls Hemingway; the urbanity of his self-destructiveness compares with Fitzgerald's; and his camera eye is as lucidly stroboscopic as that of Dos Passos The New York Times Morand was the all-round aesthete -- Nicholas Lezard Morand was a citizen of the world, with a sharp eye and a neat turn of phrase The Tablet A French modernist on the scale of Proust and Celine... Pushkin Press's gorgeous new edition of Morand's masterpiece is a shockingly clever farce... Morand deserves to be widely revisited Publisher's Weekly

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Book SynopsisThe Baron, bored on holiday, begins a flirtation with a beautiful woman via her twelve-year-old son. He befriends the child and charms him, all the while attempting to seduce the mother - but he cannot begin to imagine the effect he is having on the boy's life... Burning Secret is a witty, potent look at innocence, adult attraction and childhood passion.Trade Review“What did Zweig have that brought him the fanatical devotion of millions of readers, the admiration of Herman Hesse, the invitation to give the eulogy at the funeral of Sigmund Freud? To learn that, we would have to have a biography that illuminated all aspects of his work, that read all of his books, and that challenged, rather than accepted, the apparent modesty of his statements about his life and work.” – Benjamin Moser, Bookforum “[Burning Secret is] a devastatingly accurate picture of childhood on the cusp of adolescent disillusion.” – Gary Indiana, Bookforum"Breathtaking... the final sentence is unlike anything I have ever read before; and transforms not only the book, but, in a way, the reader as well." - Nicholas Lezard, Guardian"Zweig is the most adult of writers; civilised, urbane, but never jaded or cynical; a realist who none the less believed in the possibility—the necessity—of empathy." - Independent "Touching and delightful. Those adjectives are not meant as faint praise. Zweig may be especially appealing now because rather than being a progenitor of big ideas, he was a serious entertainer, and an ardent and careful observer of habits, foibles, passions and mistakes." — A.O. Scott, The New York Times

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Book SynopsisAfter a deadly duel with a jealous rival, Pierre de Siorac must travel to Paris, to seek his pardon from the King. In the capital city he finds a world of sweet words and fierce pride, where coquettish smiles hide behind fans, and murderous intents behind elegant bows. But the court's elaborate social graces mask a simmering tension that will soon explode to engulf the entire city. When it does, Pierre faces the greatest challenge of his young existence-not merely to win a royal pardon, but to escape from Paris with his life, and the lives of his beloved companions, intact.Trade Review'Modern-day Dumas finally crosses the channel' - ObserverSwashbuckling historical fiction... For all its philosophical depth [The Brethren] is a hugely entertaining romp... The comparisons with Dumas seem both natural and deserved and the next 12 instalments [are] a thrilling prospect' - Christobel Kent, Guardian'A sprawling, earthy tale of peril, love, lust, death, dazzling philosophical debate and political intrigue... an engrossing saga' - Gransnet'Both wise and audacious, constantly nudging up against the extraordinary' - The New York Times Book Review'A vivid novel by France's modern Dumas' - Sunday Times'Spectacular' - Independent'A lively adventure' - Daily Telegraph'Cleverly depicts France's epic religious wars through the intimate prism of one family's experience. It's beautifully written too' - Metro

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Book SynopsisFROM THE AUTHOR OF THE GIRL IN THE EAGLE'S TALONS, THE NEW GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO THRILLER FEATURING LISBETH SALANDER STEEPED IN DARKNESS, COMPLICITY AND FORGIVENESS, THIS BESTSELLING SCANDI NOIR IS FOR FANS OF LITERARY FICTION SUCH AS MY ABSOLUTE DARLING, A LITTLE LIFE AND THE DISCOMFORT OF EVENING A MAJOR BESTSELLER OPTIONED FOR TV BY THE PRODUCERS OF THE BRIDGE SHORTLISTED FOR THE PRESTIGIOUS AUGUST PRIZE TRANSLATED INTO ELEVEN LANGUAGES 'Well worth the read' GUARDIAN 'Bleak and beautiful rural noir' CRIMEREADS'Perfect for fans of Scandi-noir dramas' CULTUREFLY ____________ Jana Kippo has returned to Smalånger to see her twin brother, Bror, still living in the small family farmhouse in the remote north of Sweden. Within the isolated community, secrets and lies have grown silently, undisturbed for years. Following the discovery of a young woman's body in the long grass behind the sawmill, the siblings, hooked by a childhood steeped in darkness, need to break free. But the truth cannot be found in other people's stories. The question is - can it be found anywhere? A literary noir of phenomenal power about the magnetic attraction of the wrong person, the brutality visited upon one human to another - and a rural community that stood by and did nothing ____________ FURTHER PRAISE FOR MY BROTHER 'Possesses the same melodramatic power as Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels' ETC 'A media sensation. . . remarkable' GP 'Brutal, colourful, carnal. . . Impossible to put down' Expresse 'A rare story-telling talent' Aftonbladet ____________ READERS LOVE MY BROTHER 'A powerful story, brilliantly translated' 'Rural and epic in landscape, deep and heart-breaking in loss, and truth' 'If you enjoyed The Discomfort of Evenings by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, I think you will enjoy this too!'Trade Review"Chinks of light appear as secrets are revealed… Well worth the read"--GUARDIAN "Original and fascinating, the best debut I’ve read from a Swedish writer in years"--MARTIN HOLMÉN, AUTHOR OF THE STOCKHOLM TRILOGY "Bleak and beautiful rural noir"--CRIMEREADS "From the start, there is an energy in the writing of this novel that only occasionally lets up… unfolding mysteries with miseries"--IRISH TIMES "My Brother is perfect for fans of Scandi-noir dramas"--CULTUREFLY"An exposition on human frailty and resilience, and on despair and hope… Darkly poetic"--EUROPEAN LITERATURE NETWORK"This year’s best novel… Brutal, colourful, carnal… Impossible to put down"--EXPRESSEN"Every now and then there are debut novels that appear like crown jewels… My Brother belongs there: clever, detailed and shimmering"--SVENSKA DAGBLADET "[Karin Smirnoff] is a rare story-telling talent"--AFTONBLADET "[My Brother] possesses the same melodramatic power as Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels"--ETC "Secrets and lies grow thick and tall like tree trunks… [My Brother] has its own logic and its own hard, coarse beauty"--SMÅLANDPOSTEN "Karin Smirnoff’s debut novel has become a media sensation… It’s a remarkable novel."--GP

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Book SynopsisWhen Charles Swann first lays eyes on Odette de Crécy, he is indifferent to her beauty. Their paths continue to cross in the drawing rooms and theatres of Parisian high society, and the seeds of desire in Swann begin to flourish. What follows is a journey through self-delusion, jealousy and delirious fantasy, which will take Swann far from the sedate comfort of his society life. A standalone novella from Proust's monumental masterpiece, Swann in Love is a sublimely witty and poignant story of the illusions of love and desire. Full of the rich social satire and penetrating insight that distinguish Proust's style, it is the perfect introduction to one of the world's great novelists.Trade Review “Where to start with... Marcel Proust.” --Lucy Raitz, The Guardian “If you can’t handle 1.5 million words of Proust, try Swann in Love.” --The Washington Post “Surely the greatest novelist of the 20th century.” --Sunday Telegraph “One of the miracles of European literature.” --Guardian

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Book SynopsisIn these tense, macabre stories, bodies fall from the sky, perfect nails conceal grisly secrets and violence pulses behind gleaming façades. From hellish visions to obsessive relationships, acclaimed author Agustina Bazterrica takes us to the dark heart of human desires and fears. Shocking, brutal, yet glinting with sharp humour, Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird is a breathtaking dive into human monstrousness from a master of contemporary horror.

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Book SynopsisA man and a woman meet in a park. The man has a story to share, one of a past relationship that contains echoes, similarities to the woman's life too remarkable to be considered just a coincidence. And so the lines of reality begin to blur. Is the man a warning from the future? Is the woman destined to repeat the same mistakes? Who really exists? Is there such thing as fate?

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Book SynopsisCORRUPT BIG BUSINESS, ECONOMY IN MELTDOWN, THE THRILLER THAT WARNED US ALL'Marc Elsberg is nothing if not prescient' GUARDIANIt’s the near future: the world economy is in freefall. Mass unemployment and hunger rage as banks, corporations and countries go bankrupt. But one group are doing just fine: the super-rich.Nobel prize-winning economist Herbert Thompson drives to an emergency summit in Berlin, to deliver his ground-breaking solution to the world’s elite: a formula that will reverse the downturn, transform the economy, and give everyone a share of the wealth.Thompson never arrives. He is killed in a car crash on the way.Jan, a keen cyclist out late, sees the incident. Convinced Thompson has been murdered, he vows to find out why.But there are powerful forces at work, who will stop at nothing to keep Jan silent.How far will they go to satisfy their greed? And who can stop them?A spine-chillingly realistic thriller on the horrors of freewheeling capitalism and the threat of human greed.By the global bestselling author of Blackout and Code Zero_____________PRAISE FOR MARC ELSBERG‘Fast, tense, thrilling, timely. This will happen one day’ LEE CHILD‘Dazzling’ Times Book of the Month'Both gripping and visionary' rbb Kulturradio'Elsberg succeeds in combining complex storylines into one breathtaking tale of suspense' BILD'Part Dan Brown-style chase and part eco-thriller, this debut will get people talking' BOOKLIST US

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Book Synopsis‘One of the masters of modern Chinese literature’ Jung ChangThis gripping dystopia contrasts the reality of life in China today with the sunny optimism of the ‘Chinese dream’.One dusk in early June, in a town deep in the Balou mountains, fourteen-year-old Li Niannian notices that something strange is going on. As the residents would usually be settling down for the night, instead they start appearing in the streets and fields. There are people everywhere. Li Niannian watches, mystified. Until he realises the people are dreamwalking, carrying on with their daily business as if the sun hadn’t already gone down. And before too long, as more and more people succumb, in the black of night all hell breaks loose. Set over the course of one night, The Day the Sun Died pits chaos and darkness against the bright ‘Chinese dream’ promoted by President Xi Jinping. We are thrown into the middle of an increasingly strange and troubling waking nightmare as Li Niannian and his father struggle to save the town, and persuade the beneficent sun to rise again. Praise for Yan Lianke's books: ‘Nothing short of a masterpiece’ Guardian‘A hyper-real tour de force, a blistering condemnation of political corruption and excess’ Financial Times‘Mordant satire from a brave fabulist’ Daily Mail ‘Exuberant and imaginative’ Sunday Times ‘I can think of few better novelists than Yan, with his superlative gifts for storytelling and penetrating eye for truth’ New York Times Book ReviewTrade ReviewA winner of the Kafka Prize and a frequently cited contender for the Nobel, Yan is one of those rare geniuses who finds in the peculiar absurdities of his own culture the absurdities that infect all cultures * Washington Post *Yan Lianke, one of the most important literary interpreters of contemporary China, combines shocking satire and sharp imagery to address the moral vacuum at the heart of the country's extraordinary transformation -- Catherine Taylor * 1843 *Yan Lianke's powerful dystopian novel, narrated by a teenage boy, is set during a single night in a remote Chinese village... The underlying political message, that China is sleepwalking to disaster under President Xi Ping, could hardly be plainer... But there is so much colour in the book, as the sleepwalkers act more and more oddly, that politics seems secondary. Poignant and unsettling -- Max Davidson * Mail on Sunday *Masterful...a brave and unforgettable novel, full of tragic poise and political resonance, masterfully shifting between genres and ways of storytelling, exploring the ways in which history and memory are resurrected, how dark, private desires seep or flood out -- Sean Hewitt * Irish Times *A remarkable novel – open, like most good novels, to a variety of interpretations. The events described are incredible; the atmosphere all too believable -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *

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Book Synopsis'A fascinating study of a difficult love' John Burnside, GuardianYoung Ismail's world centres around his mother. Naïve and fragile as a paper doll, she is an unlikely presence in her husband's imposing house, with its hidden rooms and infamous dungeon. Yet despite her youthful nature, she is not without her own enigmas. Most of all, she fears that her intellectual, radical son will exchange her for a superior mother when he becomes a famous writer.From the winner of the first ever Man Booker International Prize, this is a disarming story of home and creative ambition, of personal and political freedom. Rooted in the author's own childhood in Albania, it is dedicated to the memory of his mother.'Laconic, sinister and drily funny' SpectatorTrade ReviewAn essential work. The Doll is mesmerising, and like Kadare’s family home conceals both darkness and flashes of light in its interior -- Nilanjana Roy * Financial Times *The poignant observation, bitter irony and misspoken fear running through the narrator’s central relationship with his mother, a woman secretly terrified of being disowned as unworthy the moment her son achieves the fame he so desires, are what dominate this fascinating study of a difficult love. -- John Burnside * Guardian *In a properly ordered world, Ismail Kadare would by now have got the Nobel prize for literature. By any reckoning, he is one of the most important living European writers, a man whose work is as compelling as any novelist to have emerged from the vanished world that was the Communist bloc -- Melanie McDonagh * Evening Standard *Laconic, sinister and drily funny... Miss this fatalistic, deadpan wit, well served in John Hodgson’s nicely crafted translation, and you miss something essential in Kadare. -- Boyd Tonkin * Spectator *Albania's greatest living novelist has invariably explored his country’s repressive political legacy in his strange and brilliant novels... [The Doll] can only enrich our understanding and appreciation of Kadare’s writing. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisEnter the gas-lit streets of post-war Prague, the steelworks run by singed men, the covered market that smells of new-born babes, the cacophonous open-air dance hall. Mr Kafka is avoiding his landlady’s blueberry wine breath, a stonemason witnesses the destruction of a monument to Stalin he risked his life to build, and factory men strain to catch a glimpse of a beautiful bathing murderess. In these newly discovered stories, Hrabal captures men and women in an eerily beautiful nightmare and their spirit in all its misery and splendour.Trade ReviewHrabal’s magical stories are comic and human... They inhabit a utopian province, the realm of laughter and tears... A great writer -- James Wood * London Review of Books *Hrabal bounces and floats. His mode is a sort of dancing realism, somewhere between fairytale and satire. He is a most sophisticated novelist, with a gusting humour and a hushed tenderness of detail. We should read him -- Julian BarnesThe discovery of Hrabal's style is very simple. It makes pleasure a principle... Each of Hrabal's novels describes a spiral, a constant intricate movement between pleasure and fear and guilt and delight: they describe the difficult effort to be a hedonist in a world where pleasure has disappeare -- Adam Thirlwell * Guardian *One of the most authentic incarnations of magical Prague, an incredible union of earthy humor and baroque imagination -- Milan KunderaWritten 50 years ago, in a country whose system of government is utterly alien to our lived experience, these stories are still laugh-aloud funny on pretty much every page * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SIX FOUR: A TENSE INVESTIGATION IN THE AFTERMATH OF AN AIR DISASTER - FOR FANS OF SPOTLIGHT AND AFTER THE CRASH.'He's a master' New York Times Book Review'Very different . . . to almost anything out there' Observer1985. Kazumasa Yuuki, a seasoned reporter at the North Kanto Times, runs a daily gauntlet against the power struggles and office politics that plague its newsroom. But when an air disaster of unprecedented scale occurs on the paper's doorstep, its staff are united by an unimaginable horror, and a once-in-a-lifetime scoop.2002. Seventeen years later, Yuuki remembers the adrenaline-fuelled, emotionally charged seven days that changed his and his colleagues' lives. He does so while making good on a promise he made that fateful week - one that holds the key to its last unsolved mystery, and represents Yuuki's final, unconquered fear.'Seventeen is a brilliant novel on any level - it's a gripping page turner, while remaining moving and complex. It's a deeply satisfying read and it will be a while before I read anything as good' William Ryan'An astringent, unforgiving picture of modern Japanese society' GuardianTrade ReviewSeventeen is a brilliant novel on any level - but as a thriller it's a gripping page turner, while remaining moving and complex. It's a deeply satisfying read and it will be a while before I read anything as good. -- William RyanYokoyama's successor to the mesmeric Six Four is every bit as ambitious and compelling. Reinventing the genre of the investigative thriller to create something rich and strange. -- Barry ForshawYokoyama possesses that elusive trait of a first-rate novelist: the ability to grab readers' interest and never let go. * Washington Post *Addictive. * The Times *A binge read. -- Mark Lawson * Guardian *An education about Japan. -- David PeaceA gripping newsroom drama . . . it's a testament to Yokoyama's narrative skills that this story of office politics remains taut and tense through every page . . . a fantastic page turner. * Japan Times *

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Book SynopsisA collection of four novellas: each taking place in 1998, each set in the world of Six Four, and each centring around a mystery and the unfortunate officer tasked with solving it.SEASON OF SHADOWS"The force could lose face . . . I want you to fix this." Personnel's Futawatari receives a horrifying memo forcing him to investigate the behaviour of a legendary detective with unfinished business.CRY OF THE EARTH"It's too easy to kill a man with a rumour." Shinto of Internal Affairs receives an anonymous tipoff alleging a Station Chief is visiting the red-light district ­- a warning he soon learns is a red herring.BLACK LINES"It was supposed to be her special day." Section Chief Nanao, responsible for the force's 49 female officers, is alarmed to learn her star pupil has not reported for duty, and is believed to be missing.BRIEFCASE"We need to know what he's going to ask." On the eve of a routine debate, Political Liaison Tsuge learns a wronged politician is preparing his revenge. He must now quickly dig up dirt to silence him.Prefecture D continues Hideo Yokoyama's exploration of the themes of obsession, saving face, office politics and inter-departmental conflicts. Placing everyday characters between a rock and a hard place and then dialling up the pressure, he blends and balances the very Japanese with the very accessible, to spectacular effect.Trade ReviewHe's a master. * New York Times Book Review *Very different . . . to almost anything out there. * Observer *Yokoyama possesses that elusive trait of a first-rate novelist: the ability to grab readers' interest and never let go. * Washington Post *An education about Japan. -- David PeaceAddictive. * The Times *

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Book SynopsisIntroduced by David MitchellIn a coastal village in medieval Japan, a young boy called Isaku battles to keep his family alive against the odds. With his father gone, Isaku is forced to grow up well before his time. He must learn how to catch fish, how to distil salt, and about all the mysteries of the vast churning sea, not least the legend of O-fune-sama, of ships wrecked offshore providing the village with unexpected bounty. When a ship founders on the rocks, Isaku and the villagers rejoice. Long have they prayed for the sea's gifts. But the cargo is not at all the blessing they had hoped for. At first mystifying, then terrifying, something dark is coming ashore and it's about to change their lives forever.Trade ReviewExquisitely paced * * Sunday Times * *Haunting * * Guardian * *A haunting and beautifully rendered tale of enduring optimism * * Herald * *Has all the turbulent power of the sea * * Scotsman * *Set against [a] tapestry of near-nihilistic misery, Yoshimura's chiaroscuro touches of hope and love hint at something more profound * * Times Literary Supplement * *

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Book SynopsisNadolny's masterpiece, The Discovery of Slowness tells the incredible story of Sir John Franklin, a sailor and explorer who battled the frozen Arctic wastes and paved the way for the discovery of the Northwest Passage. Ridiculed for his slowness in his youth, Franklin's quiet calm later helps him to become an icon of adventure.A classic of contemporary German literature, The Discovery of Slowness is not only a riveting account of a remarkable life but also a profound and thought-provoking meditation on time.Trade ReviewThis is both a wonderful historical novel and a spell-binding individual portrait . . . This is a marvellous translation of a masterly work * * Observer * *Nadolny brilliantly sets the narrative pace to the rhythms of the frozen landscape, and to the slowness which is bred by hunger -- ROBERT MACFARLANETime, action and vision - a magical hat-trick and one that this translation pays faithful tribute to, capturing grand adventures like a detailed painting * * Scotsman * *Sten Nadolny shipped us into beautiful, fatal Arctic wastes with his spellbinding novels -- BOYD TONKINSlow movements of emotion and plot pull the reader expertly in, and the book with its self-consciously ponderous charm, offers all the pleasures of the best historical fiction * * Daily Telegraph * *

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Book SynopsisIn this, his atmospheric final work of fiction, the Nobel Prize-winning author of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich introduces an unforgettable set of characters whose day-to-day lives are transformed under the pressures of Soviet rule. These stories confirm Solzhenitsyn's position alongside Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Gogol as one of Russia's great writers.Trade ReviewOne of the greatest writers of his time * * Guardian * *A remarkable human being, a visionary, a crusader in the simplest sense, who was steered in his writing, as in his actions, by a deep sense of justice * * Daily Telegraph * *What was forgotten was how great a writer Solzhenitsyn was. But now we are reminded with these nine short stories written shortly after his return to Russia and published posthumously in an excellent translation . . . The more experimental 'binary' or two-part tales, which dominate this collection, share the qualities of Solzhenitsyn's finest prose: its precision and visual clarity; the subtle irony and humour of its tone; its moral truth; and the skilful crafting and shaping of the story for emotional effect * * The Times * *Read these stories for a reminder of an extraordinary life, for the range of the interests they encompass and for a pugnacious moral energy that even the octogenarian writer was hard pressed to tame * * Guardian * *In terms of the effect he has had on history, Solzhenitsyn is the dominant writer of [the twentieth] century -- David Remnick * * New Yorker * *Described by scholars as ranking alongside his best work . . . one of the publishing events of the autumn * * Observer * *In probing the relationship between action and belief during times of crisis, Solzhenitsyn is unsurpassed * * The Times * *A great book . . . absolutely terrific -- John CareyWith its unapologetic moralising and blunt irony, Apricot Jam is a perfect introduction to the stories in this volume. The binary method is essentially a satirical device, designed to capture the doubleness - and double-facedness - of Russian life under communism * * New Statesman * *As fresh as masterpieces such as Cancer Ward or Matryona's Home -- Victor Sebestyen * * Sunday Times * *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE WINGATE PRIZE 2022 A HISTORY TODAY BEST HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022 'A brilliant short novel that serves as a brave, sharp-toothed brief against letting the past devour the present' The New York Times 'Excels in its readiness to court controversy without surrendering nuance, and in place of moralising it offers questioning that's as necessary as it is unsettling.' Observer Written as a report to the chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel's memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, the unnamed narrator of The Memory Monster recounts his own undoing. Hired as a promising young historian, he soon becomes a leading expert on Nazi methods of extermination, guiding tours through the death camps. The job becomes a mission, and then a dangerous obsession. With great perspicuity and the bitterest black humour, The Memory Monster confronts difficult questions that are all too relevant to Israel and the world today: How do we process human brutality? What makes us choose sides in conflict? And how do we honour the suffering of our forebears without becoming consumed by it?Trade ReviewA brilliant short novel that serves as a brave, sharp-toothed brief against letting the past devour the present * The New York Times *A brilliant, challenging, and uncompromising novel * Jewish Currents *A bracing corrective to the recent literary fashion for Holocaust kitsch. It takes a fearless and astringent look at the use and abuse of Holocaust memory and emerges with answers every bit as challenging and uncomfortable as this topic demands -- William SutcliffeSarid's incisive critique of Holocaust memorialization, the corruption within it, and the perverse forms of nationalism it can engender is courageous.... Anything but moralistic, it leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions about the complex politics of Holocaust memorialization and its many layers of irony ... Nuanced and subtle at every level * LA Review of Books *The short but powerful novel raises the question of how far we let the horrors of the past infiltrate our present-day lives.... The Memory Monster is not an easy book to read but its message is important to hear * The Times of Israel *While countless writers have asked the question of where, or if, humanity can be found within the profoundly inhumane, Sarid incisively shows how preoccupation and obsession with the inhumane can take a toll on one's own humanity... A bold, masterful exploration of the banality of evil and the nature of revenge, controversial no matter how it is read * Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review *Sarid boldly highlights the risks of "harnessing [ourselves] to the memory chariot" and of how remembrance can calcify our views, in this complex, rewarding story of a man brought low by good intentions -- John Self * Guardian Best Translated Fiction Picks 2022 *Taboo-breaking, anguished ... Sarid's irony-inflected narrative illuminates how the monstrous legacy of the Shoah can devour integrity, ethics and self-respect in individuals and nations alike * Jewish Chronicle *Intelligent and powerful... anything but complacent * Times Literary Supplement *A brave and brilliant short novel translated to great deadpan effect ... Sarid is an exciting writer ... The Memory Monster is clever, funny, disturbing and tragic * Litro magazine *Unflinching ... a provocative exploration of Holocaust memory in a moment of generational shift -- Rhys Griffiths * History Today *

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Book SynopsisA powerful and beautiful Syrian novel set in Aleppo during the early days of the civil war that followed the Arab Spring. 'Beautiful... brings to a wider audience one of the best Syrian novelists of his generation' TLS 'A sublime distillation of one of the tragedies of the early twenty-first century' Independent 'Masterful... Kaleidoscopic: personal and collective, serendipitous and fatalistic' Los Angeles Times Jumaa is a schoolteacher in Aleppo. He observes and lives through the literal disintegration of his beautiful native city. Through his eyes, in a mixture of first and third person narration, we experience the razing of entire neighbourhoods, the apparently random dropping of barrel bombs, the bewildering variety of militias and government security forces loyal to Assad, the arbitrary cruelties and the complicated journeys that people have to make simply to cross the city. Roundabout of Death offers powerful witness to the violence that obliterated the ancient city's rich layers of history, its neighbourhoods and medieval and Ottoman landmarks. Aleppo was home to Arabs, Armenians, Kurds, Christians and other sects. The war tore those communities apart and made their city a wasteland.Trade ReviewA masterful distillation of one of the great tragedies of the twenty-first century, as stripped of artifice and sentimentality as it is undergirded with insight and empathy. Roundabout of Death is essential reading -- Dan Mayland, author of The Doctor of AleppoA brilliant, kaleidoscopic and claustrophobic portrayal of the Syrian civil war. Khartash's spare prose eloquently conveys horrors that require no rhetorical elevation. This is a fine book that deserves a wide readership, both on its own merits and because the Syrian disaster is by no means over -- Jonathan Spyer, author of Days of the Fall: A Reporter's Journey in the Syria and Iraq WarsSome books stand as monuments to wars from which they arise. This is one of those books -- Elliot Ackerman, author of Green on Blue and Waiting for EdenA heartwrenching and shocking work of historical fiction, Faysal Khartash's Roundabout of Death focuses on the human cost of Syria's civil war... The novel follows Jumaa, an unemployed Arabic teacher who struggles to live peacefully in a dangerous city... A powerful novel that takes a humane view of Syria's devastation' * Foreword Reviews *Bleakly arresting... Readers are ushered into a landscape that feels surreal but couldn't be more horrifically factual... Heartbreaking in its matter-of-factness, Khartash's work delivers a clear sense of life amid war in his book's brief span' * Library Journal (starred review) *The strength of Roundabout of Death lies in its credibility, and in a specificity that defies detail. The BBC has declared the war in Syria to be the most documented in history, but no one can generalize from records of documentation alone. What we are left with in this novel is the geography of Aleppo [...] as much a character as Dublin is for James Joyce * The Arts Fuse *To read a novel, presumably partly autobiographical, written by a Syrian author living in Aleppo amidst the city's destruction is a moving experience... I feel I've been to Syria and got a glimpse of what it's like to be living there as an ordinary person – and that is an incredible gift' * Five Books *Khartash draws a protagonist who seeks only peace amid the bombs and explosions around him. Roundabout of Death is a book for those searching for new perspectives on an ongoing tragedy that continues to impact the lives of many people today * artmejournal *News reports and images have exposed the horrors of the Syrian crisis: millions of refugees, bombing and chemical weapons. But this powerful novel makes the grim reality of survival through the fierce fighting in Aleppo truly comprehensible -- Itamar Rabinovich, co-author of Syrian Requiem: The Civil War and Its AftermathKhartash's sparse and harrowing English-language debut offers an account of life in Aleppo during the Syrian Civil War... Readers will find this fragmented tale of war-torn Aleppo and its displaced intellectuals chilling and insightful' * Publishers Weekly *A remarkable book, a vivid testimonial to the horrors of the Syrian civil war -- Robert F. Worth, author of A Rage for Order: The Middle East in TurmoilMasterful... Kaleidoscopic: personal and collective, serendipitous and fatalistic, marked by a bitter irony that can't help flirting with despair... What Khartash is tracking is the precariousness of memory – and identity' * Los Angeles Times *Beautiful... Faysal Khartash's English-language debut brings to a wider audience one of the best Syrian novelists of his generation and one of the most exciting writers to emerge from the region since the Arab Spring' * TLS *A searing, soaring firsthand account of the ravages war can produce * Dorset Living *A sublime distillation of one of the tragedies of the early 21st century * Independent, 4 stars *Short but deeply powerful novel... A searing, soaring firsthand account of the ravages war can produce * Tyne Valley Living *A haunting elegy to a devastated city * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisSometimes the truth lies in the things you cannot see. In 1830 a young novice called Catherine Labouré was granted a vision of the Virgin Mary. Nearly 200 years later, Sister Anne is also waiting for a sign. Which is why she accepts a mission to go to a tiny community on an island just off the coast of Brittany. Her only companion there is a sceptical, chain-smoking older nun who just wants to be left in peace. On the island she meets Hugo, the son of a devout family who prefers to look for the meaning of life amid the stars; Madenn, a grandmother whose daughter was killed in a crash and who finds meaning in routine; Isaac, Madenn's grandson, an otherworldly teenager who doesn't fit in but who befriends Hugo, and Julia, a sickly child. If anyone needs a miracle, it is her. But it is not Sister Anne who receives a vision. Instead it is Isaac who is found on a promontary, transfixed, unable to utter more than the words 'I see'. The event soon becomes headline news and the world descends on the small island, opening old wounds and unleashing a chain of events none of them could have foreseen.

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Book Synopsis'A tantalising mystery... a mesmerising work of literature' Antony Beevor 'Truly troubling, a weird meditation on death, war and sex' Paris Review A superb early postmodern classic by one of Nabokov's fellow émigré writers, rediscovered after more than half a century A man comes across a short story which recounts in minute detail his killing of a soldier, long ago - from the victim's point of view. It's a story that should not exist, and whose author can only be a dead man. So begins the strange quest for its elusive writer: 'Alexander Wolf'. A singular classic, The Spectre of Alexander Wolf is a psychological thriller and existential inquiry into guilt and redemption, coincidence and fate, love and death. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe Translated by Bryan Karetnyk Gaito Gazdanov (1903-1971) joined the White Army aged just sixteen and fought in the Russian Civil War. Exiled in Paris from the 1920s onwards, he eventually became a nocturnal taxi-driver and quickly gained prominence on the literary scene as a novelist, essayist, critic and short-story writer, and was greatly acclaimed by Maxim Gorky, among others.Trade Review"Like Nabokov at his best, Gazdanov teases his reader to trace the sometimes parallel yet often intersecting narrative layers, reminding us again that to read literature means, in many ways, to lose one’s mind." - Andrew Marzoni, Rain Taxi Review of Books"Gaito Gazdanov’s elegantly crafted Proustian novel delves into the eternal ideas of life, death, and identity." - World Literature Today"A masterpiece of modern literature... I haven't read such a humanely fine and moving novel about the great twentieth century Ice Age of the Soul in a long time." - Iris Radisch, Die Zeit"Gaito Gazdanov's compelling, clear, extremely civilised language breaks the resistance of even the most reluctant reader and most obstinate iPhone-addict. ... We decadent Westerners, who are finally allowed to read Gazdanov ... love his contemporary narratory style - because it's now action, now reflection, and at the end there is always a perfect, but uncontrived, solution as in an HBO-series. ... Gazdanov teaches us - with each line of his beautiful, sad, ambivalent prose that always drifts into the essayistic - to love our beautiful, broken, neurotic lives." - Maxim Biller, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung"Fantastic, clever, precise and so thrilling, and at the same time modern in a cool way ... The Spectre of Alexander Wolf is a novel which can change your life. If you're prepared for the trip." - Georg Diez, Kultur SPIEGEL"A stroke of luck for the reader ... a novel which, on few pages, in scenes which one cannot quickly forget, deals with forlornness, enjoyment, distraction, with love, death and coincidence - all that, which makes the human life beautiful and unbearable ... A vase flies, shots ring out: and there we stand, in our hands the book of an author whose name we didn't know until now. Already it's a favourite book." - Jens Bisky, Süddeutsche Zeitung"How each of us forms his memories is the theme of this novel. Rarely has one read about it as elegantly, as deeply and despite everything so comfortingly as here." - Tilman Spreckelsen, Frankfurter Allgemeine"The Spectre of Alexander Wolf becomes a study of the soul in the zone of death, written with a fine criminological sense, churning us up, gripping, exciting.', Andreas Puff-Trojan, Die Welt'Of course, you sense yourself that you are very talented. And I want to add that you are talented in your own, very special way. I can say this with some justification, because I have read not only An Evening with Claire, but also some of your short stories." - Maxim Gorky"What saved Gazdanov as a person was Gazdanov the writer, who in his art transformed the unbearable reality of his life, his time and the society in which he lived - not into a falsified, tacky image or into a philistine dream of a wonderful life, but into a metaphysical scream, which, because of its intensity and its sincerity, sounds into the deepest reaches of the human soul and moves and satisfies us through the power of its expression. In this sense Gazdanov's artistic style grants the 'wonderful life' the shape of reality, of life, as it should be and as it only exists in art." - Laszlo Dienes"If Proust had been a Russian taxi driver in Paris in the 1930s..." - L’Express"A work of great potency ... it punches very much above its weight, and I have a hunch that what's in it will stay with you for the rest of your life." - Nicholas Lezard, Guardian"A mystery ... multilayered ... this is an original at work." - George Szirtes, The Times"Quick-paced, taut prose ... rendered beautifully in Karetnyk's accomplished new translation." - Ivan Juritz, Independent on Sunday"Elegantly eerie ... devastatingly atmospheric ... cool, wonderfully fraught." - Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times"A mesmerising work of literature." - Antony Beevor"It's as if the roman policier has been filtered through Dostoevsky... a finely wrought novel, tense and enigmatic, just waiting to be discovered by a filmmaker ... The narrator relates his tale in gorgeously cadenced long sentences ... like those of Proust ... Gazdanov owes a debt from the grave to his translator Bryan Karetnyk." - Lesley Chamberlain, TLS"Coincidence, fate, guilt, redemption, love, death and melodrama are thrillingly interwoven with irresistible style and elegance." - Val Hennessy, Daily Mail"Extraordinarily good." - Oliver Bullough, Literary Review"Truly troubling, a weird meditation on death, war, and sex... Bryan Karetnyk's new translation makes you believe in the power of the original." - Lorin Stein, Paris Review"A thrilling literary mystery... Gadzanov is a modernist master." - Mary O’Donoghue, Irish Times"Gazdanov's elegantly eerie 1940s novel about an emigre journalist's ongoing trauma is tightly constructed and fast-moving... wonderfully rich in "cosmic catastrophes." - Eileen Battersby, Irish Times"The Spectre of Alexander Wolf is a compulsive read, playful yet sinister, meandering yet impressively trim, old-world and modern. It is to Pushkin Press's great credit that this gorgeously restored relic, from an age when books could be spectral and slip elusively through your fingers, has been revived from untimely oblivion." - Daniel Levine, The Millions"Splendidly translated... a mini-masterpiece." - Star Tribune"Gazdanov's work is the perfect fusion of the Russian tradition and French innovation." - LRB

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Book SynopsisThe essential edition of the greatest stories by the Russian master of the form Chekhov was without doubt one of the greatest observers of human nature in all its untidy complexity. His short stories, written throughout his life and newly translated for this essential collection, are exquisite masterpieces in miniature. Here are tales offering a glimpse of beauty, the memory of a mistaken kiss, daydreams of adultery, a lifetime of marital neglect, the frailty of life, the inevitability of death, and the hilarious pomposity of ordinary men and women. They range from the lighthearted comic tales of his early years to some of the most achingly profound stories ever composed.Trade Review“This beautifully produced selection of the stories from Pushkin Press (in a new translation by Nicolas Pasternak Slater) is an ideal way to discover Chekhov.” —The Times (UK) “Mysterious and mesmerizing, these stories stay enshrined in the memory.” —The Daily Mail “Near-perfect fiction, newly translated.” —Evening Standard “The uncontestable father of the modern short story . . . his stories are some of the best that have ever been written.” —The Guardian “The language is subtle and lovely, full of a regretful tenderness.” —Sunday Express “Chekhov's genius lies in the way he manages to convey with such apparent effortlessness a profound sense of the mystery of beauty, and of the sadness of those who observe and think . . . a masterpiece of minimalism” —Phillip Pullman “The greatest short story writer who has ever lived” —Raymond Carver“In Chekhov literature seems to break its wand like Prospero, renouncing the magic of artifice, ceremony and idealization, and facing us, for the first time, with a reflection of ourselves in our unadorned ordinariness as well as our unfathomable strangeness.” —James Ladsun

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Book SynopsisHundreds of actors were auditioned, but only two remained. This novel tells the story of the boy who wasn't chosen. It's 1999. Martin Hill is ten years old, crazy about Arsenal and has a minor crush on a girl named Betty. Then he makes it to the final two in the casting for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In the end, the other boy is picked for the role of a lifetime. A devastated Martin tries to move on with his life. But how can he escape his failure, especially when it's the most famous film series in the world?Foenkinos's smash-hit Second Best is a playful, poignant story about fate, loss and forging one's own path in an age of never-ending comparison.

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