Fiction in translation

Book SynopsisNOVEMBER 24, 2004The day of the tragedy. The end of a brotherhood.The Baltimore Boys. The Goldman Gang. That was what they called Marcus Goldman and his cousins Woody and Hillel. Three brilliant young men with dazzling futures ahead of them, before their kingdom crumbled beneath the weight of lies, jealousy and betrayal. For years, Marcus has struggled with the burdens of his past, but now he must attempt to banish his demons and tell the true and astonishing story of the Baltimore Boys.The stunning new novel from the author of the global bestseller, The Truth about the Harry Quebert AffairTranslated from the French by Alison AndersonTrade ReviewSweeping, clever, heartbreaking and memorable. The perfect summer read -- Henrietta Richman * Grazia *Veers between nostalgia for what could have been and regrets for what can never be. Captivating and beautifully conceived -- Pascale Frey * Elle *A striking insight into America's weird class system, and a movingstory of brotherhood and family rivalry -- Melissa Katsoulis * The Times *A literary phenomenon -- Astrid de Larminat * Figaro *Once again, Dicker brilliantly combines all the elements that first enticed his legions of readers -- Julie Malaure * Le Point *Immense and detailed . . . The backstory is all-consuming and will not let you skip a single paragraph -- Rachael Revesz * Independent *Joël Dicker really knows how to tell a great story -- Stéphanie des Horts * Valeurs Actuelles *The Dicker who wrote The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair was a magician, a juggler. The Dicker of The Baltimore Boys has no need of such tricks. He is not just a good writer, he is a great writer -- Antonio d’Orrico * Corriere della Serra *A titan of a novel. Nabokovian. Highly recommended -- Laura Fernández * El Cultural de El Mundo *A new masterstroke from Joël Dicker. The ace up his sleeve -- Pierre-Yves Grenu * Culturebox *My goodness, this Joël Dicker can really spin a yarn -- Marianne Grosjean * Tribune de Genève *Really compelling. A multi-layered family saga that behaves like a thriller * Frankfurter Neue Presse *A novel with the power to enthral its readers and whose characters will remain fixed in your memory * ORF *A top-class literary thriller that smoothly outclasses its rivals -- Melissa Katsoulis * The Times on The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair *It's like 'Twin Peaks' meets Atonement meets In Cold Blood - the French thriller everyone is talking about -- Gaby Wood * Daily Telegraph on The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair *An expertly realised, addictive Russian doll of a whodunit -- Fanny Blake * Daily Mail on The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair *The book of the year * Simon Mayo on The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair *

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

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Book SynopsisComing back into town after a hunting expedition, Alexandre Dumas witnesses an incredible scene: a man has come to hand himself in to the mayor after decapitating his wife, terrified by the fact that her severed head spoke to him even after her death. This prompts the guests at a dinner Dumas attends later that evening to exchange stories of death and the supernatural, ranging from accounts of the guillotine during the Terror to tales of vampires and fratricide in the Carpathians. The Thousand and One Ghosts – here presented in its first and only translation into English – is a gloriously macabre work by the celebrated author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, which also touches on the serious political issue of capital punishment.Trade ReviewDeserves to have been disinterred and brought back to haunt us. * TLS *

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Book Synopsis'The interlinking short stories in this collection are fairy tales in the best Brothers Grimm tradition: naïf, magical and frequently veering into the macabre' Financial Times From the best-selling author of Strange Weather in Tokyo, here is a collection of darkly playful Japanese micro-fiction. In Kawakami's super short 'palm of the hand' stories the world is never quite as it should be: a small child lives under a sheet near his neighbour's house for thirty years; an apartment block leaves its visitors with strange afflictions, from fast-growing beards to an ability to channel the voices of the dead; an old man has two shadows, one docile, the other rebellious; two girls named Yoko are locked in a bitter rivalry to the death. Small but mighty, you'll find strange delight in spending time with the people in this neighbourhood. 'Offers a delicious combination of intrigue, magic and comedy, like an unusual but satisfying snack. Kawakami continues to show off her prowess as a sharp-witted writer with a keen eye for the unexplored mysteries of humanity' Japan TimesTrade ReviewBeguiling, with a strangeness that feels culturally rooted * Sunday Times *Deft and funny prose, in a feather-light translation by Ted Goossen, is the signature of Hiromi Kawakami's latest collection... an intriguing and compelling bitesize read... funny, full of heart * Arts Desk *Tempting as it is, People from My Neighbourhood is not a book to rush... The interlinking short stories in this collection are fairy tales in the best Brothers Grimm tradition: naïf, magical and frequently veering into the macabre... in a world where much is insubstantial... Kawakami's clean narrative style is very much her own * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisDon’t Whisper Too Much was the first work of fiction by an African writer to present love stories between African women in a positive light. Bona Mbella is the second. In presenting the emotional and romantic lives of gay, African women, Ekotto comments upon larger issues that affect these women, including Africa as a post-colonial space, the circulation of knowledge, and the question of who writes history. In recounting the beauty and complexity of relationships between women who love women, Ekotto inscribes these stories within African history, both past and present. Don’t Whisper Too Much follows young village girl Ada’s quest to write her story on her own terms, outside of heteronormative history. Bona Mbella focuses upon the life of a young woman from a poor neighborhood in an African megalopolis. And “Panè,” a love story, brings the many themes from Don’t Whisper Much and Bona Mbella together as it explores how emotional and sexual connections between women have the power to transform, even in the face of great humiliation and suffering. Each story in the collection addresses how female sexuality is often marked by violence, and yet is also a place for emotional connection, pleasure and agency. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press.Trade Review"Don’t Whisper Too Much was the first work of fiction by an African writer to present love stories between African women in a positive light; Bona Mbella is the second."— LitHub "Defying the norms of sexuality, culture, and narrative form, Frieda Ekotto brings to her readers a unique vision of queer African life and love. These beautifully rendered translations of Ekotto’s poetic prose are long overdue. A major event!"— Lynne Huffer, Emory University "Frieda Ekotto’s fiction opens up new grounds in African queer writing. She was one of the first to write fiction with humanizing representations of the lives of francophone African women loving women. This translation of two of her novellas is a gift to Anglophone readers."— Brittle Paper Fiction Spotlight: Don’t Whisper Too Much — Project Plume "Ekotto masterfully illustrates the complex layers of African women-loving-women, which include patriarchy, violence, agency and colonialism."— Ms. Magazine "Together, these two works form an odd whole, but it's very much a whole worth seeking out....Remarkably effective in getting [the] story across....The stories all work in different ways, but that too can be seen as part of the appeal; the way different voices leap out of the page across the various stories and sub-stories is another bonus."— Bibliobio “The translation of Frieda Ekotto’s works Don’t Whisper Too Much and Portrait of a Young Artist from Bona Mbella represent generic, formal, and topical innovations that make this project certain to be a notable English-language publication in its own right, as well as a landmark addition to the canon of Afro-Francophone literature in translation.”— Carmen R. Gillespie, Griot Institute for Africana Studies, Bucknell University "Thematically provocative and narratively delicious, Frieda Ekotto’s first novel challenges constraining expectations of romantic bonding in Africa. Don’t Whisper Much is a tale of three generations of females whose intimate corporeal practices index as well as defy the violence that women’s bodies endure under both local patriarchal practices and global configurations of power. Since the birth of modern African literature in European languages, no other literary imaginings of same-sex eroticism have dared to do what Ekotto accomplishes in her novel. The language is as captivating as the powerful work of imagination that made possible Don’t Whisper Much. Ekotto accomplishes a similar feat with Bona Mbella. It is not surprising that although these novels have only been accessed in French, Whisper has already garnered a sustained critical attention. These English translations are a welcome contribution to a deeper understanding of female (homo)sexuality in Africa and any literature and cultural courses on sexuality will benefit from them."— Naminata Diabate, Cornell UniversityTable of Contents A Note on the Translation Introduction: "In the Flow of Whisperings" Lindsey Green Simms DON'T WHISPER TOO MUCH Affi, or the Communion of Bodies The Garba Boui-Boui Ada and Siliki Ada PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG ARTISTE FROM BONA MBELLA Our Quat First Kiss The Most Beautiful Calves in the World The Movie Screen The Revenant Cousin Kalati's Tale The Mute's Red Bicycle Panè Acknowledgments Bibliography About the Author and Translator

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Book SynopsisAN OBSERVER, GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES and BOOKTRUST BOOK OF THE YEAR A Waterstones Children's Book of the Month 'I don't know when I last read a book with such pure and unalloyed pleasure. It's ingenious, it's moving, it's charming, it's beautiful, it's exciting, and most importantly the characters are people I feel I know like old friends' - Philip Pullman Sally Jones is not only a loyal friend, she's an extraordinary individual. In overalls or in a maharaja's turban, this unique gorilla moves among humans without speaking but understanding everything. She and the Chief are devoted comrades who operate a cargo boat. A job they are offered pays big bucks, but the deal ends badly, and the Chief is falsely convicted of murder. For Sally Jones this is the start of a harrowing quest for survival and to clear the Chief's name. Powerful forces are working against her, and they will do anything to protect their secrets.

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Book SynopsisWhen the mother of a missing two-year-old girl is seriously injured in a suspected terrorist attack in Oslo, crime-fighting duo Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the case, and things aren’t adding up … The second instalment in an addictive, atmospheric, award-winning series. ‘An exercise in literary tag-teaming from two of Norway’s biggest crime writers with a bold new take … a series with potential’ Sunday Times ‘Grim, gory and filled with plenty of dark twists … There’s definitely a Scandinavian chill in the air with this fascinating read’ Sun ‘Alongside Jo Nesbo’s Knife, Smoke Screen is this summer’s most anticipated read, and it doesn’t disappoint’ Tvedestrandsposten, Norway __________________ Oslo, New Year’s Eve. The annual firework celebration is rocked by an explosion, and the city is put on terrorist alert. Police officer Alexander Blix and blogger Emma Ramm are on the scene, and when a severely injured survivor is pulled from the icy harbour, she is identified as the mother of two-year-old Patricia Smeplass, who was kidnapped on her way home from kindergarten ten years earlier … and never found. Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the unsolved case, as public interest heightens, the terror threat is raised, and it becomes clear that Patricia’s disappearance is not all that it seems… _____________________ Praise for the Blix & Ramm series: ‘Everything about this crime novel sings, the relationship between Blix and Emma, which is complex, but also the relationship between Blix and Fosse and Kovic. The past bleeds into the present and the clever melding of the strands of the story and the slow reveal of details that propel the story is masterly. This tale often surprises or shifts in subtle ways that are pleasing and avoid cliché. As the opener for a new series this is a cracker, long live the marriage of Horst and Enger’ New Books Magazine ‘A fast-moving, punchy, serial killer investigative novel with a whammy of an ending. If this is the first in the Blix and Ramm series, then here’s to many more!’ LoveReading ‘A clever, gripping crime novel with personality, flair, and heart’ Crime by the Book ‘A stunningly excellent collaboration from Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst …. It’s a brutal tale of fame, murder, and reality TV that gets the pulse racing’ Russel McLean ‘Now — what happens when you put two of the most distinguished writers of Nordic noir in tandem? Death Deserved by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst suggests it was a propitious publishing move; a ruthless killer is pursued by a tenacious celebrity blogger and a damaged detective’ Financial Times

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Book SynopsisThe hair-raising mash-up of feminist X-Men, gothic fairy tale, family saga and biting social criticism that is taking Europe by storm.When Anita Naakka jumps in front of an oncoming train, her daughter, Norma, is left alone with the secret they have spent their lives hiding: Norma has supernatural hair, sensitive to the slightest changes in her mood--and the moods of those around her--moving of its own accord, corkscrewing when danger is near. And so it is her hair that alerts her, while she talks with a strange man at her mother's funeral, that her mother may not have taken her own life. Setting out to reconstruct Anita's final months--sifting through puzzling cell phone records, bank statements, video files--Norma begins to realise that her mother knew more about her hair's powers than she let on: a sinister truth beyond Norma's imagining.Trade ReviewAmazing * Le Figaro *A Toni Morrison from the far North. * Le Monde *Sofi Oksanen is one of the brightest shining stars in Nordic literature. I want to devour Norma whole. * Norrköpings Tidningar (Sweden) *Addictive, lucid, breathtakingly suspenseful, and on top of this it is stunningly observant, eerily well-researched, critical, with feminist overtones and very, very relatable * Affärsmagasinet Forum (Finland) *A phenomenon * The Times on PURGE *Powerful, passionately wrought, emotionally shattering, extraordinary * Independent on PURGE *Purge stands out. Murder, sexual violence and political history combine to place Oksanen in the front rank of crime novelists. * Sunday Times on PURGE *Finland's hottest crime writer will soon be as well-known as Stieg Larsson * The Times on PURGE *Essential reading: Purge is not a book to read last thing at night. * Economist on PURGE *

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Book SynopsisIn Kafka's powerful and disturbing novel, an innocent man is arrested and repeatedly interrogated for a crime that is never ever explained. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library, a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold-foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is translated from German by Douglas Scott and Chris Waller, and features an afterword by David Stuart Davies.On the morning of his thirtieth birthday, a young bank official named Joseph K is arrested although he has done nothing wrong and is never told what he’s been charged with. The Trial is the chronicle of his fight to prove his innocence, of his struggles and encounters with the invisible Law and the untouchable Court where he must make regular visits. It is an account, ultimately, of state-induced self-destruction presenting in a nightmarish scenario the persecution of the outsider and the incomprehensible machinations of the state. Using the power of simple, straightforward language Kafka draws the reader into this bleak and frightening world so that we too experience the fears, uncertainties and tragedy of Joseph K.Trade ReviewThe Dante of the twentieth century -- W. H. AudenNo other voice has borne truer witness to the dark of our times -- George Steiner

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Book SynopsisA Guardian Science Fiction Book of the Year. Mimi is drowning in the world's trash. She's a 'waste girl', a scavenger picking through towering heaps of hazardous electronic detritus. Along with thousands of other migrant workers, she was lured to Silicon Isle, off the southern coast of China, by the promise of steady work and a better life. But Silicon Isle is where the rotten fruits of capitalism and consumer culture come to their toxic end. The land is hopelessly polluted, the workers utterly at the mercy of those in power. And now a storm is gathering, as ruthless local gangs skirmish for control, eco-terrorists conspire, investors hunger for profit, and a Chinese-American interpreter searches for his roots. As these forces collide, conflict erupts – a war between rich and poor, a battle between past and future. Mimi must decide if she will remain a pawn... or change the rules of the game altogether. 'An accomplished eco-techno-thriller with heart and soul' DAVID MITCHELL. 'Waste Tide is a work of spoiled and toxic beauty... It's more than a timely eco-thriller; it's a dark mirror held up to our selves' SIMON INGS. Trade ReviewAn accomplished eco-techno-thriller with heart and soul as well as brain. Chen Qiufan is an astute observer, both of the present world and of the future that the next generation is in danger of inheriting -- David MitchellThe pinnacle of near-future SF writing -- Cixin LiuSomething startlingly new... an action-packed story that's full of moral complexity' -- Charlie Jane AndersA hard-hitting, uncompromising look at the near future -- Adrian TchaikovskyA stunning tale of greed [that] deftly exposes all the hidden contours of the human heart -- Maggie Shen KingA work of spoiled and toxic beauty... It's more than a timely eco-thriller; it's a dark mirror held up to our selves' -- Simon IngsChinese author Chen Quifan's debut novel Waste Tide is all too true to life * SFX *A cracking science fiction novel by Chen Qiufan suggests humanity's future may be even stranger than its past * New Scientist *Chen's portrait of industry and society alike is caustically bleak – life is short and cheap – and the cultural impact of his future tech well thought through * SFX. *A crop of younger writers are now emerging in the duo's wake [Cixin Liu and Han Song]. Waste Tide takes place on an island devoted to electronics refuse in a fictionalised South China Sea... The setting is not too far divorced from parts of real-life China, in which the by-products of the electronics industry create uninhabitably toxic environments' * Economist. *This chilling eco-techno tale, well translated by Ken Liu, illustrates that the eternal conflict of good and evil remains alive in our "brave new world" * The Tablet *There's an old school cyberpunk quality to the book, a compelling reflection on a world defined by its waste * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisWhat makes us who we are? And why do we lead one life and not another? The year is coming to a close and Asle, an ageing painter and widower who lives alone on the southwest coast of Norway, is reminiscing about his life. His only friends are his neighbour, Åsleik, a traditional fisherman-farmer, and Beyer, a gallerist who lives in the city. There, in Bjørgvin, lives another Asle, also a painter but lonely and consumed by alcohol. Asle and Asle are doppelgängers – two versions of the same person, two versions of the same life, both grappling with existential questions about life, death, love, light and shadow, faith and hopelessness. Written in melodious and hypnotic ‘slow prose’, The Other Name: Septology I-II is an indelible and poignant exploration of the human condition by Jon Fosse, ‘a major European writer’ (Karl Ove Knausgaard), in which everything is always there, and past and present flow together.Trade Review‘Jon Fosse is a major European writer.’ — Karl Ove Knausgaard, author of My Struggle‘Fosse has written a strange mystical moebius strip of a novel, in which an artist struggles with faith and loneliness, and watches himself, or versions of himself, fall away into the lower depths. The social world seems distant and foggy in this profound, existential narrative, which is only the first part of what promises to be a major work of Scandinavian fiction.’ — Hari Kunzru, author of White Tears‘There is, in this book’s rhythmic accumulation of words, something incantatory and self-annihilating — something that feels almost holy.’ — Wall Street Journal‘Over the past two decades, Jon Fosse, a playwright, poet, essayist and children’s author as well as a novelist, has won almost every award going in Norway, while his “slow prose” has gained him a cult following in English translation. He has been compared to Ibsen and Beckett, and his writing has elements of both the former’s severity and the latter’s use of insistent repetition.... The work simply loops and flows. The style is formal, yet with a sense of restlessness. As for plot, there is plenty.... Fosse’s fusing of the commonplace and the existential, together with his dramatic forays into the past, make for a relentlessly consuming work: already Septology feels momentous.’ — Catherine Taylor, Guardian‘Fosse’s portrait of intersecting lives is that rare metaphysical novel that readers will find compulsively readable.’ — Publishers Weekly, starred review‘Deeply enigmatic though never obscure, the novel presents questions [...] But to understand how completely these things elude comprehension, and to clothe their fundamental mystery in such gorgeous raiment, is an achievement no less profound.’ — Dustin Illingworth, The Nation

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Book SynopsisOne Hundred Years of Solitude meets The Kite Runner in Saddam Hussein''s Iraq. A contemporary tragedy of epic proportions. No author is better placed than Muhsin Al-Ramli, already a star in the Arabic literary scene, to tell this story. I read it in one sitting. Hassan Blasim, winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for The Iraqi Christ. On the third day of Ramadan, the village wakes to find the severed heads of nine of its sons stacked in banana crates by the bus stop.One of them belonged to one of the most wanted men in Iraq, known to his friends as Ibrahim the Fated.How did this good and humble man earn the enmity of so many? What did he do to deserve such a death?The answer lies in his lifelong friendship with Abdullah Kafka and Tariq the Befuddled, who each have their own remarkable stories to tell.It lies on the scarred, irradiated battlefields of the Gulf War and in thTrade ReviewThough firmly rooted in its context, The President's Gardens' concerns are universal. It is a profoundly moving investigation of love, death and injustice, and an affirmation of the importance of dignity, friendship and meaning amid oppression. The novel is undoubtedly a tragedy, but its light touch and persistent humour make it an enormous pleasure to read. -- Robin Yassin-Kassab * Guardian. *A story buffeted by the wider tides of history: the bloody churn of dictatorship, invasion and occupation . . . The President's Gardens evokes the fantastical, small town feel of One Hundred Years of Solitude . . . Shocks and enchants. -- Tom Gordon * Financial Times. *A beautiful novel . . . Consistently compelling . . . In writing about ordinary Iraqis who pay the cost of wars waged by autocratic leaders, Al-Ramli touches on deep and timeless themes. -- Alastair Mabbott * Glasgow Herald. *Deeply painful and satirical, The President's Gardens is a contemporary tragedy of epic proportions. No author is better placed than Muhsin Al-Ramli, already a star in the Arabic literary scene, to tell this story. I read it in one sitting. -- Hassan Blasim, winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction PrizeLike Gabriel García Márquez, with whom he is often compared, Al-Ramli has created a specific village that manages to be universal and a story that is rooted in history while reaching forward into the present day. -- Kathy Watson * Tablet. *I took so much pleasure reading a book called The President's Gardens by Muhsin Al-Ramli. It's got that kind of magical feel that something like One Hundred Years of Solitude has, but it's about Iraq . . . And it is epic, it's absolutely epic . . . It's beautifully written . . . It's one of those novels that achieves something which is quite rare. It's absolutely specific in its context - Iraq, the Iraq conflict, the causes and consequences of it - but it's themes are universal: love, death, injustice, the importance of dignity; how do you find friendship and meaning amid oppression? It's a wonderful book. -- John Maytham * The John Maytham Show (South Africa) *A tour de force. -- Rachel Halliburton * Prospect. *A stunning read . . . So atmospheric, superb storytelling . . . I absolutely was taken into another world. -- Susan Cahill * Newstalk (Ireland). *A stunning achievement. -- Ben East * The National. *One of the most important contemporary Iraqi novelists and writers. * El Mundo. *A novel filled with details . . . with passion, homeland, revolution, and grief. It represents a landmark in the progression of Iraqi literature. -- Miral Al-Tahawi.How do you preserve dignity amidst the relentless carnage and mutilation of modern Iraq? Told with a fresh transparency and tender insight, The President's Gardens draws on the unfathomable resilience of the Iraqi people, leaving me speechless and humbled. -- Paul MacAlindin, author of Upbeat: The Story of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq.Masterful. -- Malu Halasa, co-author and editor of Syria Speaks.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA book with some claim to be the first major set-piece in that carnival of fictional fireworks which mesmerized Latin America throughout the next decade. It offers a rich motherlode of imagery, language and haunting scenes -- Salman RushdieBewitched, baroque, monumental * Newsweek *A novelist of immense power ... uncompromising and original -- Colm Tóibín * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisTranslated by Marilyn Booth Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction 2023 Longlisted for the 2023 Dublin Literary AwardAn extraordinary novel from a Man Booker International Prize-winning author that follows one young Omani woman as she builds a life for herself in Britain and reflects on the relationships that have made her from a “remarkable” writer who has “constructed her own novelistic form” (James Wood, The New Yorker). ‘Alharthi makes lyrical shifts between past and present, memory and folklore, oneiric surrealism and grimy realism.’ Guardian [A] stirring tale of a woman who battles every social and religious constraint. The juxtaposition with the narrator’s reflections on modern life and the speed of change is brilliantly judged in Marilyn Booth’s agile translation from Arabic.’ T

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Book SynopsisThe first novel in a thrilling Norwegian historical trilogy - by the author of The Sixteen Trees of the Somme Trade ReviewRich, sinuous prose makes tangible the villagers' gritty perseverance in the face of poverty, isolation and the unpredictable climate . . . The Bell in the Lake is a beautiful example of modern Norwegian folklore -- Johanne Elster Hanson * Guardian *Mytting uses the love story to explore the clash between tradition and modernity -- Antonia Senior * The Times (Historical Fiction Book of the Month) *Love, suspense, nature and superstition are woven together in this powerful novel. Set in spectacular surroundings where anything can happen it will give the reader a taste of something deeply and genuinely Norwegian. -- Maya Lunde * author of THE HISTORY OF BEES *Lyrical, melancholy and with beautifully drawn characters, this pitches old beliefs against new ways with a haunting delicacy that rings true. -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail *An exquisitely atmospheric novel about the struggle to cherish the beauty that is right in front of us; be it a blue-dark night, the bear-colored wood of a decaying stave church, or a love that is blooming through a late-thawing snow. The Bell in the Lake does what fiction promises: to steal you away to another world and ask you, if unfairly, to leave a little of your heart behind. -- Derek B. MillerMytting shows how landscape and climate can define a character . . . He delivers village wisdom . . . and jagged realism. It is a fireside read with splinters. -- Christian House * Financial Times *Mytting's cleverly crafted story heads inexorably to a moving conclusion -- Nick Rennison * Sunday Times *Lovers of good historical fiction are in for a real treat. * Radio New Zealand *Magnificent historical novel * Adresseavisen *Lars Mytting's historical novel is captivating and engaging . . . With his powerful narrative style, intertwined story and detailed knowledge of carpentry, fishing and stave churches, there is reason to believe that this time he will again reach many many readers. * Dagbladet *

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Book SynopsisThe 25-year-old case of a missing girl sees Varg Veum dig deep into the past to find her kidnapper, as the secrets and lies of a tiny community threaten everything … Gunnar Staalesen’s award-winning, international bestselling Varg Veum series continues in this chilling Nordic Noir thriller. ***WINNER of the Petrona Award for Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year*** 'Mature and captivating’ Herald Scotland ‘One of the finest Nordic novelists – in the tradition of Henning Mankell’ Barry Forshaw, Independent ‘Masterful pacing’ Publishers Weekly _________________ September 1977. Mette Misvær, a three-year-old girl disappears without trace from the sandpit outside her home. Her tiny, close middle-class community in the tranquil suburb of Nordas is devastated, but their enquiries and the police produce nothing. Curtains twitch, suspicions are raised, but Mette is never found. Almost 25 years later, as the expiry date for the statute of limitations draws near, Mette’s mother approaches PI Varg Veum, in a last, desperate attempt to find out what happened to her daughter. As Veum starts to dig, he uncovers an intricate web of secrets, lies and shocking events that have been methodically concealed. When another brutal incident takes place, a pattern begins to emerge… Shocking, unsettling and full of extraordinary twists and turns, Where Roses Never Die reaffirms Gunnar Staalesen as one of the world’s foremost thriller writers. _________________ Praise for Gunnar Staalesen 'There is a world-weary existential sadness that hangs over his central detective. The prose is stripped back and simple … deep emotion bubbling under the surface – the real turmoil of the characters’ lives just under the surface for the reader to intuit, rather than have it spelled out for them’ Doug Johnstone, The Big Issue ‘Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means “wolf ” in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth’ Ian Rankin ‘Staalesen continually reminds us he is one of the finest of Nordic novelists’ Financial Times ‘Staalesen does a masterful job of exposing the worst of Norwegian society in this highly disturbing entry’ Publishers Weekly 'The Varg Veum series is more concerned with character and motivation than spectacle, and it’s in the quieter scenes that the real drama lies’ Herald Scotland 'Every inch the equal of his Nordic confreres Henning Mankell and Jo Nesbo' Independent ‘With an expositional style that is all but invisible, Staalesen masterfully compels us from the first pages … If you’re a fan of Varg Veum, this is not to be missed, and if you’re new to the series, this is one of the best ones. You’re encouraged to jump right in, even if the Norwegian names can be a bit confusing to follow’ Crime Fiction Lover ‘With short, smart, darkly punchy chapters Wolves at the Door is a provocative and gripping read’ LoveReading ‘Haunting, dark and totally noir, a great read’ New Books Magazine ‘An upmarket Philip Marlowe’ Maxim Jakubowski, The Bookseller ‘Razor-edged Scandinavian crime fiction at its finest’ Quentin BatesTrade Review'Gunnar Staalesen is one of my very favourite Scandinavian authors. Operating out of Bergen in Norway, his private eye, Varg Veum, is a complex but engaging anti-hero. Varg means "wolf'" in Norwegian, and this is a series with very sharp teeth' Ian Rankin * 'Not many books hook you in the first chapter - this one did, and never let go!' Mari Hannah * 'One of Norway's most skilful storytellers' Johan Theorin * 'Razor-edged Scandinavian crime fiction at its finest' Quentin Bates

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Book SynopsisIn the piazza, a man lies dead. No one will say if they witnessed his killing. This presents a challenge to the investigating officer, a man who earnestly believes in the values of a democratic and modern society. Indeed, his enquiries are soon blocked off by a wall of silence and vested interests; he must work against the community to save it and expose the truth.The narrative moves on two levels: that of the investigator, who reveals a chain of savage crimes; and that of the bystanders and watchers, of those complicit with secret power, whose gossipy, furtive conversations have only one end - to stop the truth coming out. This novel about the Mafia is also a mesmerizing demonstration of how that organization sustains itself. It is both a beautifully, tautly written story and a brave act of denunciation.Trade ReviewThe most intelligent detective story I have ever read and the ideal introduction to Sciascia's brilliant but little known oeuvre -- Thomas Wright * Daily Telegraph *The best evocation of Sicily I've read, this is one for the crime connoisseurs -- Leslie ForbesA very well-written page turner. This is an absorbing and compelling story * Northampton Chronicle *One of the major writers of the age * Time Literary Supplement *A detective story that is so much more; sharp and precise and demanding the reader to render judgement * Absolutely Chelsea *Irresistible... The finest writer [out of these classic sleuth reissues] -- Anthony Cummins * Metro *

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Book Synopsis'[An] absolute must-read. It has stunned and moved everyone who has read it' Arifa Akbar, Independent This multi-award winning novel is the extraordinary story of the twentieth century traced through the various possible lives of one woman She is a baby who suffocates in the cradle. Or perhaps not? She lives to become as an adult and dies beloved. Or dies betrayed. Or perhaps not? Her memory is honoured. Or she is forgotten by everyone. From a small Galician town at the turn of the twentieth century, through pre-war Vienna and Stalin's Moscow to modern-day Berlin, the twists of fate of her lives take us to some of the most vivid moments in European history. But it is our heroine's choices, her struggles and her humanity - as she faces everything from Nazi-occupied Austria, Soviet secret police and the trials of old age - that make this book so profoundly moving, insightful and unforgettable. Winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, the Hans Fallada Prize, the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize and an English PEN Award. 'The End of Days prises open the troubled box that is 20th-century European history and entrenches [Erpenbeck's] position as the most brilliant European writer of my generation' Neel Mukherjee, Irish Times Books of the Year 'Jenny Erpenbeck makes swift work of the one-life-multiple-outcomes conceit touched on by Kate Atkinson and David Mitchell - and is the best of the bunch' Daily Telegraph Books of the YearTrade Review[An] absolute must-read. It has stunned and moved everyone who has read it -- Arifa Akbar * Independent *A short, musical novel... philosophically and technically ambitious... shot through with an insight that almost blinds... Erpenbeck's Chekhovian talent for letting us into the shifting consciousness of her characters' various incarnations is such that with each death our loss feels definitive. But while in Chekhov there are no exits from personality, here there are no exits from history... Reading Erpenbeck is like falling under hypnosis. Exhilarating -- Kapka Kassabova * Guardian *Always startling and profound, Jenny Erpenbeck is a master of allegory. Few contemporary writers can so deftly paint the moral interplay between light and shadow -- Chloe AridjisConcise and moving... Jenny Erpenbeck makes swift work of the one-life-multiple-outcomes conceit touched on by Kate Atkinson and David Mitchell - and is the best of the bunch -- Tim Martin 'Books of the Year' * Daily Telegraph *Erpenbeck has honed an extraordinary gift for focusing the sweep of European history into intimate moments, captured in prose of a haunting beauty and tenderness. Hypnotically involving -- Boyd Tonkin * Independent *The End of Days prises open the troubled box that is 20th-century European history and entrenches [Erpenbeck's] position as the most brilliant European writer of my generation -- Neel Mukherjee ‘Book of the Year’ * Irish Times *A genuine European masterpiece -- Roy Foster, Books of the Year * TLS *Startling and profound -- Justine Jordan ‘Fiction Book of the Year’ * Guardian *Erpenbeck's writing is so powerful and so poetic, her storytelling so nuanced. [She] has important things to tell us; and she tells them beautifully. Masterful -- Will Gore * Independent on Sunday *In Erpenbeck's world, everything is connected... through tiny parallels and repetitions - elusive leitmotifs that echo across the protagonist's alternate lives... The wisdom of this novel lies in the way its form subtly subverts death's permanence -- David Winters * Literary Review *If you think this sounds like Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, think again. Moving [and] involving... its effects are arrived at in a very different way from what we have come to expect from the Anglo-American novel -- David Mills * Sunday Times *A wonderfully crafted, memorable read * New Internationalist *Compactly lyrical... Erpenbeck [has] condensed a century of European history into the turning-points of a woman's life -- Boyd Tonkin ‘Fiction in translation book of the year’ * Independent *Astonishing and deeply humane * BBC Radio 4 Saturday Review *A compressed epic... Erpenbeck possesses a remarkable gift for shifting, almost unnoticeably, between the telescopic and the microscopic, between the intimate and the cosmic, between the vertical density of a lived moment and vast swaths of geological time. Prepare for a kind of happy vertigo * National Post *[An] eerily powerful meditation on the ways a life can end... [Erpenbeck] captures [a] primal quality through her dreamy montage-like narration * New Republic *The End of Days is like the view from a plane zigzagging through the skies over 20th-century Europe, creating a connect-the-dots puzzle... [It] retains the sense of menace integral to any tale of predestination * Los Angeles Review of Books *Erpenbeck deftly handles the constant shifts in narrative throughout this complex novel. Hats off to Susan Bernofsky for her translating skills. It's a masterly piece of work -- Susan Osborne * A Life in Books *This is a beautifully written novel, impressively translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky. The End of Days is a compelling reminder that worrying about the unknowable will do nothing to delay the inevitable. Masterful -- Alice Fishburn * Financial Times *The End of Days has the same dizzying emotional reach as [Erpenbeck's] previous work... This profound meditation reaches to the heart of a cultural world of spiritual intensity, social utopianism and political catastrophe that has variously shaped German literature - and it is expertly translated by Susan Bernofsky. Incantatory -- Lesley Chamberlain * TLS *There is no one writing now who is quite like [Erpenbeck], possessing such an understanding of the deep currents of history while gifted with the ability to do such extraordinary things with form. In Susan Bernofsky's lucid, seamless translation, The End of Days emerges as a necessary and illuminating novel, alight with intelligence and meaning. Surprising and profound -- Neel Mukherjee * New Statesman *Sharp and powerful... Erpenbeck's novel intertwines the personal with the grand sweep of history to great effect, underlining the importance of both. I would certainly expect to see The End of Days on the IFFP shortlist; for me, it's potentially a winner -- David HebblethwaiteSusan Bernofsky's thoughtful translation does justice to Erpenbeck's masterly prose -- Emma Hagestadt * Independent *A literary event * MDR Figaro *A worthy winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2015, Erpenbeck's echoing story of a single woman's multiple lives [is] an inventive way of exploring the personal and the political. It's the kind of demanding novel that bears, and rewards, repeat reading. Spell-binding -- Lesley McDowell * Independent on Sunday *Her device of an ever-new beginning is a coup. But her refinement in the form of separating the individual stories and intermezzi gives the book the quality of a grand symphony... A great novel * Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung *An extraordinary piece of work... of immense ambition, both literary - each 'life' comes with its own prose rhythm, language and preoccupations - and politically... It is emotionally ravishing, philosophically provocative and, thanks to this wonderful translation by Susan Bernofsky, poetically lush -- Jane Graham * Big Issue *Wonderfully masterful and at the same time gentle and insightful * Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger *A memorable and haunting novel -- Christie Hickman * Sunday Express *[I've chosen] Jenny Erpenbeck's The End of Days for its epic sweep and ingenious structure -- Helen Simpson * Observer *This slim novel packs a mighty punch and richly deserves its numerous accolades -- Lucy Popescu * Huffington Post *What Erpenbeck perfectly captures in The End of Days is the urgency by which our lives are pushed forward, yet on the other hand the transitory, perhaps futile, nature of human existence -- Will Gore (syndicated review) * Belfast Telegraph, Irish Independent *A beautiful meditation on the different possible lives of one woman... The prose is spare and moving: the structure fascinating - all echoes and repeated motifs down the troubled twentieth century. Erpenbeck deftly weaves an understanding of how power and politics play out in an individual life... An intense study of guilt, grief, love and destiny... By the end of this concise novel [...] we have experienced something profound and important. Susan Bernofsky's translation skilfully conveys Erpenbeck's vision: to take us into the dark places and shed light there in unexpected ways. * New Books *

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Book SynopsisA chance encounter in New York brings two strangers together: Liat is an idealistic translation student, Hilmi a talented young painter. Together they explore the city, share fantasies, jokes and homemade meals, and fall in love. There is only one problem: Liat is from Israel, Hilmi from Palestine. Keeping their deepening relationship secret, the two lovers build an intimate universe for two in this city far from home. But outside reality can only be kept at bay for so long. After a tempestuous visit from Hilmi's brother, cracks begin to form in the relationship, and their points of difference - Liat's military service, Hilmi's hopes for Palestine's future - threaten to overwhelm their shared present. When they return separately to their divided countries, Liat and Hilmi must decide whether to keep going, or let go. A prizewinning bestseller, but banned in Israeli schools for its frank and tender depiction of a taboo relationship, this is the deeply affecting story of two people trying to bridge one of the most deeply riven borders in the world.Trade ReviewA touching, raw and gorgeous love story with an ending which snatched the air from my lungs. * Stylist *A fine, subtle and disturbing study of the ways in which public events encroach upon the private lives of those who attempt to live and love in peace with each other, and, impossibly, with a riven and irreconcilable world. -- John BanvilleEnthralls and delights ... Rabinyan beautifully loops the story from season to season, depicting Liat and Hilmi's lives and love vividly and memorably. * Publishers Weekly *I stand with Dorit Rabinyan. Love, not hate, will save us. Hatred sows hatred, but love can break down barriers. -- Svetlana Alexievich, winner of the Nobel Prize in LiteratureEven the (asymmetrical) tragedy of the two peoples does not overwhelm this precise and elegant love story, drawn with the finest of lines ... Astonishing -- Amos OzRabinyan is a generous writer who puts her characters first... Rabinyan's writing reflects the honesty and modesty of a true artisan. She is meticulous, to be sure, but at the same time she doesn't appear to be straining, and this is what sets someone like her apart from those who merely practice the craft of writing. -- Dorit Shilo * Ha’aretz *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the 2015 Man Booker International Prize War & War begins at a point of danger: on a dark train platform Korim is on the verge of being attacked and robbed by thuggish teenagers. From here, we are carried along by the insistent voice of this nervous clerk. Desperate, at times almost mad, but also keenly empathic, Korim has discovered in a small Hungarian town's archives an antique manuscript of startling beauty: it narrates the epic tale of brothers-in-arms struggling to return home from a disastrous war. Korim is determined to do away with himself, but before he commits suicide, he feels he must escape to New York with the precious manuscript and commit it to eternity by typing it all out onto the world wide web. Following Korim with obsessive realism through the streets of New York (from his landing in a Bowery flophouse to his move far uptown with a mad interpreter), War and War relates his encounters with a fascinating range of people in a world torn between viciousness and mysterious beauty. Following the eight chapters of War & War is a short 'prequel acting as a sequel', 'Isaiah', which brings us to a dark bar, years before in Hungary, where Korim rants against the world and threatens suicide. Written like nothing else (turning single sentences into chapters), War & War affirms W. G. Sebald's comment that Krasznahorkai's prose far surpasses all the lesser concerns of contemporary writing.Trade ReviewLászló Krasznahorkai writes prose of breathtaking energy and beauty. He manages to combine our most earthly concerns with large cosmic questions. His tones and textures are filled with both risk and certainty. He has elevated the novel form and is to be ranked among the great European novelists. * Colm Tóibín *As the worthy winner of this year's Man Booker International prize, Krasznahorkai throws down a challenge: raise your game or get your coat ... the intensity of his commitment to the art of fiction is indisputable ... exhilarating, even euphoric. -- Hari Kunzru * Guardian *The universality of Krasznahorkai's vision rivals that of Gogol's Dead Souls and far surpasses all the lesser concerns of contemporary writing. * W.G. Sebald *

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Book SynopsisWhen fifteen-year-old Anna begins receiving messages from another time, her parents take her to the doctor. But he can find nothing wrong; in fact he believes there may be some truth to what she is seeing. Anna is haunted by visions of the desolate world of 2082. She sees her great-granddaughter, Nova, roaming through wasteland with a band of survivors, after animals and plants have died out. The more Anna sees, the more she realises she must act to prevent the future in her visions becoming real. But can she act quickly enough?'Compelling' Sunday TimesTrade Reviewthe global warming wake-up call is compelling * SUNDAY TIMES *

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Book SynopsisTá an tUasal Ó Sé agus a mhadra dílis, Seoirse, ag dul amach ar cuairt ghairid chuig na siopaí. Tá dearmad déanta ag an Uasal Ó Sé ar a chuid eochracha, ach beidh Bean Uí Shé ann, mar a bhíonn sí i gcónaí, chun iad a ligean isteach. Ach ar an mbealach ar ais, tugann Seoirse faoi deara go bhfuil rud éigin amú – chas siad faoi dheis nuair ba chóir dóibh casadh faoi chlé, rud atá á dtabhairt níos faide ó bhaile. Chun rudaí a dhéanamh níos measa, tá an chuma air go mbeidh báisteach ann. Buaileann na seanchairde an bóthar ar thuras trasna Bhaile Átha Cliath agus trína gcuid cuimhní, atá, de réir cosúlachta, ag imeacht ceann ar cheann… Mr Bolton and his faithful dog, George, are just popping down to the shops. He forgot his keys, but Mrs Bolton will be there to let them in like always. But on the way back, George notices something wrong - they turned right when they should have turned left, bringing them farther from home. To make things worse, it's beginning to look like rain. The old friends set off on a journey across Dublin and through their memories, which seem to be disappearing one by one...

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of international bestseller The Eight Mountains comes a story of love and community in the wild beauty of the Italian AlpsThe remote alpine village of Fontana Fredda lives by the seasons. These quiet, complex rhythms appeal to Fausto, who has left the city of Milan behind, and with it his relationship. He takes a job as chef in a little restaurant and entrusts himself to new beginnings.Silvia is also seeking change: her sights are on the glaciers where, she has read, climbing a thousand metres towards the sky is equivalent to travelling ten times the same distance to the north. She is in search of her personal North Pole.When Fausto and Silvia meet one night, their story begins: a tender story of love and renewal; of the community that sustains them; and of lives humbled by the implacable strength and beauty of the mountains.As intimate in focus as it is epic in scope, The Lovers is a luminous meditation on our que

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Book Synopsis'Zweig's fictional masterpiece' GUARDIAN 'An intoxicating, morally shaking read... A real reminder of what fiction can do best' ALI SMITH 'It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this?' WES ANDERSON _______________ The only novel written by one of the most popular writers of the twentieth century In 1913, young second lieutenant Hofmiller discovers the terrible danger of pity. He had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance-so begins a series of visits, motivated by pity, which relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope. Stefan Zweig's unforgettable novel is a devastating depiction of the betrayal of both honour and love, amid the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.Trade Review'It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this?' - Wes Anderson'Zweig's fictional masterpiece' - The Guardian'It really touched me. I'm not an easy crier, not at all. But this book was one of the few moments that I found myself sobbing. It was a knife to my heart' - Shira Haas, star of the Netflix hit series 'Unorthodox''The novel I'll really remember reading this year is Stefan Zweig's frighteningly gripping Beware of Pity, first published in 1939 ... and part of the ongoing, valiant reprinting by Pushkin Press of Zweig's collected oeuvre; an intoxicating, morally shaking read about human responsibilities and a real reminder of what fiction can do best' - Ali Smith'An unremittingly tense parable about emotional blackmail, this is a book which turns every reader into a fanatic' - Julie Kavanagh, Intelligent Life (The Economist)

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Book SynopsisHere at last is an exciting new translation of the modernist Brazilian epic Macunaíma, by Mário de Andrade. This landmark novel from 1928 has been hugely influential. It follows the adventures of the shapeshifting Macunaíma and his brothers as they leave their home in the northern Amazon for a whirlwind tour of Brazil, cramming four centuries and a continental expanse into a single mythic plane. Having lost a magic amulet, the hero and his brothers journey to São Paulo to retrieve the talisman that has fallen into the hands of an Italo-Peruvian captain of industry (who is also a cannibal giant). Written over six delirious days – the fruit of years of study – Macunaíma magically synthesizes dialect, folklore, anthropology, mythology, flora, fauna, and pop culture to examine Brazilian identity. This brilliant translation by Katrina Dodson has been many years in the making and includes an extensive section of notes providing essential background information for this magnificent work.Trade Review‘Dodson’s translation captures all the playfulness of the Portuguese text. The Brazilian colloquialisms are transposed to a fizzy American vernacular, but flora and fauna maintain their original names, inviting a surrender to the story’s strange, defamiliarising atmosphere. Andrade conceived of Macunaíma as one long poem or “troubadour ballad”: we’re lucky to hear it sung in English.’ — Pablo Scheffer, Telegraph‘Macunaíma is above all a vision of mythical Brazilian consciousness, a picaresque epic of birth, triumph, decline and death.’ — New York Times ‘Katrina Dobson’s translation, employing a colloquial American diction with palpable African American and Deep South overtones, gives Macunaíma a consistent, credible voice in English. She inhabits and breathes life into the novel as though she were a revenant from the Brazilian jungle of a century ago…It is not only Brazil’s complexity that Mário de Andrade captures, but that of the Americas as a whole, and to some extent that of the entire modern world.’ — Stephen Henighan, Time Literary Supplement‘Macunaíma is a miracle. There’s nothing like it in all of literature. Katrina Dodson is a hero.’ — Mario Bellatin, author of Beauty Salon‘Macunaíma is a self-consciously nation-founding novel that reads like a thick broth of painful historical truth, quoted myth, and irreducible pleasures. Rarely is so much pleasure given and pain revealed by overlapping languages.’ — Arto Lindsay‘An explosion of language… The obvious comparison for English speakers would be Ulysses, as an encyclopedia of styles, of language forms.’ — Fredric Jameson‘He’s an anti-hero hero, questioning and contradictory. Macunaíma is an emblem of the marvelous, metamorphosed into the errant question mark of his one-legged constellation. An anti-normative hero who points to a future, eventually more open, world.’ — Haroldo de Campos‘Mário wrote our Odyssey and, with a swing of his native club, created our classical hero and the national poetic idiom for the next fifty years.’ — Oswald de Andrade‘A deliberately provocative text, slangy, comical, antiliterary, assuming all the apparent contradictions of the struggle against European seriousness in its various forms.‘ — Pascale Casanova‘We are so fortunate that Mário de Andrade’s rollicking Macunaíma is finally reappearing in English in Katrina Dodson’s dazzling translation.’ — John Keene, author of Counternarratives‘[T]old in urbane vernacular but with a vast vocabulary of indigenous words that would have been foreign even to metropolitan Brazil, [Macunaíma is] a reading experience that is wholly disorientating. It is also—perhaps rare for a modernist work—a lot of fun…. Andrade knew that the best way to begin a conversation was with a smile and a joke. Reading him almost a century later, his message is as simple and efficient as any good punchline: keep talking.’ — David McAllister, Prospect‘Dodson, a PEN Award–winning translator of Clarice Lispector, breathes new life into this spirited modernist classic from Brazillian writer de Andrade…Electrifying and perplexing, this cornerstone of Brazilian literature shouldn’t be missed.’ —Publishers Weekly, starred review ‘Over the course of seventeen chapters and an epilogue, violent parables and raunchy parodies nestle within one another to create a dazzling and chaotic Luso-tropical Holy Grail epic… Perhaps through Dodson’s masterful work, Andrade will finally be widely read alongside Joyce, Woolf, and Kafka, and Brazilian modernism will be cemented in a canon that has largely excluded authors from Latin America.’ — Meg Weeks, The Baffler

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Book SynopsisIngvild Rishøi was born and raised in Oslo. She has published several collections of stories and her debut novel Brightly Shining, originally titled Stargate, was published in Norway in 2021. It was instantly deemed a modern classic, solidifying her position as one of Scandinavia's most revered literary voices.

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Book SynopsisWith the death of her aunt, Maria Stepanova is left to sift through an apartment full of faded photographs, old postcards, letters, diaries, and heaps of souvenirs: a withered repository of a century of life in Russia. Carefully reassembled with calm, steady hands, these shards tell the story of how a seemingly ordinary Jewish family somehow managed to survive the myriad persecutions and repressions of the last century. Dipping into various forms – essay, fiction, memoir, travelogue and historical documents – Stepanova’s In Memory of Memory assembles a vast panorama of ideas and personalities and offers an entirely new and bold exploration of cultural and personal memory.Trade Review‘Stepanova’s tour de force blends memoir, literary criticism, essay and fiction. Although this is a personal and intimate work using photographs, postcards and diaries, it succeeds in mining a universal theme in contemporary Russian cultural life: how does a family – or a country – process the events of the past 100 years?’ — Viv Groskop, Guardian‘A brilliant evocation of the last years of the Soviet Union, extending deep into the past. In a work that crosses the boundaries of fiction and nonfiction, Russian poet and journalist Stepanova recounts the lives of her ancestors, rural Russian Jews who, on moving to Moscow, could never quite go home again…. Apart from delivering a mine of family and national history, Stepanova exercises a well-honed sense of the apposite literary allusion (“The chimneys in the view from the window resembled flowerpots, Kafka said something similar about them”). Stretching from the days before Lenin took power to the “Doctor’s Plot” and the collapse of the USSR and beyond, Stepanova’s book is lyrical and philosophical throughout…. A remarkable work of the imagination – and, yes, memory.’ — Kirkus, starred review‘This remarkable account of the author’s Russian-Jewish family expands into a reflection on the role of art and ethics in informing memory.… Stepanova is both sensitive and rigorous.’ — New Yorker‘A luminous, rigorous, and mesmerizing interrogation of the relationship between personal history, family history, and capital-H History. I couldn’t put it down; it felt sort of like watching a hypnotic YouTube unboxing-video of the gift-and-burden that is the twentieth century. In Memory of Memory has that trick of feeling both completely original and already classic, and I confidently expect this translation to bring Maria Stepanova a rabid fan base on the order of the one she already enjoys in Russia.’ — Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot‘There is simply no book in contemporary Russian literature like In Memory of Memory. A microcosm all its own, it is an inimitable journey through a family history which, as the reader quickly realizes, becomes a much larger quest than yet another captivating family narrative. Why? Because it asks us if history can be examined at all, yes, but does so with incredible lyricism and fearlessness. Because Stepanova teaches us to find beauty where no one else sees it. Because Stepanova teaches us to show tenderness towards the tiny, awkward, missed details of our beautiful private lives. Because she shows us that in the end our hidden strangeness is what makes us human. This, I think, is what makes her a truly major European writer. I am especially grateful to Sasha Dugdale for her precise and flawless translation which makes this book such a joy to read in English. This is a voice to live with.’ — Ilya Kaminsky, author of Deaf Republic‘Dazzling erudition and deep empathy come together in Maria Stepanova’s profound engagement with the power and potential of memory, the mother of all muses. An exploration of the vast field between reminiscence and remembrance, In Memory of Memory is a poetic appraisal of the ways the stories of others are the fabric of our history.’ — Esther Kinsky, author of Grove‘Extraordinary – a work of haunting power, grace and originality’ — Philippe Sands, author of East West Street‘The poet Maria Stepanova’s In Memory of Memory, beautifully translated by Sasha Dugdale, is a deeply intelligent quest for the significance of minutiae that survive while grand narratives of history sweep over them. It makes for powerful and magical reading, reminiscent of Nabokov’s Speak Memory. Time and again the sheer richness of the task sustains us and drives us on. This is a wholly marvellous book that extends our knowledge of all that is valued and lost.’ — George Szirtes, author of The Photographer at Sixteen

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Book Synopsis'An ambiguous horror story about egg donorship and the black market, it keeps the reader equally balanced between frustration and fascination. ' Daily Mail'An intricate, textured slow-burner that paints a vivid picture of a post-Soviet state where gangsters rule and the exploitation of the female body is big business' GuardianHelsinki, 2016. Olenka sits on a bench, watching a family play in a dog park. A stranger sits down beside her. Olenka startles; she would recognize this other woman anywhere. After all, Olenka was the one who ruined her life. And this woman may be about to do the same to Olenka. Yet, for a fragile moment, here they are, together - looking at their own children being raised by other people.Moving seamlessly between modern-day Finland and Ukraine in the early days of its post-Soviet independence, Dog Park is a keenly observed, dark and propulsive novel set at the intersection of East and West, centered in a web of exploitation and the commodification of the female body. Oksanen brings fearless psychological acuity to this captivating story about a woman unable to escape the memory of her lost child, the ruthless powers that still hunt her, and the lies that could well end up saving her.Trade ReviewAn ambiguous horror story about egg donorship and the black market, it keeps the reader equally balanced between frustration and fascination. * Daily Mail *Following her incredibly popular Purge, Sofi Oksanen gives us another propulsive thriller about a woman unable to forget her lost child and the web of lies she's built around herself. A novelist and playwright, Oksanen is one of the most awarded literary authors in Scandinavia; now, we get to experience the phenomenon. * Lit Hub *Fans of slow-burning suspense will find much to enjoy * Publishers Weekly *With the volatile European fertility market as her backdrop, a rising Scandinavian star poses troubling questions about the double-edged sword of motherhood and the rancorous debates over women's bodies * Oprah, Best Translated Books of 2021 *A remarkably ambitious story... Oksanen has much to say about the price of parenthood and the cost for young women who, with few other options to escape poverty, become egg donors or surrogates. Owen F. Witesman's translation conveys the mounting tension as Oksanen layers in shadowy, overlapping plotlines. * New York Times *Stunning and furious * Mesta, Finland *Sharp, sociocritical... Passionate drama, murder and revenge make this a thriller-like novel with a high level of suspense. * Bergens Tidende, Norway *An intricate, textured slow-burner that paints a vivid picture of a post-Soviet state where gangsters rule and the exploitation of the female body is big business * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisAmid ethnic violence, political corruption, and petty professional intrigue, an artist tries to live free of lies. Set during the last years of the Soviet Union, Stone Dreams tells the story of Azerbaijani actor Sadai Sadygly, who lands in a Baku hospital while trying to protect an elderly Armenian man from a gang of young Azerbaijanis. Something of a modern-day Don Quixote, Sadai has long battled the hatred and corruption he observes in contemporary Azerbaijani society. Wandering in and out of consciousness, he revisits his hometown, the ancient village of Aylis, where Christian Armenians and Muslim Azeris once lived peacefully together, and dreams of making a pilgrimage of atonement to Armenia. Stone Dreams is a searing, painful meditation on the ability of art and artists—of individual human beings—to make change in the world.

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Book Synopsis'I heard our grandmother asking what we were doing.'"Say something!" she demanded, threatening to tear out our tongues. Little did she know that one of us was holding her tongue in her hand.'Deep in Brazil's neglected Bahia hinterland, two sisters find an ancient knife beneath their grandmother's bed and, momentarily mystified by its power, decide to taste its metal. The shuddering violence that follows marks their lives and binds them together forever. Heralded as a new masterpiece and the most important Brazilian novel of this century, this fascinating and gripping story about the lives of subsistence farmers in the Brazil's poorest region, three generations after the abolition of slavery in that country is at once fantastic and realist, covering themes of family, spirituality, slavery and its aftermath and political struggle.Trade Review[Brazil's] deep-rooted racial and economic injustices are laid bare in one of the most celebrated Brazilian debut novels of recent times. -- Financial Times Best Books of the Year 2023A leading voice among the Black authors who have jolted Brazil's literary establishment in recent years with imaginative and searing works that have found commercial success and critical acclaim * New York Times *One of the great novels of the year... -- João Céu e Silva * Diário de Notícias *A tour de force of injustice, tragedy, affection and human dignity reminiscent of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables or John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Vieira Júnior's book garnered top literary prizes in Portugal and Brazil. Its author has drawn comparisons to Jorge Amado, the giant of Brazilian letters who introduced the magic and plight of Afro-Brazilians to the world. * Americas Quarterly *Beautiful, powerful and moving, he presents us with great literature with a simplicity that torments * Pessoa Magazine *Vieira Junior conveys the girls' childhood confusion and wonder in hypnotic prose, and he brings the close-knit Água Negra to life. This heralds the arrival of a welcome voice. * Publishers Weekly *Among the laudable feats Vieira Junior accomplishes in this novel is the way it gradually moves from a highly specific story to one with implications for a region's entire working class. A stirring, lived-in novel of struggles both personal and societal. -- starred review * Kirkus Reviews *Crooked Plow is a powerful novel set among a Black Brazilian farming community living on the edge of existence, whose people are resilient against historical forces and the individuals who oppress them.Each of the novel's three parts has a different narrator, including Bibiana, Belonísia, and an encantada. These respective narrators lead to rich interiority; the characterizations are deep, and the novel is layered in its rendering of events. The sometimes nonchronological narration goes back in time to reveal people's secrets, building suspense as it moves toward its unsettling, fitting conclusion. * Foreword Reviews *This powerful debut novel charts the plight of Brazil's poorest farmers scrabbling for subsistence on the land their enslaved ancestors worked. Initially centered on two sisters whose lives are changed forever by a catastrophic accident, the book explores themes of generational poverty and political strife through the lens of family bonds and the eyes of a once-revered Afro-Brazilian divinity. A bestseller in Brazil and lauded with literary accolades, the engrossing story gives visibility to many who have traditionally been marginalized. -- Becky Meloan * The Washington Post *Vivid ... a saga that tells not just the story of two siblings, but the enduring dysfunction of a nation. -- Oliver Basciano * ArtReview *A compelling chronicle ... Junior provides an immensely readable account of how men and women of no property have to deal with domestic, economic and state violence and of how story and language restore the dignity such people are so often denied -- Michael Cronin * Irish Times *Magic, social realism, and deep character studies grounded in a complex community are the hallmarks of this brilliant novel from a rising voice in Brazil. -- Molly Odintz * CrimeReads *A potential heir to the great Clarice Lispector, Vieira Junior, a Bahian native, sets his first story to appear in English among poor Afro-Brazilian tenant farmers...a contemporary Brazilian masterpiece. * The Center for Fiction *Five years after it was first published, 'the most important Brazilian novel of the century so far' finally makes its English-language debut. Believe the hype. -- Patrick Rapa * The Philadelphia Inquirer *Itamar Vieira Junior offers a salt-of-the-earth paean...a compelling vision of history's downtrodden and neglected. -- Anderson Tepper * The New York Times Book Review *Crooked Plow, with artistic clarity and beauty, presents racism and the spectre of slavery as the source of strife in the lives of contemporary Quilombolas ... A provocation to those who believe that simple perseverance will save the day. -- Angel Lambo * Frieze *[Crooked Plow] is rooted ... in the voices and languages of the sertão, in the names of the animals and plants, in the oral storytelling traditions of ancient communities, in the richness of the spirit world ... An impressive first novel by an important literary voice. -- Angel Gurría-Quintana * Financial Times *Crooked Plow brings to vivid light the harsh realities of tenant farmers exploited by land owners who enrich themselves on the backs of the workers and yet still take much of what little the farmers save for themselves. The novel resonates with the "sounds of animals, of rustling leaves, of flowing water. the sound[s] of the world" - an illuminating journey in a dark time. -- K. M. Sandrick * The Historical Novel Society *Vieira brings both sisters to electric life, but Belonísia's narration is especially immediate and moving. It would be a privilege to share a tongue with her. -- Lily Meyer * NPR *Crooked Plow is a powerful and piercing book that follows the lives of two sisters, their family, and a disembodied spirit in the hinterlands of Bahia, Brazil. The sisters, who use the same voice after an accident takes the ability to speak away from one of them, grow and follow their own life paths confronting poverty, racial injustice, and the threat of being removed from the land they are profoundly attached to. -- David Martinez * Full Stop *Subtle and profound ... Crooked Plow balances a portrait of inner lives with a thoughtful treatment of grand sociohistorical forces -- Franklin Nelson * Times Literary Supplement *Crooked Plow is a tour-de-force that deeply humanizes those who bear the unspeakable burdens of colonialism in the Americas, making their gestures appear through writing that pays close attention to hidden languages of care. -- Ana Laura Malmaceda * Words Without Borders *Vieira Junior emphasizes that legacy and history are not always a curse. Rather, their persistence is a form of resistance to the dehumanization wrought upon the family by slavery's shadow...The book's success in Brazil exemplifies a trend in the country's literary landscape toward novels told from the perspective of the historically oppressed. In the past five years, Vieira Junior has been an integral member of a group of Brazilian writers who, in depicting racism and slavery through the viewpoint of racial minorities and enslaved peoples, remind us of Brazil's painful colonial history while returning agency to those who suffered under its one-sided narration. -- Jimin Kang * The Nation *Translated into more than ten languages, Crooked Plow has received wide acclaim, both for its poignant story of social struggles and for the empathetic depiction of the quilombolas' lives and traditions. Also remarkable is its vivid imagery and the colorful vocabulary typical of Brazil's Northeast. These are aptly maintained in Johnny Lorenz's excellent translation, which employs various Portuguese words and expressions present in the original, thus avoiding unwieldy footnotes or glossaries while offering English-language readers a taste for the distinct language of the Brazilian sertão. -- Cristina Pinto-Bailey * World Literature Today *Lorenz's English translation deserves credit for conveying the understated lyricism and concentrated power of Vieira Junior's storytelling ... Crooked Plow is highly readable fiction, a flowing and clear novel that wears its experimentalism lightly while exploring a long history of exploitation and resistance. -- Cate Farr * Oxonian Review *Crooked Plow is a novel that shows us, through magic and murder, how the tongue can also be a fire in the greatest sense-one that can alter lives, spark movements and claim freedoms -- Laura Garmeson * Asymptote Journal *

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

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Book SynopsisThe first thrilling standalone crime novel from the international number one bestseller and Sweden's answer to Val McDermid, Anders de la Motte.'Enthralling...De la Motte juxtaposes the horrors of war with age-old superstitions to superb effect' Joan Smith, Sunday TimesSouthern Sweden: Beautiful countryside, endless forests, coastal walks, dark days - and even darker nights. But beneath the beauty lies a dark heart . . .Skåne, 1986: On the night of Walpurgis, the eve of May Day, where bonfires are lit to ward off evil spirits and preparations are made to celebrate the renewal of spring, a sixteen-year-old girl is ritualistically murdered in the woods beside a castle. Her stepbrother is convicted of the terrible deed and shortly after, the entire family vanishes without a trace.Spring, 2019: Dr Thea Lind moves into the castle. After making a strange discovery in an ancient oak tree on the grounds, her fascination with the old tragedy deepens. As she uncovers more and more similarities between her own troubled past and the murdered girl, she begins to believe that the real truth of the killing was never uncovered.What if the spring of 1986 claimed more than one victim?'A mesmerising amalgam of creepy folklore, festering secrets, dark truths and a damp and mouldering Scandinavian landscape rendered so dark and brooding that is becomes a principal player in this slow-burn, addictive tale' Lancashire Evening PostTrade ReviewEnthralling...De la Motte juxtaposes the horrors of war with age-old superstitions to superb effect -- Joan Smith * Sunday Times *Rites of Spring is an evocative exploration of an old mystery. Dr Thea Lind moves to the small community of Tornaby in southern Sweden and is drawn into the investigation of a murder long considered solved. Anders de la Motte crafts a powerful and enthralling tale that's capped by a twist that makes it all the more satisfying * Adam Hamdy *Rites of Spring is a classy slice of classic Scandi Noir with all the right ingredients - a rural community in which everyone harbours secrets, a murdered girl, a possible miscarriage of justice, and a creepy belief in ancient folklore - I literally couldn't read it fast enough! * Alison Belsham *A mesmerising amalgam of creepy folklore, festering secrets, dark truths and a damp and mouldering Scandinavian landscape rendered so dark and brooding that it becomes a principal player in this slow-burn, addictive tale * Lancashire Evening Post *

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Book SynopsisA chilling new case for Thora Gudmundsdottir, from Iceland''s answer to Stieg Larsson.When all contact is lost with two Icelanders working in a harsh and sparsely populated area on the northeast coast of Greenland, Thora is hired to investigate. Is there any connection with the woman who vanished from the site some months earlier? Why are the locals so hostile? And could one of the team staying at the site with Thora be responsible for the disappearances?Already an international bestseller, this fourth book to feature Thora Gudmundsdottir (''a delight'' - Guardian) is chilling, unsettling and compulsively readable.Trade ReviewYrsa is one of the most exciting new voices in the crime thriller world. -- Peter JamesHenning Mankell and Stieg Larsson have helped to make Scandinavian crime fiction a global phenomenon, but if you're looking for something a bit different try this Icelandic writer and her feisty lawyer heroine, Thora. * Mail on Sunday *A 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 RobinsonPut simply, it's terrifying. And brilliant. * Stylist *

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Book Synopsis***Longlisted for the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger 2023***"If there's an entry point into the work of the enduring, award-winning Italian writer Erri De Luca, then N.S. Thompson's excellent translation is surely it ... Thoughtful and wise about life and landscape, it's the most cerebral of whodunnits" Ben East, Observer Two men go walking in the Dolomites, but not together; one falls to his death, the other reports the body. Is it coincidence that they knew each other in earlier years, and that one had betrayed the other?Impossible is at once a game of cat-and-mouse in which the prisoner, a survivor of a left-wing cadre now long dispersed, holds his own. Nor is he crushed by his solitary confinement from which he communicates with his distant beloved. This novel is a brilliant hymn to the lure of the mountains, an engrossing illumination of political brotherhood, and also the subtlest of detective stories.Trade ReviewIf there's an entry point into the work of the enduring, award-winning Italian writer Erri De Luca, then N.S. Thompson's excellent translation is surely it . . . Thoughtful and wise about life and landscape, it's the most cerebral of whodunnits * Observer *A unique and remarkable novel * La Croix *The only true first-rate writer that the new millennium has given us so far * Corriere della Sera *

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Book SynopsisÁróra returns to Iceland when her estranged sister goes missing, and her search leads to places she could never have imagined. A chilling, tense thriller – FIRST in an addictive, nerve-shattering new series – from one of Iceland’s bestselling authors…‘Icelandic crime writing at its finest … immersive and unnerving’ Shari Lapena‘Best-selling Icelandic crime-writer Sigurðardóttir has built a formidable reputation with just four novels, but here she introduces a new protagonist who is set to cement her legacy’ Daily Mail‘Another bleak, unpredictable classic’ Metro**Winner: Best Icelandic Crime Novel of the Year**––––––––––––––Icelandic sisters Áróra and Ísafold live in different countries and aren‘t on speaking terms, but when their mother loses contact with Ísafold, Áróra reluctantly returns to Iceland to find her sister. But she soon realises that her sister isn’t avoiding her … she has disappeared, without trace. As she confronts Ísafold’s abusive, drug-dealing boyfriend Björn, and begins to probe her sister’s reclusive neighbours – who have their own reasons for staying out of sight – Áróra is led into an ever-darker web of intrigue and manipulation. Baffled by the conflicting details of her sister’s life, and blinded by the shiveringly bright midnight sun of the Icelandic summer, Áróra enlists the help of police officer Daníel, as she tries to track her sister’s movements, and begins to tail Björn – but she isn’t the only one watching…Slick, tense, atmospheric and superbly plotted, Cold as Hell marks the start of a riveting, addictive new series from one of Iceland’s bestselling crime writers.–––––––––––––––––‘Lilja Sigurðardóttir doesn’t write cookie-cutter crime novels. She is aware that “the fundamentals of existence are totally incomprehensible and chaotic”: anything can and does happen … Isn’t that what all crime writers should aim for?’ The Times‘The blinding midnight sun in Iceland’s summer is beautifully evoked as Áróra establishes herself as a heroine to move the heart’ Daily Mail‘Lilja is a standout voice in Icelandic Noir, and this book does not disappoint … Cold as Hell is her best yet’ James Oswald ‘Domestic abuse, high-finance hanky-panky, and illegal immigration all figure in this arresting series launch … sure to please Scandi noir fans’ Publishers Weekly ‘What sets Lilja’s work apart is her ability to thread dark atmospheric tension throughout her writing and to keep the tale so taut … a slick, refreshing, glacial blast of a thriller’ LoveReading‘So atmospheric’ Crime Monthly‘Intricate, enthralling and very moving – a wonderful crime novel’ William Ryan‘Three things we love about Cold as Hell: Iceland’s unrelenting midnight sun; the gritty Nordic murder mystery; the peculiar and bewitching characters’ Apple Books‘Lilja Sigurðardóttir just gets better and better … Áróra is a wonderful character: unique, passionate, unpredictable and very real’ Michael RidpathPraise for Lilja Sigurðardóttir'Smart writing with a strongly beating heart' Big Issue'Tough, uncompromising and unsettling' Val McDermid'Tense and pacey' Guardian'Deftly plotted' Financial Times‘An emotional suspense rollercoaster on a par with The Firm, as desperate, resourceful, profoundly lovable characters scheme against impossible odds’ Alexandra Sokoloff'Tense, edgy and delivering more than a few unexpected twists and turns' Sunday Times‘The intricate plot is breathtakingly original, with many twists and turns you never see coming. Thriller of the year’ New York Journal of Books'Taut, gritty and thoroughly absorbing' Booklist'A stunning addition to the icy-cold crime genre' Foreword Reviews For fans of Katrine Engberg, Eva Bjorg Aegisdottir, Arne Dahl and Sarah Vaughan

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Book SynopsisThe electrifying new novel from the sensational bestselling winners of the International Booker Prize and ''one of the boldest writers alive today'' (Max Porter).It's been a long time since a book has destroyed me like this.'' Max Porter''Obsessed me from the first line.'' Daisy Johnson''I''m in awe.'' Brandon TaylorWINNER OF THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR FICTION 2024In the tempestuous summer of 2005, a local veterinarian becomes enraptured by a 14-year-old farmer's daughter his favourite' as he tends her father's cows. This deeply troubled soul is our narrator: a man who believes he offers the object of his love a tantalizing path out of the constrictions of her conservative rural life, a chance to escape to a world of fantasy. But the obsessive reliance he cultivates builds into a terrifying trap, with a crime and confession at the heart of it that threatens to rip their small community apart.''Mesmerising . . . A singular, deeply discomforting talent.' Financial Times''An extraordinary literary achievement.' Daily Telegraph *****I was floored by this novel . . . Unholy brilliance.' Observer''A unique creation and a tour de force of transgressive imagination.' Guardian (Book of the Day)

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

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

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Book SynopsisPenguin''s commemorative hardback reissue of One Hundred Years of Solitude by late Nobel laureate and author Gabriel García Márquez is a timeless classic and the perfect Christmas gift for any booklover.Gabriel García Márquez has been one of the undisputed literary giants of the past century; his stories are vivid, energetic, tender and unforgettable; they have touched the lives of readers across the globe and earned him countless awards including the Nobel Prize for Literature.In the wake of the author''s death, his most beloved novel is reissued in commemorative hardback edition. One Hundred Years of Solitude is endlessly fascinating, an intricately patterned work of fiction and a joyful, irrepressible celebration of humanity. Vibrantly colourful and teeming with life, this timeless tale blends the natural with the supernatural in one of the most magical reading experiences on earth.''Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.''Gabriel Garcia Marquez''s great masterpiece is the story of seven generations of the Buendia family and of Macondo, the town they have built. Though little more than a settlement surrounded by mountains, Macondo has its wars and disasters, even its wonders and its miracles. A microcosm of Columbian life, its secrets lie hidden, encoded in a book, and only Aureliano Buendia can fathom its mysteries and reveal its shrouded destiny. Blending political reality with magic realism, fantasy and comic invention, One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the most daringly original works of the twentieth century.''Dazzling'' The New York TimesTrade ReviewThe book that sort of saved my life -- Emma ThompsonThe greatest novel in any language of the last 50 years -- Salman RushdieShould be required reading for the entire human race * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisAmidst the seedy hotels and deserted campsites of the Costa Brava, someone has gone missing.A detective sets out to find them. They search among the hapless girls, failed poets, and shifty policemen that populate this dream world but every door opens onto a nightmare.An experimental novella, spliced together in vignettes, Antwerp is Roberto Bolaño's first work of fiction. A personal declaration of the power of literature, to read it is to be present at the big bang' of Bolaño's enterprise into prose, to see the beginning, to witness the moment when his talent explodes.TRANSLATED BY NATASHA WIMMER''A fascinating, even compulsory addition to the Bolaño fan's bookshelf'' Daily TelegraphBolaño set a new speed limit for literature. He simply wrote past other authors... His books are volcanic, perilous, charged with infectious erotic energy and demonic lucidity' Benjamín Labatut, author of The Maniac

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Book SynopsisWelcome to 1990s Norway. White picket fences run in neat rows and Christian conservatism runs deep. But as the Artist considers her past, her practice and her hatred, things start stirring themselves up around her. In a corner of Oslo a coven of witches begin cooking up some curses. A time-travelling Edvard Munch arrives in town to join a death metal band, closely pursued by the teenaged subject of his painting Puberty, who has murder on her mind. Meanwhile, out deep in the forest, a group of school girls get very lost and things get very strange. And awful things happen in aspic.Jenny Hval's latest novel is a radical fusion of feminist theory and experimental horror, and a unique treatise on magic, writing and art.Trade Review"Hval's curiosity is more than simple pleasure in perversity: It's meant to defile the idea of women's bodies as pristine and plush . and reshape it into something more dreadfully real. Maybe more revolutionary than that transfiguration is her disemboweling of desire itself, unraveling it to its fearsome, primal state, and exploring the strangeness of how sexuality can alienate one from oneself; how feelings of mistrust come about when desire is new, queer and unreliable." * NPR *"Strange and lyrical . Hval's writing is surreal and rich with the grotesque banalities of human existence." * Publishers Weekly *"The themes of alienation, queerness, and the unsettling nature of desire align Hval with modern mainstays like Chris Kraus, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Maggie Nelson."-Pitchfork * Pitchfork *"Hval's surreal debut riffs on the same layered intricacies as her music, transcending simple categorisation to create a dreamy landscape both separate and a part of what we recognise as reality." * Stinging Fly *"With the release of the newly translated Paradise Rot, we can experience her artistic evolution beyond the shape of a timeline, as a series of challenging examinations melting and bending in on themselves . Listening to-or now reading-her work feels like getting jettisoned into an underwater reality that fantastically mirrors our own. It would be entirely terrifying, if exploring it weren't so much fun." * The Nation *A sensual, putrid reimagining of the original sin that explores the dynamics between two young women . [a] striking debut novel . To read Paradise Rot is to inhabit one of Hval's eerie, theory-conscious soundscapes. As in a dream, the closeness of this world to our own and its simultaneous uncanny otherness, awash with potent symbolism, leaves us looking at everything anew. It took nine years to be translated into English; I only hope we needn't wait so long for the two other books, already published in Norwegian, from this talented polymath. * Financial Times *"All I can say is with no electricity I read Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval in the dark tonight by flashlight, in one go. It will not let go of you. A surreal *and* realist gem of sensation and detail and character. Beautiful and boldly written" * Jeff VanderMeer, author of Annihilation *Astute * Kirkus Reviews *[Girls Against God] is part fever dream, part manifesto, and part nostalgic reminiscing, with a hefty dose of feminist and queer theory for good measure. ... Chaotic yet ordered, Hval dives deeply into the process of self-discovery. [Her] language is visceral and haunting, corporal and carnal. -- Carolyn Ciesla * Booklist *This genre-bending novel from a self-described gloomy child queen blends feminism and the occult with a touch of time travel. -- Joshunda Sanders * Boston Globe *[An] incendiary genre-bending novel. ... Throughout, Hval employs a dirge-like repetition of themes (feminist rage prominent among them), which enlivens her witchy visions and sets the stage for a reincarnated Edvard Munch, on the run from the vengeful subject of his painting Puberty. Hval's fascinating exploration is not for the faint of heart, but those who like it dark will find this right up their alley. * Publishers Weekly *The atmosphere of Girls against God is on its surface bleak and unforgiving and yet beneath that impression there is a second story about the strength and solidarity of despised women. -- David Renton * Morning Star *[In] Girls Against God, Hval plunges up to her elbows in the thick, black, chthonic goo of rebellion and angst, through the quintessentially Scandinavian medium of black metal. The black-metal scene has historically been extremely sexist, but Hval reclaims it for the hateful, nihilistic teenage girls of the world with a decades-spanning tale of cinematic terrorism, political witchcraft, and satanic noise. * The A.V. Club (5 new books to read in October) *What begins with dressing as a goth and cursing at school morphs into witches' covens and fantastic demonic, cannibalistic banquets. Along the way Hval segues into the role of language (Norwegian, but also English) as a tool of both suppression and liberation, and the role of digital technology in the same. -- ArtReview * Mark Rappolt *Hval is one of the few musicians to branch out into the world of literary fiction. For Hval, it is a sideline that makes total sense, working as an extension of her atmospheric sound and descriptive, inquisitive lyrics. -- Leonie Cooper * Guardian *It is Hval's unflinching attitude to mixing genres that has brought both her essays and her bewitching, otherworldly music to critical acclaim...Hval is best in her moments of dark humour and in her writing on femininity. -- Baya Simons * Financial Times *Ambitious...[Girls Against God] has much of interest to say about the loneliness and pleasure of adolescent blasphemy, with totems of patriarchal Norwegian authority such as Knut Hamsun, Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Munch, and the Lutheran church singled out in the narrator's crosshairs. -- George MacBeth * Asymptote Journal *Anti-bourgeois and feminist, soaked in conviction and rage. -- Cal Revely-Calder * Telegraph *Strange and seductive and challenging and, at times, very funny ... a reminder that musician-turned-author Hval, is one of the most intriguing, provocative artists around at the moment. -- Teddy Jamieson * Herald *Girls Against God covers every angsty young woman's favourite subjects. Witchcraft, heavy metal, viscera, and hatred. It's a book in the grand tradition of Kathy Acker and women surrealists everywhere, dancing through space and time into different dimensions. -- India Lewis * The Arts Desk *An excellent, bewitching read. Jenny Hval's musical ability makes her a natural novelist - her writing often feeling like a blend of lyrics and essays. Girls Against God is a terrifying, striking fusion of the occult and female repression. -- Laura Mehers * Indiependent *In Girls Against God, Hval challenges the form and conventions of the novel once again: a vivid, seething voice narrates a series of apocalyptic events cut together with food fights, black metal shows, black magic, and surreal, witchy rituals. -- Alexandra Kleeman * Lit Hub *Hval, who is known for using body imagery to express political ideas about art, depicts cultish rituals to subvert what she sees as "the restrictive framework of our daily lives." * New Yorker *Girls Against God is compelling, surprising, and frequently inspiring. ... laced throughout with powerful urban imagery and striking turns of phrase. -- Andrea Tallarita * PopMatters *Truly transgressive -- Terri-Jane Dow * Severine *[Girls Against God] is a must-read for anyone looking for a mystifying, genre-bending read. -- Hannah May-Powers * The Tulane Hullabaloo *Riveting ... Like the French philosopher Luce Irigaray, [Hval] explores ideas of what a feminist or radical language would sound like. -- Sukhdev Sandhu * Guardian *Hval is steeped in the traditions of autofiction and the theoretical novel. ... The plot aspires toward an "escape route from structure and rhetoric," and makes room for thrilling observations on art, magic, and rebirth. -- Jenn Pelly * Pitchfork (Favourite Music Books of 2020) *If Girls Against God were an artwork, it would be a Munch - raw, dark and seething. -- Chloë Ashby * Times Literary Supplement *Readers drawn to more experimental literature will feel strangely at home in Jenny Hval's novel. For all of Girls Against God's baffling imagery and cryptic dialogue, the narrator registers as an individual longing for an existence outside the binary of light and dark, good and evil; a voice oppressed by a lifetime of being told it must be saved because it is lost, one that sees in the archetype of the witch not a heretic or a deviant but something more elemental: someone who is free. -- Zack Ravas * Zyzzyva *[Hval] pries into black metal's past to present an alternative, radical, and genuinely liberating trajectory for black metal to exist as a dissident art form. -- William Peel * Overland *Hval's writing embraces finding new ways to express thought patterns, experiences, and stories-and encourages people to let go of logic rather than look for the familiar markers of institutionally accepted creative writing. -- Nathania Gilson * Hazlitt *To say that Jenny Hval has an impressive creative range is an understatement ... Girls Against God is ambitious, with a plot that blends time travel, black metal, witchcraft, and film theory. -- Tobias Carroll * Tor *

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Book Synopsis ** Sunday Times Crime Book of the Month **The exhilarating new Inspector Adamsberg novel from France's multi-million-copy bestselling crime fiction star**A NEW STATESMAN BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020**'Adamsberg is one of my favourite detectives... I so enjoyed This Poison Will Remain' ANN CLEEVESAfter three elderly men are bitten by spiders, everyone assumes that their deaths are tragic accidents. But at police headquarters in Paris, Inspector Adamsberg begins to suspect that the case is far more complex than first appears.It isn't long before Adamsberg is investigating a series of rumours and allegations that take him to the south of France. Decades ago, at La Miséricorde orphanage, shocking events took place involving the same species of spider: the recluse.For Adamsberg, these haunting crimes hold the key to proving that the three men were targeted by an ingenious serial killer. His team, however, is not convinced. He must put his reputation on the line to trace the murderer before the death toll rises..._______________________PRAISE FOR THIS POISON WILL REMAIN:'Absorbing... Full of twists and spiced with Vargas's characteristic wit and style' PETER ROBINSON'Vargas is an addictive writer whose surreal touches create a curiously solid world' INDEPENDENT'Vargas's books are...cunning, corkscrew murder mysteries' A.J. FINNTrade ReviewThrilling… Breathtakingly original… A wildly inventive plot that puts Vargas’s real-life expertise (she is an archaeologist) to brilliant use * Sunday Times, Crime Book of the Month *I so enjoyed This Poison Will Remain, real vintage Vargas: playful, thought-provoking, a total delight. And beautifully translated. Adamsberg is one of my favourite detectives -- ANN CLEEVES, author of the Shetland seriesIn This Poison Will Remain, Fred Vargas has delivered an absorbing plot full of twists and spiced with her characteristic wit and style. Adamsberg is a terrific creation and his team of misfits a joy to watch in action -- PETER ROBINSON, author of the DCI Banks seriesFred Vargas’s books are murder mysteries, yes – cunning, corkscrew murder mysteries – but so much else besides: delicate comedies, engrossing tours of French geography and history, fascinating excursions into folklore and myth -- A.J. FINN, author of The Woman in the WindowVargas has as loving and sharp an eye for provincial French eccentrics as Simenon... Vargas is an addictive writer whose surreal touches create a curiously solid world * Independent *

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Book Synopsis

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