Fiction in translation

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA stunning addition to the literature of eccentricity * The New York Times *A spellbinder from beginning to end, an edgy masterpiece * Chicago Sun-Times *Like Kafka, Abe's work reveals an astonishing ability to create dreamlike events * Chicago Tribune *

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Book SynopsisSet in post-war Switzerland, Fleur Jaeggy's novel begins simply and innocently enough: `At fourteen I was a boarder in a school in the Appenzell'. But there is nothing truly simple or innocent here. With the offhanded knowingness of a remorseless young Eve, the narrator describes life as a captive of the school and her designs to win the affections of the seemingly perfect new girl, Frederique. As she broods over her schemes as well as on the nature of control and madness, the novel gathers a suspended, unsettling energy.Trade Review`A wonderful, brilliant, savage writer.' Susan Sontag ---------- `Fleur Jaeggy's pen is an engraver's needle depicting roots, twigs, and branches of the tree of madness - extraordinary.' Joseph Brodsky ---------- `She has the enviable first glance for people and things, she harbors a mixture of distracted levity and authoritative wisdom.' Ingeborg Bachmann ---------- `Small-scale, intense, and impeccably focused.' New Yorker ----------'Nothing rivals its intensity.' Los Angeles Times ---------- 'How a novel could be so chilly and so passionate at the same time is a puzzle, but that icy-hot quality is only one of the distinctions of Sweet Days of Discipline.' Newsday ----------- 'Startling and original-so disturbing and so haunting.' The New York Review of Books----'Thank the gods and tip the devil for Fleur Jaeggy!'Claire-Louise Bennett, author of Pond

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Book SynopsisTurgenev's masterpiece about the conflict between generations is as fresh, outspoken, and exciting today as it was in when it was first published in 1862.

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Book Synopsis'Chilling.' Vogue'As unusual as it is alluring.' Elle'Delightfully disturbing.' Refinery 29'Very powerful.' Sayaka Murata'Disquieting.' Paula Hawkins'You will be obsessed.' Leila SlimaniThe Woman in the Purple Skirt is being watched. Someone is following her, always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes; what she eats; whom she speaks to. But this invisible observer isn't a stalker - it's much more complicated than that.Trade Review'Very powerful . . . Meticulous and extremely precise . . . Reading this book made me feel like I was in an unstable and strange world.' - Sayaka Murata'A breathless novel that depicts with sly humor the strange relationship between two women in contemporary Japan. You too will be obsessed with the Woman in the Purple Skirt and held in suspense until the last page.' - Leila Slimani'Imamura definitely has a rare talent for depicting people who are a little out of the ordinary. . . . By the time I got to the end, a powerful sense of the narrator's loneliness forcing its way through the madness gripped my heart.' - Yoko Ogawa'Reading this novel, you can really hear Natsuko Imamura's unique voice, which comes across quite unsparingly and beautifully.' - Hiromi Kawakami'Imamura offers her reader crisp, refreshing prose. The Woman in the Purple Skirt will keep you firmly in its grips with its persistent, disquieting, matter-of-fact style.' - Oyinkan Braithwaite'A chilling tale of envy and vulnerability. Clear space on your reading list now.' - Vogue'A voyeuristic thriller . . . This study in fascination, translated from Japanese, is as unusual as it is alluring.' - Elle'Delightfully disturbing . . . Imamura does weird singularly well, and keeps the suspense taut throughout the novel, always teasing an answer to the questions: Why this woman? What makes her so special? What makes any of us worth watching at all?' - Refinery 29'Disquieting and wryly funny, The Woman in the Purple Skirt is a taut and compelling depiction of loneliness and obsession.' - Paula Hawkins

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Book SynopsisWhen the ambitious but inept clerk Frans Laarmans is offered a job managing an Edam distribution company in Antwerp, he jumps at the chance, despite his professed dislike for cheese in all its forms. He soon finds himself submerged in a bureaucratic nightmare as his complete incompetence becomes apparent. Meanwhile, his offices fill up with a seemingly infinite supply of the distinctive red-skinned cheeses, which he has no idea how to sell. Skewering the pomposity of big business while revealing how an entrepreneurial spirit can often be a mask for buffoonery, Willem Elsschot’s Cheese combines comedy and pathos in its depiction of a man trying to progress beyond his limited skill set. As poignant as it is funny, Cheese will appeal to anyone who has suffered the endless indignities of office life.

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the International Booker Prize 20201872. The pampas of Argentina. China is a young woman eking out an existence in a remote gaucho encampment. After her no-good husband is conscripted into the army, China bolts for freedom, setting off on a wagon journey through the pampas in the company of her new-found friend Liz, a settler from Scotland. While Liz provides China with a sentimental education and schools her in the nefarious ways of the British Empire, their eyes are opened to the wonders of Argentina’s richly diverse flora and fauna, cultures and languages, as well as to the ruthless violence involved in nation-building.This subversive retelling of Argentina’s foundational gaucho epic Martín Fierro is a celebration of the colour and movement of the living world, the open road, love and sex, and the dream of lasting freedom. With humour and sophistication, Gabriela Cabezón Cámara has created a joyful, hallucinatory novel that is also an incisive critique of national myths.Trade ReviewInternational Booker Prize (Shortlist)"A thrilling and mystical miniature epic." —The Guardian"[The Adventures of China Iron] reminds us, in Cabezón Cámara’s entrancing poetry, how magical and frankly unpleasant it is to live through history." —New York Times"[The Adventures of China Iron] compels readers to examine critically not only the biases of the myths we celebrate, but also how they seep into our contemporary understandings of nationhood." —LA Review of Books"Brilliantly translated by Fiona Mackintosh and Iona Macintyre, this is a heartfelt, dreamlike paean to Argentina’s past and what might have been had the pampas been left alone." —The Times Literary Supplement"Cabezón Cámara’s exciting LGBTQ look at pioneers of the pampas makes for a rewarding and subversive treat." —Publishers Weekly"Shaking loose new possibilities for how we might reshape the present precisely by unsettling something seemingly so settled as the past." —Music & Literature"Daring." —The Financial Times"A daring, playful story." —New Statesman"A wonderful reading experience, filled with light, joy, discovery, friendship, and love." —The Massachusetts Review"An unexpected ride that delivers on all accounts." —DIVA Magazine"By disrupting pedagogical nationalist representations, Cámara’s story enables all those places in the margins to re-signify constructs of the Argentine people." —WasafiriBest books published in Latin America 2017. —New York Times (Español)"A transformative adventure, wholly romantic and sublime, at times even supernatural in its message of discovery." —Books and Bao"A thrilling book that has a little of everything that I look for in a novel." —SubText"10 Best Translated Books 2019" —Books and BaoGlobetrotting: Your sneak preview of books in translation —New York Times"It’s moving and intelligent and funny and all of it is fun (so much fun)." —Mark Haber, Brazos Bookstore"Best books dealing with feminism, sisterhood and queerness" —Pagina/12"With a touch of whimsy, ‘The Adventures of China Iron’ rewrites a historical narrative and renders spaces inclusive." —Daily Star"Best Books of 2017" —Los inRockuptibles"20 Best Latin American books 2017" —El País**********Praise for Gabriela Cabezón CámaraSilverio Cañada Memorial Prize (Shortlist)"Queer writing at its most exhilarating." —The Times Literary Supplement"Cámara’s breakout tale is mind-blowingly good." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"A revelation for contemporary literature."" —Andrés Neuman , author of TRAVELLER OF THE CENTURY and TALKING TO OURSELVESGlobetrotting: Your sneak preview of books in translation —New York Times"Cámara has a powerful voice, one to be taken seriously." —Library Journal"Cabezón Cámara’s exuberant range of styles truly shines." —Asymptote"Book of the Year 2009." —Rolling Stone (Argentina)**********

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Book SynopsisA new English translation of one of the most important, controversial Iranian novels of the twentieth centuryWinner of the 2023 Lois Roth Persian Translation Award A Penguin ClassicWritten by one of the greatest Iranian writers of the twentieth century, Blind Owl tells a two-part story of an isolated narrator with a fragile relationship with time and reality. In first person, the narrator offers a string of hazy, dreamlike recollections fueled by opium and alcohol. He spends time painting the exact same scene on the covers of pen cases: an old man wearing a cape and turban sitting under a cypress tree, separated by a small stream from a beautiful woman in black who offers him a water lily. In a one-page transition, the reader finds the narrator covered in blood and waiting for the police to arrest him. In part two, readers glimpse the grim realities that unlock the mysteries of the first part. In a new translation that reflects Hedayat’s converTrade Review“a much-needed and clear translation”—Amir-Hussein Radjy, The New York Times“The eerie, phantasmal Blind Owl…possesses the fully dimensional oddness of a vivid dream, which one can mine for interpretations, analyze for influences or simply submit to.”—Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal

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Book Synopsis'A beautifully written, dreamlike book . A story of sex, crime and death, Our Lady of the Flowers is a powerful and original debut novel, which put Genet into the front rank of French writers.

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Book SynopsisIn this masterful novel by the acclaimed Indian writer Vivek Shanbhag, a close-knit family is delivered from near-destitution to sudden wealth after a miraculous change in fortune. As the narrator, along with his sister, his parents, and his uncle move from a cramped shack to a larger house and encounter new-found wealth, the family dynamics begin to shift. As the dream of middle-class, aspirational living comes true, allegiances and desires realign; marriages are arranged and begin to falter; and conflict brews ominously in the background.

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Book SynopsisA Dog''s Heart: An Appalling Story is Mikhail Bulgakov''s hilarious satire on Communist hypocrisies. This Penguin Classics edition is translated with notes by Andrew Bromfield, and includes an introduction by James Meek.In this surreal work by the author of The Master and Margarita, wealthy Moscow surgeon Filip Preobrazhensky implants the pituitary gland and testicles of a drunken petty criminal into the body of a stray dog named Sharik. As the dog slowly transforms into a man, and the man into a slovenly, lecherous government official, the doctor''s life descends into chaos. A scathing indictment of the New Soviet Man, A Dog''s Heart was immediately banned by the Soviet government when it was first published in 1925: alternating lucid realism with pulse-raising drama, the novel captures perfectly the atmosphere of its rapidly changing times.Andrew Bromfield''s vibrant translation is accompanied by an introduction by James Meek, which places the work in the context of the Russian class struggles of the era and considers the vision, progressive style and lasting relevance of an author who was isolated and suppressed during his lifetime. This edition also contains notes and a chronology.Mikhail Bulgakov (1891-1940) was born in Kiev, today the capital of Ukraine. After finishing high school, Bulgakov entered the Medical School of Kiev University, graduating in 1916. He wrote about his experiences as a doctor in his early works Notes on Cuffs and Notes of a Young Country Doctor. His later works treated the subject of the artist and the tyrant under the guise of historical characters, but The Master and Margarita is generally considered his masterpiece. Fame, at home and abroad, was not to come until a quarter of a century after his death at Moscow in 1940.If you enjoyed A Dog''s Heart, you might like Bulgakov''s The Master and Margarita, also available in Penguin Classics. ''One of the greatest of modern Russian writers, perhaps the greatest'' Nigel Jones, Independent

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Book SynopsisYukio Mishima was born into a samurai family and imbued with the code of complete control over mind and body, and loyalty to the Emperor - the same code that produced the austerity and self-sacrifice of Zen. He wrote countless stories and thirty-three plays, in some of which he performed. Several films have been made from his novels, including The Sound of Waves, Enjo which was based on The Temple of the Golden Pavilion and The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea. Among his other works are the novels Confessions of a Mask and Thirst for Love and the short story collections Death in Midsummer and Acts of Worship. The Sea of Fertility tetralogy, however, is his masterpiece. After Mishima conceived the idea of The Sea of Fertility in 1964, he frequently said he would die when it was completed. On 25 November 1970, the day he completed The Decay of the Angel, the last novel of the cycle, Mishima committed seppuku Trade ReviewThe four novels remain one of the outstanding works of 20th-Century literature and a summary of the author's life and work... Like the Divine Comedy and Remembrance of Things Past, "The Sea of Fertility" gives the reader the sensation of being carried to a great height...but Mishima abandons the reader at the edge of the precipice, revealing the abyss beneath the degraded life of the post-war world * Los Angeles Times *Surpassingly chilling, subtle, and original * New York Times *Japan's foremost man of letters * Spectator *Tremendous...evocative and poetic * Los Angeles Times *

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Book Synopsis*SENSATIONAL WINNER OF THE BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE 2020* ''One of the best debut novels I have ever read. Shockingly good ... A classic.'' Max Porter''Haunting . . . reminded me a lot of Iain Banks. It''s incredible that it''s a debut.'' Douglas Stuart''Exceptional'' (Financial Times)''Exhilarating'' (Independent)''Luminous'' (Observer)''Beautifully wild'' (Guardian)''An earthy and irreverent new voice, thrillingly uninhibited'' (New York Times)I asked God if he please couldn't take my brother Matthies instead of my rabbit. Amen.' Ten-year-old Jas has a unique way of experiencing her universe: the feeling of udder ointment on her skin as protection against harsh winters; the texture of green warts, like capers, on migrating toads; the sound of ''blush words'' that aren''t in the Bible. But when a tragic accident

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Book SynopsisSince the original, prewar translation there has been no completely new rendering of the French original into English. This translation brings to the fore a more sharply engaged, comic and lucid Proust. IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME is one of the greatest, most entertaining reading experiences in any language. As the great story unfolds from its magical opening scenes to its devastating end, it is the Penguin Proust that makes Proust accessible to a new generation.Each book is translated by a different, superb translator working under the general editorship of Professor Christopher Prendergast, University of Cambridge.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewSuperb ... There are chapters which pluck the nerves. There are chapters which raise the spirits -- Graham GreeneAn inspired work of a great writer ... Fallada is a genius. The "Little Man" is Mr Everybody -- Beryl BainbridgeSuch closeness to life -- Herman HesseFallada at his best -- Philip HensherPerforms the most astounding task, of taking us to a moment before history * Los Angeles Review of Books *

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Book Synopsis"Powerful, profound and deeply moving, new fiction by Afghan women writers will expand your mind and elevate your heart" ELIF SHAFAK***A Financial Times Fiction in Translation Book of the Year 2022***"[An] arresting collection . . . Written in simple, direct prose and offers vivid snapshots of a country beset by war and violence . . . It seems more important than ever to read the work of these courageous writers" Financial Times"My pen is the wing of a bird; it will tell you those thoughts we are not allowed to think, those dreams we are not allowed to dream"A woman's fortitude saves her village from disaster. A teenager explores their identity in a moment of quiet. A petition writer reflects on his life as a dog lies nursing her puppies. A tormented girl tries to find love through a horrific act. A headmaster makes his way to work, treading the fine line between life and death."A precious collection of work, the first and maybe the last of its kind. My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird is a huge accomplishment" MONIQUE ROFFEY, author of The Mermaid of Black ConchMy Pen Is the Wing of a Bird is a landmark collection: the first anthology of short fiction by Afghan women. Eighteen writers tell stories that are both unique and universal - stories of family, work, childhood, friendship, war, gender identity and cultural traditions."This book reminds us that everyone has a story. Stories matter; so too the storytellers. Afghan women writers, informed and inspired by their own personal experiences, are best placed to bring us these powerful insights into the lives of Afghans and, most of all, the lives of women. Women's lives, in their own words - they matter." Lyse Doucet in her IntroductionThis collection introduces extraordinary voices from the country's two main linguistic groups (Pashto and Dari) with original, vital and unexpected stories to tell, developed over two years through UNTOLD's Write Afghanistan project. My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird comes at a pivotal moment in Afghanistan's history, when these voices must be heard.With an Introduction by BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet and an Afterword by Lucy HannahABOUT UNTOLD UNTOLD is a writer development programme for marginalised writers in areas of conflict and post-conflict. Afghanistan has millions of Pashto and Dari speakers with little or no local support for creative writing, literary translation, or literary editing. Support for writers has been hampered by cultural norms, free expression issues, chronic instability, and internal displacement. UNTOLD has been working one-to-one with women on their short stories, with English-speaking literary editors and translators working with the writers to realise the potential of their stories for publication both locally and globally in translation.Trade ReviewA precious collection of work, the first and maybe last of its kind. My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird is a huge accomplishment -- Monique Roffey * author of THE MERMAID OF BLACK CONCH *Powerful, profound and deeply moving, new fiction by Afghan women writers will expand your mind and elevate your heart -- Elif ShafakNo-one aware of the harrowing events currently playing out in Afghanistan and, in particular, the catastrophic effect this has had on the lives of women, can be unmoved by their plight. The risk of womens' voices being lost and their freedoms eradicated is very high. This book is like a little light shining into the lives of women in Afghanistan. It's a beautiful read -- Jo BrandSometimes, life is having beautiful dreams in a nightmare. The authors of this book express their longing to escape a nightmare and build a liveable world. A liveable world for everyone, but especially for women at a time when their body and soul are being destroyed -- Burhan Sonmez * President of PEN International *Here we have stories of the everyday and extraordinary lives of Afghan women, all of them written before the Taliban took power in August 2021. Today, these women writers live under the harshest of conditions, their everyday human rights, as women, revoked. This book is a precious collection of work, the first and maybe last of its kind. My Pen is the Wing of a Bird is a huge accomplishment -- Monique RoffeyThese are extraordinary and intense glimpses into a shuttered world, written by women who have to struggle daily to make their voices heard -- Lissa EvansIf fiction offers a window into the world, this is a book of stories you need to open -- Romesh Gunasekera[An] arresting collection . . . Each of the works in this collection is written in simple, direct prose and offers vivid snapshots of a country beset by war and violence, where misogyny is rife but women continue to dream for a better future . . . The women's extraordinary resilience is celebrated . . . It seems more important than ever to read the work of these courageous writers. -- Lucy Popescu * Financial Times *A gripping and important book told by the women whose voices need to be heard * Bella Magazine *These stories show why the militants are wrong. They take their readers into rooms at televisions cameras and journalists never reach. In the process they reiterate how much Afghan women could again say and do, if only they were allowed to. * Economist *The pandemic and the resumption of Taliban rule have made the publication of My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird little short of a miracle . . . [T]hese short tales draw insight and lyricism from lives lived in the shadow of war, violence and relentless misogyny -- Cameron Woodhead * Sydney Morning Herald *Powerful in its impact and admirable in the quality of the prose -- Ellah Wakatama * Guardian *Revelatory . . . taken together [these stories] form a remarkable portrait of lives largely invisible to readers outside Afghanistan. This brims with humanity. * Publishers Weekly *Beautifully written and translated, these stories are gripping, insightful, often shocking, intense and extraordinary * The Lady *

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Book SynopsisDining alone in an elegant Parisian brasserie, accountant Daniel Mercier can hardly believe his eyes when President François Mitterrand sits down to eat at the table next to him. Once the presidential party has gone, Daniel discovers that Mitterrand's black felt hat has been left behind. After a few moments' soul-searching, Daniel decides to keep the hat as a souvenir of an extraordinary evening. It's a perfect fit, and as he leaves the restaurant Daniel begins to feel somehow . . . different. Has Daniel unwittingly discovered the secret of supreme power? For two years the iconic item of headgear plays with the lives of the men and women who wear it, bringing them success that had previously eluded them. Shot through with a delicious, wicked sense of humour, The President's Hat is a vivid re-creation of 1980s Paris, and an enchanting exploration of life's possibilities.

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Book SynopsisUnder the Israeli occupation of the '70s and '80s, writers in Gaza had to go to considerable lengths to ever have a chance of seeing their work in print. Manuscripts were written out longhand, invariably under pseudonyms, and smuggled out of the Strip to Jerusalem, Cairo or Beirut, where they then had to be typed up. Consequently, fiction grew shorter, novels became novellas, and short stories flourished as the city's form of choice. Indeed, to Palestinians elsewhere, Gaza became known as 'the exporter of oranges and short stories'. This anthology brings together some of the pioneers of the Gazan short story from that era, as well as younger exponents of the form, with ten stories that offer glimpses of life in the Strip that go beyond the global media headlines; stories of anxiety, oppression, and violence, but also of resilience and hope, of what it means to be a Palestinian, and how that identity is continually being reforged; stories of ordinary characters struggling to live with dignity in what many have called 'the largest prison in the world'.Trade ReviewA welcome reminder of the universality of human relations' - The Guardian; 'Tales that reflect that depth and the variety and universality of the Gazan experience' - The Irish Times

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Book Synopsis“That spring, as if by agreement, we got it into our heads that something should finally happen, something should change.”A selection taken from the memoirs of a youth spent growing up in a small town - its fascinations with fads, fashions, slang and bands; its successful/disastrous explorations of personal style and taste; what's cool, what's not cool; all pitched at the question and at times painful process of working out who we are in the world.

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Book Synopsis“So it was that a happy historical coincidence came to be: sex came into my life after the fall of the Soviet Empire…"Two charged and psychologically intriguing short stories that experiment entertainingly within a contemporary gothic mode. In one, a doctor relates his dark fascination with a patient as things fall apart; in the other a sexual awakening has tragic and transgressive consequences; both, in lucid prose, speak emblematically of shifts or breakdowns of social orders more broadly.

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Book SynopsisMeasuring the World recreates the parallel but contrasting lives of two geniuses of the German Enlightenment - the naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt and the mathematician and physicist Carl Friedrich Gauss. Towards the end of the 18th century, these two brilliant young Germans set out to measure the world. Humboldt, a Prussian aristocrat schooled for greatness, negotiates savannah and jungle, climbs the highest mountain then known to man, counts head lice on the heads of the natives, and explores every hole in the ground. Gauss, a man born in poverty who will be recognised as the greatest mathematician since Newton, does not even need to leave his home in Göttingen to know that space is curved. He can run prime numbers in his head, cannot imagine a life without women and yet jumps out of bed on his wedding night to jot down a mathematical formula. Measuring the World is a novel of rare charm and readability, distinguished by its sly humour and unforgettable characterization. It brings the two eccentric geniuses to life, their longings and their weaknesses, their balancing act between loneliness and love, absurdity and greatness, failure and success.Trade Review'A dazzling success ... Fantastically imagined' * Daily Telegraph *'Pulsing with fictional energy ... Here for once is a popular hit as sophisticated as it is engaging' * Sunday Times *'Nothing less than a literary sensation' * Guardian *'This is a masterpiece' * Independent on Sunday *'Kehlmann is one of the brightest, most pleasure-giving writers at work today, and he manages all this while exploring matters of deep philosophical and intellectual import. He deserves to have more readers' * Jeffrey Eugenides *

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Book SynopsisTHE LAST BOOK FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SHADOW OF THE WIND'Zafón is a master of the atmospheric' Financial TimesTrade ReviewAs well as allusions to the Forgotten Books novels themselves, there's everywhere evidence of the storytelling skill and intoxicating tropes - Faustian pacts, fateful meetings, labyrinthine architecture and nested stories - that made Zafon such a phenomenon. -- Stephanie Cross * DAILY MAIL *The Dickens of Barcelona... A flamboyant farewell from a grand contemporary writer. * Sydney Morning Herald *Ruiz Zafón's many fans are sure to find his collection of short stories both familiarly satisfying and poignant . . . Readers will once again luxuriate in his florid descriptions of his hometown of Barcelona that bring to life that magical and mysterious city . . . [they] will encounter new characters but also find familiar names, offering fresh perspectives on fictional lives we already know so well * Washington Post *A posthumous parting gift from Ruiz Zafón to his millions of fans . . . with much-loved places and characters making fleeting reappearances, it's a fitting coda to his life and world * Observer *Mysterious, imbued with a sense of menace, and told with the warmth, wit, and humor of Zafón's inimitable voice . . . the stories contained within this posthumous collection summon up the mesmerizing magic of their brilliant creator and invite us to come dream along with him * Book Riot *PRAISE FOR CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON AND THE CEMETERY OF FORGOTTEN BOOKS'The real deal: one gorgeous read' Stephen King'Will change your life. An instant classic' Daily Telegraph'A book lover's dream' The Times'Marvellous' Sunday Times'A hymn of praise to all the joys of reading' Independent'Gripping and instantly atmospheric' Mail on Sunday'Irresistibly readable' Guardian'Diabolically good' Elle

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Book SynopsisFROM THE PUBLISHER OF THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO - THE OFFICIALLY APPROVED TRANSLATION OF SOLZHENITSYN''S SEARING DEBUT NOVELThe Gulag, the Stalinist labour camps to which millions of Russians were condemned for political deviation, has become a household word in the West. This is due to the accounts of many witnesses, but most of all to the publication, in 1962, of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the novel that first brought Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to public attention. His story of one typical day in a labour camp as experienced by prisoner Ivan Denisovich Shukhov is sufficient to describe the entire world of the Soviet camps.Translated from the Russian by H. T. WillettsTrade ReviewA masterpiece in the great Russian tradition. There have been many literary sensations since Stalin died. Doctor Zhivago apart, few of them can stand up in their own right as works of art. Ivan Denisovich is different * New Statesman *For much of the century that he came to dominate, he was simply Russia's greatest writer * Guardian *Solzhenitsyn's little book on the Soviet camps, One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich, has just been reissued, in a much-improved translation by Harry Willetts. It remains a devastating book - a classical tragedy... Solzhenitsyn is a genius and a hero: Ivan Denisovich stands with Animal Farm. * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewA brilliant display of pyrotechnics, a compelling tour de force that seems to have been built lovingly, word by word, sentence by sentence, by a master jeweller of polished prose -- The New York Times

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2021 A GUARDIAN and THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'This slight book is an extraordinarily powerful exploration of what happens to the souls of men sent to kill and be killed' -- The Times, Historical Fiction Books of the Year 'Extraordinary... full of sadness, rage and beauty' Sarah Waters Alfa and Mademba are two of the many Senegalese soldiers fighting in the Great War. Together they climb dutifully out of their trenches to attack France's German enemies whenever the whistle blows, until Mademba is wounded, and dies in a shell hole with his belly torn open. Without his more-than-brother, Alfa is alone and lost amidst the savagery of the conflict. He devotes himself to the war, to violence and death, but soon begins to frighten even his own comrades in arms. How far will Alfa go to make amends to his dead friend? At Night All Blood is Black is a hypnotic, heartbreaking rendering of a mind hurtling towards madness.Trade Review'An extraordinary novel, full of sadness, rage and beauty' - Sarah Waters'So incantatory and visceral I don't think I'll ever forget it' - Ali Smith, Guardian'It is an intense exploration of the dehumanising effect of war and colonialism. This slight book explodes with extraordinary force - readers will not forget it in a hurry' - The Times, Historical Fiction Book of the Month'More than a century after World War I, a great new African writer is asking these questions in a spare yet extraordinary novel about this bloody stain on human history' - Chigozie Obioma, New York Times Book Review'An unrelenting take on war, race, masculinity, and colonialism... Diop's short, sharp, and serrated novel is a visceral dramatization of how our humanity and inhumanity are forever intertwined' - Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer'A short, powerful novel... Diop presents a world with no firm dividing line between courage and madness, murder and warfare; the most dedicated killers are awarded the Croix de Guerre. Alfa's final transformation, as he attempts to atone for his guilt over the death of his friend, is unexpected, poetic - and chilling' - Spectator

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Book SynopsisPalestine + 100 poses a question to twelve Palestinian writers: what might your country look like in the year 2048 - a century after the tragedies and trauma of what has come to be called the Nakba? How might this event - which, in 1948, saw the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs from their homes - reach across a century of occupation, oppression, and political isolation, to shape the country and its people? Will a lasting peace finally have been reached, or will future technology only amplify the suffering and mistreatment of Palestinians? Covering a range of approaches - from SF noir, to nightmarish dystopia, to high-tech farce - these stories use the blank canvas of the future to reimagine the Palestinian experience today. Along the way, we encounter drone swarms, digital uprisings, time-bending VR, peace treaties that span parallel universes, and even a Palestinian superhero, in probably the first anthology of science fiction from Palestine ever.

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Book SynopsisThe definitive English language translation of the internationally bestselling Russian novel a brilliant dark fantasy combining psychological suspense, enchantment, and terror that makes us consider human existence in a fresh and provocative way.A book that has the potential to become a modern classic.' Lev Grossman, bestselling author of The MagiciansOur life is brief . . .Sasha Samokhina has just met Farit Kozhenikov and her life will never be the same again.Whilst on holiday, Sasha is asked by the mysterious Farit to undertake a strange task for him. Reluctantly, she obliges, and is rewarded with a shining golden coin. The more tasks she performs, the more coins Sasha receives until Farit instructs her against the wishes of her family to travel to a remote village and use her gold to gain entrance to the Institute of Special Technologies.Sasha quickly discovers this is no ordinary school. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the knTrade Review‘A dazzling display of Russian magical realism’Daily Mail ‘I first encountered VITA NOSTRA in 2009, and then, as now, I was stunned by what I read – not just by the story, which was a revelation to me in itself, but also by the vividness and fluency and power of Hersey's translation. VITA NOSTRA has become a powerful influence on my own writing. It's a book that has the potential to become a modern classic of its genre, and I couldn’t be more excited to see it get the global audience in English it so richly deserves’Lev Grossman, New York Times bestselling author of THE MAGICIANS

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Book SynopsisOne day, at dinner, Aschenbach notices an exceptionally beautiful young boy who is staying with his family in the same hotel. Soon his days begin to revolve around seeing this boy and he is too distracted to pay attention to the ominous rumours that have begun to circulate about disease spreading through the city.Trade ReviewThe real theme is fading creativity and the search for inspiration...A deep and highly complex drama of the psyche * Financial Times *This complex fin-de-siecle masterpiece...seems eerily to pre-echo the destructive decadence that would shortly shatter European civilisation itself * The Times *Thomas Mann's story of obsession and spiritual malaise * Observer *What Mann understands and laughs at, though it grips him, is the quasi-sexual attraction of beauty and philosophy...Death in Venice is one of the undisputed classics of contemporary European literature * Independent *Mann's obsessive story explores the complex, haunted relationship between an ageing writer and a beautiful Polish boy * Express *

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Book SynopsisThe Ladies'' Paradise (Au Bonheur des Dames) recounts the spectacular development of the modern department store in late nineteenth century Paris. The store is a symbol of capitalism, of the modern city, and of the bourgeois family; it is emblematic of consumer culture and the changes in sexual attitudes and class relations taking place at the end of the century. Octave Mouret, the store''s owner-manager, masterfully exploits the desires of his female customers. In his private life as much as in business he is the great seducer. But when he falls in love with the innocent Denise Baudu, he discovers she is the only one of the salesgirls who refuses to be commodified. This new translation of the eleventh book in the Rougon-Macquart cycle captures the spirit of one of Zola''s greatest novels of the modern city. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford''s c

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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 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 SynopsisHer father died instantly, her mother in the hospital. She has learned to say this flatly and without emotion, the way she says her name (Marina), her doll's name (also Marina) and her age (seven). Her parents were killed in a car crash and now she lives in the orphanage with the other little girls. But Marina is not like the other little girls. In the curious, hyperreal, feverishly serious world of childhood, Marina and the girls play games of desire and warfare. The daily rituals of playtime, lunchtime and bedtime are charged with a horror; horror is licked by the dark flames of love. When Marina introduces the girls to Marina the Doll, she sets in motion a chain of events from which there can be no release. With shades of Daphne du Maurier, Shirley Jackson, Guillermo Del Toro and Mariana Enríquez, Such Small Hands is a beautifully controlled tour-de-force, a bedtime story to keep readers awake.

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Book SynopsisJo Nesbo is one of the world's bestselling crime writers, with The Leopard, Phantom, Police, The Son, The Thirst, Macbeth and Knife all topping the Sunday Times bestseller charts. He's an international number one bestseller and his books are published in 50 languages, selling over 50 million copies around the world. Before becoming a crime writer, Nesbo played football for Norway's premier league team Molde, but his dream of playing professionally for Spurs was dashed when he tore ligaments in his knee at the age of eighteen. After three years military service he attended business school and formed the band Di Derre ('Them There'). They topped the charts in Norway, but Nesbo continued working as a financial analyst, crunching numbers during the day and gigging at night. When commissioned by a publisher to write a memoir about life on the road with his band, he instead came up with the plot for his first Harry Hole crime novel,Trade ReviewThis tale of revenge has twists galore, and enough humanity in it to keep it grounded... A master at work * Time Out *A superb novel. Intricate, truly gripping plot...elegant simplicity. Bravo! - as they say in Norway * Evening Standard *Nesbo's storytelling abilities are incomparable * USA Today *Many authors know how to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Jo Nesbo's one of the few who keeps them there * Linwood Barclay *Nesbo sets a cracking pace... A series of spectacular plot twists leads to a thrilling finale. Highly recommended * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisOne of the greatest and most overlooked novels of the twentieth century, by an author championed by Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk, The Time Regulation Institute appears here in English for the first time-more than fifty years after its original publication in Turkish.This is the story of the misadventures of Hayri Irdals, an unforgettable antihero who, along with an eccentric cast of characters (a television mystic, a pharmacist who dabbles in alchemy, a dignitary from the lost Ottoman empire, the life-artist Halit), founds The Time Regulation Institute. The institute''s quixotic quest: to make sure all the clocks in Turkey are set to Western time. Thus begins a brilliant satire about the calamitous arrival of Western and corporate values in tradition-bound Turkey.An uproarious tragicomedy that is still startlingly relevant, The Time Regulation Institute illuminates the collision of East and West, tradition and modernity, that has been playing out in Turkey since the early twentieth century.AHMET HAMDI TANPINAR (1901-1962) was a poet, short story writer, novelist, essayist, literary historian, and professor. He is considered one of the most significant Turkish novelists of the 20th century. Deeply influenced by Valéry and Bergson, he created a unique cultural universe in his work, bringing together a European literary voice and the sensibilities of the East.MAUREEN FREELY (translator) is the principal translator of Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish novelist. She lives in England.ALEXANDER DAWE (translator) is an American translator of French and Turkish. He lives in Istanbul.PANKAJ MISHRA (introducer) is an award-winning novelist and essayist whose writing appears frequently in the New York Review of Books, The Guardian, and the London Review of Books. He lives in London and India.Trade ReviewAhmet Hamdi Tanpinar is undoubtedly the most remarkable author in modern Turkish literature. With The Time Regulation Institute, this great writer has created an allegorical masterpiece, which makes Turkey's attempts to westernize and its delayed modernity understandable in all its human ramifications -- Orhan Pamuk, winner of the Nobel Prize for LiteratureChosen by Boyd Tonkin * Independent – Best Fiction in Translation *

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Book SynopsisIn The Visit (original title Der Besuch der alten Dame), Claire Zachanassian, now a multimillion heiress and an older woman, returns to the impoverished town of her youth with a dreadful bargain: in exchange for returning the town to prosperity through her vast wealth, she wants the townspeople to kill the man who jilted her. From its subtle exploration of parochial politics to its horrific climax, The Visit shows a population willing to sacrifice loyalty and scruples in the pursuit of riches. It is a drama of the absurd that reduces human nature to its most ridiculous depths.Dürrenmatt was one of the most important figures of modern European drama and The Visit remains both a powerful critique of twentieth century civilisation and an outstanding piece of experimental theatre.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis beautifully produced edition from the veteran translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky collects, in chronological order, fifty-two of Anton Chekhov's short stories written between 1883 and 1898. It is a 'full deck', intended to reflect the diversity and inventiveness of the author's lesser-known fiction ... Their Chekhov is accurate, compelling and even graceful * The Times Literary Supplement *The indefatigable translating team of Pevear and Volokhonsky deliver a first-rate collection of Chekhov's stories ... Encounters between young and old, rich and poor, country and city people mark these stories ... A welcome gathering of work, some not often anthologized, by an unrivaled master of the short story form * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisA special hardback edition of Murakami's epic, magical masterpiece, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, now with a new introduction from the authorToru Okada's cat has disappeared.His wife is growing more distant every day.Then there are the increasingly explicit telephone calls he has recently been receiving.As this compelling story unfolds, the tidy suburban realities of Okada's vague and blameless life, spent cooking, reading, listening to jazz and opera and drinking beer at the kitchen table, are turned inside out, and he embarks on a bizarre journey, guided (however obscurely) by a succession of characters, each with a tale to tell.'Visionary...a bold and generous book' New York Times'Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original' The TimesTrade ReviewMurakami writes of contemporary Japan, urban alienation and journeys of self-discovery, and in this book he combines recollections of the war with metaphysics, dreams and hallucinations into a powerful and impressionistic work * Independent *Deeply philosophical and teasingly perplexing, it is impossible to put down * Daily Telegraph *Murakami weaves these textured layers of reality into a shot-silk garment of deceptive beauty * Independent on Sunday *Critics have variously likened him to Raymond Carver, Raymond Chandler, Arthur C. Clarke, Don DeLillo, Philip K. Dick, Bret Easton Ellis and Thomas Pynchon - a roster so ill assorted as to suggest Murakami is in fact an original * New York Times *Mesmerising, surreal, this really is the work of a true original * The Times *

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Book SynopsisIn Bulgakov’s ‘Diaboliad’, the modest and unassuming office clerk Korotkov is summarily sacked for a trifling error from his job at the Main Central Depot of Match Materials, and tries to seek out his newly assigned superior, responsible for his dismissal. His quest through the labyrinth of Soviet bureaucracy takes on the increasingly surreal dimensions of a nightmare. This early satirical story, reminiscent of Gogol and Dostoevsky, was first published in 1924 and incurred the wrath of pro-Soviet critics. Along with the three other stories in this volume, which also explore the themes of the absurd and bizarre, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the artistic development of the author of The Master and Margarita.Trade ReviewOne of the great writers of the twentieth century. -- A.S. ByattOne of the greatest modern Russian writers, perhaps the greatest. * The Independent *A writer of fantastic genius. * The Sunday Times *Bulgakov is a wild, mobile, crafty devotee of ideas. * The Guardian *Table of ContentsContains: Diaboliad', No.13 - The Elpit, Workers' Commune Building, A Chinese Tale, The Adventures of Chichikov

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Book SynopsisWelcome to the house of the mosque . . . Iran, 1950. Spring has arrived, and as the women prepare the festivities, Sadiq waits for a suitor to knock on the door. Her uncle Nosrat returns from Tehran with a glamorous woman, while on the rooftop, Shahbal longs only for a television to watch the first moon landing. But not even the beloved grandmothers can foresee what will happen in the days and months to come. The household is set to experience great love and loss as it opens the doors to faith and politics. In this uplifting bestseller, Kader Abdolah charts the triumphs and tragedies of a family on the brink of revolution.Trade ReviewBeautifully written and fiercely readable * * Daily Mail * *Abdolah's is a powerful voice * * The Times Saturday Review * *Enchanting...Abdolah's juxtapositions - the spiritual and the earthly, myth and reality - give the story a powerful irony. * * Independent * *[Kader Abdolah] tells this story straight from the heart. And it's on the heart too that it leaves an indelible mark. * * The Scotsman Magazine * *Expertly mingles fiction and personal history to create a thought-provoking novel to please fans of Khaled Hosseini, Mohsin Hamid and Azar Nafisi. * * Waterstone's Books Quarterly * *fabulously powerful and heart warming * * Good Book Guide * *an impressive book [telling] a tragic story illustrating the power of the human spirit to conquer. * * The Bookseller * *Sensual, beguiling and elegantly translated. -- Alastair Mabbott * * Herald Arts * *Fabulously powerful and heart-warming. * * Good Book Guide * *Captivating and distinctive . . . a measured, beguiling and potent example of literary resistance * * Times Literary Supplement * *

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Book SynopsisText in Arabic. Afghanistan in the 1970s: Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the local kite-flying tournament and his loyal friend Hassan promises to help him. What happens to Hassan that afternoon will shatter their lives. After the Russians invade and the family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return, to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him: redemption.Trade ReviewThe Kite Runner is a first novel of unusual generosity, honesty and compassion The Guardian, UK 'A devastating, masterful and painfully honest story ... it is a novel of great hidden intricacy and wisdom, like a timeless Eastern tale. It speaks the most harrowing truth about the power of evil' Daily Telegraph 'The shattering first novel by Khaled Hosseini... a rich and soul-searching narrative ... a sharp, unforgettable taste of the trauma and tumult experienced by Afghanis as their country buckled' Observer

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1859, Oblomov is an indisputable classic of Russian literature, comparable in its stature to such masterpieces as Gogol’s Dead Souls, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Dostoevsky’s Brothers Karamazov. The book centres on the figure of Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, a member of the dying class of the landed gentry, who spends most of his time lying in bed gazing at life in an apathetic daze, encouraged by his equally lazy servant Zakhar and routinely swindled by his acquaintances. But this torpid existence comes to an end when, spurred on by his crumbling finances, the love of a woman and the reproaches of his friend, the hard-working Stoltz, Oblomov finds that he must engage with the real world and face up to his commitments. Rich in situational comedy, psychological complexity and social satire, Oblomov – here presented in Stephen Pearl’s award-winning translation, the first major English-language version of the novel in more than fifty years – is a timeless novel and a monument to human idleness.Trade ReviewPearl's approach is more adventurous than that of his predecessors. His text flows naturally, capturing Goncharov's carefully modulated tone, the gentleness of his humour, and the colloquial flavour of his dialogue…Stephen Pearl has indeed caught the very essence of Oblomov. * TLS *I am in rapture over Oblomov and keep rereading it. -- Leo TolstoyGoncharov is ten heads above me in talent. -- Anton Chekhov

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Book SynopsisIn crisp, unembellished prose, Choi Eunyoung paints intimate portraits of the lives of young women in South Korea, balancing the personal with the political. In the title story, a fraught friendship between an exchange student and her host sister follows them from adolescence to adulthood. In 'A Song from Afar', a young woman grapples with the death of her lover, travelling to Russia to search for information about the deceased. In 'Secret', the parents of a teacher killed in the Sewol ferry sinking hide the news of her death from her grandmother. In the tradition of Sally Rooney, Banana Yoshimoto, and Marilynne Robinson - writers from different cultures who all take an unvarnished look at human relationships and the female experience - Choi Eunyoung is a writer to watch.Trade ReviewInsightful and deeply felt * New York Times Book Review *Written with sober detail, filmic precision and absolute control . . . an incredibly impressive collection told with realism, seriousness and moral integrity * Observer *Gentle yet elucidating . . . Shoko's Smile is the most beautiful book I've come across this year * Sisain *Shoko's Smile is the outcome of Choi's quite triumphant attempt to invent her own way to talk about dark facets of our reality . . . And her way at first comes across as bright and lighthearted. Of course, misleadingly so . . . Choi invents the narratives of today's real people who have not surrendered or become oppressors themselves, and who have survived nonetheless * GQ *Eunyoung's engaging debut collection examines her protagonists' interior lives in moments of longing, connection, and familial rift . . . Eunyoung's lyrical prose and complex characters will captivate readers * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisMichel Houellebecq is a poet, essayist and novelist. He is the author of several novels including The Map and the Territory (winner of the Prix Goncourt), Atomised, Platform, Whatever and Submission. He was awarded the Legion d'Honneur in 2019.Trade ReviewVery moving, gloriously, extravagantly filthy and very funny * Independent *Compelling...wrenchingly terrible... Unhealthy and haunting, rich and provocative, Atomised astonishes both as a novel of ideas and as a portrait of a society * Independent *A brave and rather magnificent book * Daily Telegraph *Sheer brilliance...totally mesmerising, energising, infuriating and moving... Compulsory reading * Time Out *A novel which hunts big game while others settle for shooting rabbits -- Julian Barnes * Times Literary Supplement *Destined to become a cult book...a genuine page-turner * Observer *Bullying and brilliant... Atomised is nothing less than a road-rage map of our times * Evening Standard *An extraordinary voice * Observer *Makes you re-examine your beliefs... This is a brave and rather magnificent book * Daily Telegraph *

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