Fiction Books

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

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Book SynopsisThe eighth Logan McRae novel in the No.1 bestselling crime series from Stuart MacBride.Every murder tells a story. But not every victim tells the truth. A terrific writer McRae is a delight' The TimesSticks and stones may break your bonesThe first body is chained to a stake: strangled, and stabbed, with a burning tyre around its neck. But is this a gangland execution or something much darker?Someone's leaving little knots of bones on DI Logan McRae's doorstep, but he's got bigger concerns. Rival drug gangs are fighting over product and territory; two teenage lovers are missing; someone's crippling Asian immigrants; and Logan's been lumbered with an ambitious new Detective Sergeant and gained the unwelcome attention of the local crime boss.When another body turns up, the similarities between these murders and the plot of a bestselling novel seem like more than just a coincidence. And perhaps those little knots of bones are more important than they lookTrade ReviewPraise for Stuart MacBride: ‘MacBride is the natural heir to the late and much lamented Reginald Hill’ Andrew Taylor, SPECTATOR ‘MacBride is a damned fine writer – no one does dark and gritty like him’ PETER JAMES ‘Fierce, unflinching and shot through with the blackest of humour; this is crime fiction of the highest order’Mark Billingham ‘Some of the grittiest crime-writing in the field’Independent ‘Admirers of tough, modern crime novels will be in seventh heaven – or should that be hell?’Express ‘Ferocious and funny’Val McDermid ‘Hard-hitting prose with a bone-dry humour and characters you can genuinely believe in, Stuart MacBride’s novels are a real treat’Simon Kernick

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Book SynopsisA perfect atmospheric thriller for this Halloween . . .A house stands alone in the woods.Deep in the forests of Norway, Lexi finds a fresh start with Tom and his two young daughters, working as their new nanny.The darkness creeps closer.But Lexi is telling lies, and she's not the only one. This family has a history and this place has a past. Something was destroyed to build this house, and in the dark, dark woods, a menacing presence lurks.Lexi must protect the children in her care but protect them from what? Atmospheric, gothic, spine-chilling, the new thriller from C.J Cooke will haunt you long after you turn the last page . . . Vvivid and compelling' Rosamund LuptonA gorgeous, atmospheric book that chilled me to the bone' Samantha DowningA dark but gripping read' BellaSo eerie I wanted to sleep with the light on' PrimaAtmospheric' New York Post, Best Books to ReadReader reviews for The NestingWorth far more than five stars' ?????Very atmospheric and eerie' ?????A real treat' ?????Very atmospheric and a fantastic read' ?????A brilliant combination of a gothic style mystery and a cast of troubled characters, all with secrets to hide' ?????A great tale for a winter read' ?????This is perfect for lovers of gothic, dark, ghost stories' ?????Haunting and wonderful' ?????Trade Review‘Norwegian Fjords and folktales are beautifully evoked in this vivid and compelling novel’ Rosamund Lupton ‘The Nesting is a gorgeous, atmospheric book that chilled me to the bone. The perfect escape book into the deep woods of Norway, where nothing is as it seems. C.J. Cooke just became one of my favourite authors’ Samantha Downing ‘An original and haunting thriller, filled with secrets, ghosts, and Norse folk tales. The Nesting is an evocative and chilling tale that will keep you guessing, and is best read with the lights on’ Alice Feeney ‘It's been such a tonic – chilling, totally engrossing and full of intrigue. The pages just whizzed by while I ignored everyone! It's marvellous’ Katherine May ‘Nordic folklore, snowy landscapes, and an ever-turning screw of tension – a fun, gothic treat’ Kirsty Logan ‘gothic and suspenseful’ Woman and Home ‘This claustrophobic, cloying read with Gothic undertones was so eerie I wanted to sleep with the light on’ Prima ‘A taut, scary thriller that winds the suspense so tightly you can barely breathe’ Simone St. James

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Book SynopsisOne of the heirs to John le Carré' The Times A tremendous achievement' WILLIAM BOYDBehold the new Golden Age of Spy Kings' Sunday TimesTo betray, you must first belongIn June 1934, Kim Philby met his Soviet handler, the spy Arnold Deutsch. The woman who introduced them was called Edith Tudor-Hart. She changed the course of 20th century history.Then she was written out of it.Drawing on the Secret Intelligence Files on Edith Tudor-Hart, along with the private archive letters of Kim Philby, this finely worked, evocative and beautifully tense novel by the granddaughter of Kim Philby tells the story of the woman behind the Third Man.A future classic:A fine achievement' THE TIMESCompletely fascinating. A sophisticated and brilliantly constructed fictional retelling of a crucial relationship in 20th century espionage history. A tremendous achievement' WILLIAM BOYDAtmospheric and rigorously researched' Sunday TimesPersuasive involving impressive' LITERARY REVIEWA fascinating contribution to Trade Review‘A fine achievement’ THE TIMES ‘Behold the new Golden Age of Spy Kings’ Sunday Times ‘A dextrous writer who gives her tale a quickening, thrillerish propulsion’ NEW STATESMAN ‘Completely fascinating. A sophisticated and brilliantly constructed fictional retelling of a crucial relationship in 20th century espionage history. A tremendous achievement’ WILLIAM BOYD ‘Persuasive… involving… impressive’ LITERARY REVIEW ‘Atmospheric and rigorously researched… we’re slyly induced to fear that Edith (who is also juggling roles as a single mother and photographer) could be arrested or prevented from working, before realising that we’re rooting for a Stalinist enemy of Britain’ Sunday Times ‘A fascinating contribution to the literature of the Cambridge spies by a clever, nimble writer with some genuine skin in the game’ CHARLES CUMMING ‘Complex and powerfully written… a persuasive repurposing of the lives of real-life figures’ i NEWSPAPER ‘In Edith and Kim, Charlotte Philby brings to life a dangerous game of shadows that kept me reading late into the night. A dark, atmospheric and addictive novel’ CHRIS POWER, AUTHOR OF A LONELY MAN ‘I was most impressed… completely absorbing’ MICK HERRON ‘A tense and brilliantly structured story of power and intrigue… I couldn’t put it down’ JANE SHEMILT ‘Philby’s stunning fourth novel thrusts this former bit-player in the Cambridge Spy scandal to the centre stage where she belongs. Edith and Kim combines the authenticity of your favourite true crime podcast, the intrigue of a spy novel and the page-turning grip of a psychological thriller – all wrapped up in beautiful, evocative prose that transports the reader to shady corners of 1930s London and Vienna. Her best book yet’ ERIN KELLY ‘Impeccably researched and atmospheric’ Daily Mail

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Book Synopsis''Absolutely gripping! Was great from start to finish'' NetGalley reviewer ?????My precious daughter. You have no idea how dangerous the world is. No idea of the horrors I've shielded you from. The things I've endured . . . our past.We've been happy. We've been hidden. We've been safe.But our perfect life is about to come crashing down.Because they've found me. And they're about to reveal my darkest secret . . . to you.I'll do anything to protect you, darling, because if you knew I'd lose you forever.You can never discover what I've done . . . or what I'm willing to do to keep you safe.A nail-biting new psychological thriller perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell and Shalini Boland.Praise for My Lovely Daughter''I had to see how it would end'' NetGalley reviewer ?????''Full of suspense, twists, intrigue and unexpected turns in all the right places' NetGalley reviewer ?????''A gripping tale'' NetGalley reviewer ?????''Read in one sitting'' NetGalley reviewer ?????''Absolutely gripping! Was gTrade Review'I had to see how it would end' NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Full of suspense, twists, intrigue and unexpected turns in all the right places’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'A gripping tale' NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Read in one sitting' NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I didn’t put it down once I started reading' NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A gripping, cleverly plotted thriller but also a heart-wrenching story of a mother's love’ Sarah Clarke, author of A Mother Never Lies ‘Sucked me in from the very first page’ Karin Nordin, author of Where Ravens Roost

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Book SynopsisEscape into the world of Dilly Court with this unforgettable, festive historical drama, from the bestselling author of five million copies. Available to pre-order now

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Book SynopsisTorn between duty and desire . . .my fate is in his hands.***Jocelyn Banks has always felt like an outsider having hustled for everything in her life since her childhood in rural Louisiana. But in ballet, Jocelyn has found the thing she craves most, control.But when her estranged mother dies, Jocelyn's world is instantly turned upside down. Her only way out securing a donor for her position at London's Royal National Ballet.Jocelyn can't afford to lose this, but something about her sponsor, the charismatic Alistair Cavendish sets a fire in her. What she feels when she's with him is raw and real. Swept into a world of lust and luxury, the lure of sex and power keep clawing at her.Can Jocelyn choose between desire and duty, or is she doomed to fall into an intoxicating spiral of self-sabotage?***Readers are INTOXICATED by Melanie Hamrick!Melanie Hamrick's debut novel treads similar obsessional ground to the film Black Swan in its steamy imaginings of backstage shenanigans at a ballet c

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Book SynopsisThe sleeper book of the year so much fun to read that you forget to even try and solve the case. And good luck solving it anyway, with twists within twists within twists' ?????Donna Nightshade's first rule of composting: shred. Things rot quicker that way cabbages, flowers, dead bodiesWhen Donna branches out from floristry to private investigation and opens The Edge of the World Detective Agency, the last thing she expects is to have a murder fall into her lap almost immediately. Now, normally she wouldn't be one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but there's one significant problem with the case all the evidence points to Donna as the murderer!Donna may have hated the man, but she's not the only one who had the means and motive, so she dons her deerstalker. Staying two steps ahead of the police specifically her ex, Detective Sergeant Joe Enys won't be easy, but with pirate blood in her veins nothing can stop deadly' Donna from claiming her bounty and making the real culprit walk tTrade Review‘Reflects (exaggerates) the eccentricities of the British people, in particular the Cornish… the author brought wicked sarcasm and snark into her characters’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Book SynopsisQuiet streets hide the worst crimesManchester's Manor Estate is the kind of place people want to live smart houses, neighbours who look out for you. But what if you don't want to be seen?Behind the tidy front gardens and glossy painted doors it seems everyone's got something to hide. Love, hate, addiction, jealousy on a street where everyone's watching, you can't keep a secret forever.For these families, it's time to find out what is really happening on home territory. Someone's selling their soul, someone's selling their body, and someone's going to pay

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Book SynopsisA sweetly sexy, gloriously relatable sapphic romcom about a fake relationship, real emotions and writing your own love story! Perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Alexis Hall.

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Book SynopsisNamed A Most Anticipated Book by: LitHub * Vulture * Time *A PW 2022 Holiday Gift PickOne of: Time''s 100 Must-Read Books of 2022 * NPR''s 2022 Books We Love Vulture''s 10 Best Books of 2022A Goodreads Readers Choice Award SemifinalistFrom acclaimed poet Franny Choi comes a poetry collection for the ends of worlds?past, present, and future. Choi?s third book features poems about historical and impending apocalypses, alongside musings on our responsibilities to each other and visions for our collective survival.Many have called our timedystopian. ButThe World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On reminds us that apocalypse has already come in myriad ways for marginalized peoples.With lyric and tonal dexterity, these poems spin backwards and forwards in time--from Korean comfort women during World War II, to the precipice of climate crisis, to children wandering a museum in the future. These poems explore narrative distances and queer linearity, investigating on microscopic scales before soaring towards the universal. As she wrestles with the daily griefs and distances of this apocalyptic world, Choi also imagines what togetherness--between Black and Asian and other marginalized communities, between living organisms, between children of calamity and conquest--could look like. Bringing together Choi''s signature speculative imagination with even greater musicality than her previous work,The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes Onultimately charts new paths toward hope in the aftermaths, and visions for our collective survival.Trade ReviewNamed A Most Anticipated Book by: LitHub * Vulture * Time * Lambda Literary One of Time's "100 Must-Read Books of 2022" * One of NPR's 2022 "Books We Love" * One of The Boston Globe's "Best Books of 2022" * A PW 2022 Holiday Gift Pick A Goodreads Readers Choice Award Semifinalist An Atlantic "Best Poetry Collections to Read Again and Again" — "Franny Choi’s poems are both of the world and transport us to another. I’ve taught her writing in multiple contexts for years. I’m thrilled to now have this new collection of her poems to savor and to share. The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On is a luminous, jarring, and gorgeous gift. Grateful to have these poems as a compass in these times" — Mariame Kaba, author of the NYT bestseller We Do This Til We Free Us "In their arresting poetry collection, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On, Choi considers the many ways in which the unthinkable has already happened for the most marginalized around the world by way of catastrophe, war, and devastation." — Time “Capturing the painful truths about surviving this world that seems to care very little about the lives of communities of color, [Choi's] poetry inspires us to continuously fight for a different world--one that would be informed by generations of loss, lessons, and collective movements. Her poetry identifies why it is that our hearts and bones have been aching for so long. We have been at war and the world keeps ending. Franny’s collection is an homage to where we have been and how we must continue--injured, determined, beautifully and together.” — Connie Wun, PhD, co-founder of AAPI Women Lead "Franny Choi’s latest collection of poetry...neutralizes the feeling of apocalyptic panic by showing that xenophobia and brutality within an unequal society are, indeed, nothing new. Compounding the weariness of the past several years with that of the ages flies rather close to despair, but World eludes cynicism to cast generational trauma as a paean to survival." — Vulture “It was Franny Choi who first taught me the truism that every utopia requires an attendant dystopia, and here she catalogues them both with aplomb. Choi charts a path through the gloom and ecstasy of everyday catastrophe, always more mundane than we expected. It’s dull and violent and lined with ancestral memory and mushrooms ready to forage. Anyone who has lived through the daily absurdity of disaster— which is to say, all of us— can find a home here.” — Eve L. Ewing, author of 1919 and Electric Arches “Virtuosic visionary Franny Choi beholds brutal reality and, with uncanny and singular genius, transforms it into revolution. Choi believes community, family, history, eros, truth, and love demand change worth living for/through. This book gives blood, voice, and generations of memory to the slim chance that we can change this world enough to survive its endless dystopia, war, violence. Somehow this poet still believes in us: that we might read this work and, made bold with desire, love the world so deeply it has to love us back.” — Brenda Shaughnessy, author of The Octopus Museumi and Tanya "Franny Choi’s poems are arresting, sharp; they demand we listen and follow her where she wants to take us." — Literary Hub “Science Fiction Poetry” isn’t just the title of one poem from Franny Choi’s collection; it’s also a goal the whole volume undertakes. Effusively angry visions of near-future apocalypse and violent collapse make way, first, for Korean historical memory, and then for brighter visions of a rebuilt society. —Stephanie Burt — Boston Globe "In this new collection, Franny Choi brings her fierce intelligence, ferocious humor, and tonal virtuosity to new ground, imagining and reimagining utopia, dystopia, ongoingness, ending, and the end of ending. First loves, lost mothers, forever wars, 'little nevers' – the temporal vertigo of grief for country and kin, the anguish of failing to protect elders from being attacked – all are voiced in indelible song.... Choi doesn’t flinch from 'what we had to survive/ to make paradise/ from its ruins,' but, with equal bravery, insists on conceiving new communities, new possibilities, new tomorrows.... Her vision is luminous." — Suji Kwock Kim, author of Notes From the Divided Country "Franny Choi is one of my favorite poets and her new collection does not disappoint. These are incisive, elegant poems. There is a throughline of grief in many of the poem but the work demonstrates both stylistic and intellectual range. So excited for people to get into this book." — Roxane Gay “Choi has crafted a fight song for the apocalypse. Musical, defiant, queer, pushing — Choi dances with language at the protest to invite us to save each other. You will read this, read it again aloud, and copy down poems to send to your friends.” — Fawzy Taylor, A Room Of One’s Own Bookstore, Madison, WI "A marked attentiveness to craftsmanship and the niceties of language enlivens the poems in Franny Choi’s urgent, stirring [collection]. A fearless shifter of form, Choi switches moods and modes to tackle such topics as social unrest, climate change and her Korean heritage. Formidable themes like the nature of tragedy and the human capacity for renewal lend a timelessness to her work. Choi’s collection will awaken and inspire readers...her attitude is contagious." — BookPage (starred review) "Lines like these--poems like these--remind readers of what is possible in poetry. " — Shelf Awareness "If you are only going to read one book of poetry this year, or assign one book of poetry for your next class, make it this one. Choi leaves nothing on the table, offering a collection that will satisfy students of poetry and casual readers with equal fervor. This is one collection you will want to carry with you for months to come." — The Poetry Question "A collection that will startle readers." — Library Journal (starred review) "Choi calls upon apocalypses of the past, present, and future to imagine a picture of what survival through community could look like." — Chicago Review of Books, " 12 Must-Read Books of November" "In these ecstatic lyrics, Choi explores what it means to survive in an era that teeters on the edge of apocalyptic doom." — Poets & Writers "The paradox of how we can live in this disastrous world, and handle our own culpability, burns through this collection.” — Poetry

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Book SynopsisNearing fifty and married with two children, she and her husband drive from Baltimore to Deer Lick to attend the funeral of a friend one hot summer day. During the course of the journey, Maggie's eternal optimism and her inexhaustible passion for sorting out other people's lives and willing them to fall in love is severely tested...Trade ReviewA work of art * Guardian *Her finest novel * Irish Times *A novel by Anne Tyler is a subject for rejoicing...Breathing Lessons is a pleasure * The Times *Anne Tyler has a real gift for generating tender and amazing moments * Independent *Displays her extraordinary gifts in supreme harmony: exquisite narrative clarity, faultless comic timing, and the Tyler trademark of happy-sad characters inspiring a mid-American domestic drama that somehow slips the surly bonds of the quotidian to become timeless and universal * Guardian, Best 100 Novels of all time *

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Book SynopsisWITH AN INTRODUCTION BY A.S. BYATTWhen eleven-year-old Henrietta arrives at the Fishers'' residence in Paris, little does she know what fascinating secrets the house itself contains. Henrietta finds that her visit coincides with that of Leopold, an intense child who has come to Paris to be introduced to the mother he has never known. In the course of a single day, the mystery surrounding Leopold, his parents, Henrietta''s agitated hostess and the dying matriarch in bed upstairs, come to light slowly and tantalisingly.Trade ReviewA compelling story, inspired with a deep insight into human nature * Times Literary Supplement *Her most atmospheric book . . . very eerie and richly descriptive * Daily Telegraph *It seems like [Bowen] is writing pretty conventional novels, they have chapters, they seem to be about recognizable people in recognizable situations, but the syntax of her sentences is completely baroque, they double back on themselves, they twist into cubist sculptures... She's someone who's had a huge influence on my work -- Lauren Elkin * Paris Review *

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Book SynopsisWilliam Somerset Maugham was born in 1874 and lived in Paris until he was ten. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, and at Heidelberg University. He spent some time at St. Thomas' Hospital with the idea of practising medicine, but the success of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, published in 1897, won him over to letters. Of Human Bondage, the first of his masterpieces, came out in 1915, and with the publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence his reputation as a novelist was established. At the same time his fame as a successful playwright and short story writer was being consolidated with acclaimed productions of various plays and the publication of The Trembling of a Leaf, subtitled Little Stories of the South Sea Islands, in 1921, which was followed by seven more collections. His other works include travel books, essays, criticism and the autobiographical The Summing Up and A Writer's Notebook.In 1927 Somerset MaTrade ReviewOne of my favourite writers -- Gabriel Garcia MarquezA formidable talent, a formidable sum of talents...precision, tact, irony and total absence of pomposity * Spectator *

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Book SynopsisThis classic collection of stories moves from England, France and Spain to the silver sands of the South Pacific. It includes the famous story ''Rain'', the tragedy of a narrow-minded and overzealous missionary and a prostitute, and ''The Three Fat Women of Antibes,'' an extravagantly sardonic tale of abstention and greed, as well as a host of other brilliant tales.Trade ReviewFascinating tales, sharply revealed characters, a fine narrative craft -- J.B. PriestleyHe was a superb storyteller - one of the very best in our language - who wrote with a wordly, sardonic understanding of the human condition. Writing was his life; everything else was secondary to it * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisAmazingly, they succeed - leaving some very unhappy men behind who vow to hunt down the vagabonds and bring them to justice, no matter the cost.Meanwhile, back in France, the beautiful Eliza - toast of Versailles and spy extraordinaire - attempts to return to London with her baby, a child whose paternity is shrouded in mystery.Trade ReviewIdeas about currency and calculus become thrilling because of the way Stephenson incorporates them into his story... Huge in scope - rich in detail... This weird, wonderful collision of scholarship and storytelling has no peer * Time Out *A rip-roaring, swashbuckling Romance with a capital R ... A blood-soaked, silver-plated depiction of 17th-century life from both ends of the economic scale, and with enough headlong, balls-to-the-wall buccaneering and Machiavellian plotting to satiate the most jaded of palates * Ink *Stephenson excels in marrying geekspeak wtih riotous action. When he describes a battle or a duel, his prose acquires thrilling panache... Jack Shaftoe is magnificent, a swashbuckling hero with a foul mouth and few morals, and his adventures are most appealing * Guardian *The definitive historical-sci-fi-epic-pirate-comedy-punk-love story. No easy feat, that * Entertainment Weekly *

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Book SynopsisDiscover Jane Austen's most beloved classic. When Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr Darcy, she is repelled by his overbearing pride and prejudice towards her family. But the Bennet girls are in need of financial security in the shape of husbands, so when Darcy's friend, the affable Mr Bingley, forms an attachment to Jane, Darcy becomes increasingly hard to avoid. Polite society will be turned upside down in this witty drama of friendship, rivalry and love Jane Austen''s classic romance novel. **One of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**Trade ReviewPacked with wit. -- Helen Dunmore * Daily Express *The best-loved book by our best-loved novelist * Independent *The wit of Jane Austen has for partner the perfection of her taste * Virginia Woolf *Like Irvine Welsh, I am a great admirer of Jane Austen -- Alexander McCall SmithAnother question I've been regularly asked over the past year is what models I had in mind when writing Curious Incident. Was it To Kill a Mockingbird? Was it Catcher in the Rye? In fact, the book most often in my mind was Pride and Prejudice -- Mark Haddon

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Book Synopsis''P.G. Wodehouse should be prescribed to treat depression. Cheaper, more effective than Valium and far, far more addictive'' Olivia Williams''P.G. Wodehouse remains the greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness, that no one else has ever captured quite so sharply or with quite so much wit and affection'' Julian Fellowes _____________________________________''Without at least one impostor on the premises, Blandings Castle is never itself''Welcome to the world of the delightfully dotty Lord Emsworth, his bone-headed younger son and his long-suffering secretary.Having returned home with a valuable Egyptian amulet, Lord Emsworth finds his home contains not one but two imposters intent on taking it off his hands. But with no real sense of how the amulet came to be in his pocket in the first place, things get a lot more complicated very quickly...Trade ReviewA comic masterpiece -- BBCSomething Fresh has all the trademarks of a Wodehouse classic * The Times *P.G. Wodehouse should be prescribed to treat depression. Cheaper, more effective than Valium and far, far more addictive -- Olivia WilliamsP.G. Wodehouse remains the greatest chronicler of a certain kind of Englishness, that no one else has ever captured quite so sharply or with quite so much wit and affection -- Julian FellowesI've longed to visit the beautifully tended gardens of Blandings Castle with P. G. Wodehouse. -- The Guardian * Books to read to cheer us up *

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Book SynopsisFrancis Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. His first novel, This Side of Paradise, was published in 1920 and was a tremendous critical and commercial success. Fitzgerald followed with The Beautiful and the Damned, The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night . He was working on The Last Tycoon when he died, in Hollywood, in 1940.Trade ReviewThe Great Gatsby remains not just one of the greatest works of American literature, but a timeless evocation of the allure, corruption and carelessness of wealth...a gilded society intoxicated by wealth, dancing its way into the Great Depression. * The Times *Gatsby is a connoisseur's guide to the glamour and glitter of the Jazz Age, but it's also a nearly prophetic glimpse into the world to come. Writing at the height of the boom, in the midst of the Roaring Twenties, Fitzgerald detected the ephemerality, fakery and corruption always lurking at the heart of the great American success story... A haunting meditation on aspiration, disillusionment, romantic love - and a blistering exposé of the materialism, duplicity, and sexual politics driving what Fitzgerald calls America's true "business": "the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty" * The Times *It is a marvellously suggestive novel...a parable of modern America, and by extension of modern life * Daily Telegraph *The first and greatest modern novel, it has beautiful women, lavish parties, romance, betrayal and murder woven together in an intricately structured plot. A prescient comment on the dying days of a gilded age that is brilliant entertainment with a very eloquent insight * Mirror *His masterpiece, an elegy for the American Dream, the greatest lost cause of them all * Los Angeles Times *

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Book SynopsisOne of the great imaginative creations in English literature' Daily TelegraphA dazzling novel of loyalty and dreams set in Restoration England.The gaudy years of the Restoration are long gone and Robert Merivel, physician and courtier to King Charles II, sets off for the French court in search of a fresh start. But royal life at the Palace of Versailles all glitter in front and squalor behind leaves him in despair, until a chance encounter with the seductive Madame de Flamanville, allows him to dream of a different future. But will that future ever be his? Summoned home urgently to attend to the ailing King, Merivel finds his loyalty and skill tested to their limits.Rose Tremain has sold over one million copies of her books.PRAISE FOR MERIVELThis book is richly marbled with intelligence, compassion and compelling characters' The Times''Magnificent story-teller'' IndependenTrade ReviewSocial, political and physical labyrinth -- Frances Osborne * Evening Standard *Satisfying... agreeably sardonic -- Quentin Letts * Daily Mail *One of the great imaginative creations in English literature * Daily Telegraph *An unadulterated delight * Independent *Rich and satisfying -- Lindsay Duguid * Sunday Times *A tour de force of literary technique, a treasure house of diligent research and imaginative ingenuity -- Jane Shilling * Telegraph *Wonderfully entertaining -- Michael Holroyd * Guardian, Books of the Year *Her feeling for the spirit of the times is triumphant -- Charlotte Moore * Spectator *A rich, glowing portrait -- Daisy Hay * Observer *Her characters laugh, cry, plot and flounder so convincingly that they take up residence in your head and refuse to go away -- Mary Crockett * Scotland on Sunday *This book is richly marbled with intelligence, compassion and compelling characters, leavened with flourishes of lyricism and an attractive tolerance towards human frailties -- Angus Clarke * The Times *What ultimately makes the book such a joy is simply being in Merivel’s company. His narration is by turns rueful, comic, despairing and joyful; but it’s always bursting with life, always good-hearted - and always entirely loveable -- James Walton * Daily Mail *A delight -- Lucy Beresford * Literary Review *At times witty and enchanting, on other occasions full of doubt and self-loathing, Merivel remains a stunning achievement. He is Everyman and speaks to us all -- Virginia Blackburn * Sunday Express *Exuberance is a very hard thing to sustain in a novel… However, Tremain brings it off brilliantly. As one might expect, this is a very funny novel, full of picaresque adventure, hapless accidents and ingeniously wrought slapstick. However, it is also a very moving and beautiful novel. There are passages here which I found myself reading over and over again simply in order to savour them. Merivel: A Man of His Time may have been a long time coming, but it’s been well worth the wait -- John Preston * Mail on Sunday *Merivel is excellent company. Writing with a mimic’s ear for conversation, whimsical one moment, grave the next, Tremain has an underlying preoccupation here: the last third of live, love and loss, loneliness and vanity -- Maggie Fergusson * Intelligent Life *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGOSolzhenitsyn is one of the towering figures of the age, as a writer, as moralist, as hero' Edward CrankshawAfter years in enforced exile on the Kazakhstan steppes, a cancer diagnosis brings Oleg Kostoglotov to Ward 13. Brutally treated in squalid conditions, and faced with ward staff and other patients from across the Soviet Union, Kostoglotov finds himself thrown once again into the gruelling mechanics of a state still haunted by Stalinism. One of the great allegorical masterpieces of world literature, Cancer Ward is both a deeply compassionate study of people facing terminal illness and a brilliant dissection of the cancerous Soviet police state. Withdrawn from publication in Russia in 1964, it became, along with One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, a work that awoke the conscience of the world.Trade ReviewPerhaps the most famous work of fiction dealing directly with the disease * Guardian *And what does Solzhenitsyn say about cancer? How does he reach me, in Australia, with his Russian book? He shows me something valuable that I discovered during my own medical treatment. The people who are involved in cancer -- the sufferer, the doctors, the nurses, the orderlies -- are often occupied less with the cancer than with each other. There are small societies of patients and medical workers in a hospital ward, and in those societies people share what they have: their love and resentment, their stories and observations. -- Brenda Walker * The Australian *Solzhenitsyn was a great writer as the result of the collision of a particular personality and an awesome subject matter -- Henry Porter * Observer *Solzhenitsyn is a man of genius…it is a privilege to be Solzhenitsyn’s contemporary * Observer *There has been no such analysis of the corrupting power of the police state in Soviet literature * Listener *

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Book SynopsisThe stories in this collection nearly all take place in and around the mountain hollows of West Virginia: a world of cock-fighting, coal-mining, deer-stalking, sex, depression, drinking and death.''It would be easy to allow his one collection of stories to be buried under the landslide of books published every year. But it's worth doing a little excavating to dig it up. The past few years have seen late-in-the-day and posthumous revivals of interest in writers such ... John Williams. Get out your pickaxes''New YorkerBreece D'J Pancake left behind an astonishing achievement. He was a master of a distinctly American vernacular, which he used to remind us of all the ways that fiction could teach us about ourselves. These stories are absolutely essential reading - Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow BirdsTrade ReviewThe best, most sincere writer I've ever read -- Kurt VonnegutBreece D’J Pancake left behind an astonishing achievement. He was a master of a distinctly American vernacular, which he used to remind us of all the ways that fiction could teach us about ourselves. These stories are absolutely essential reading * Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds *This is an exceptional voice; gritty, mordant, invested with the texture of stroked reality; urgent and haunting * Margaret Atwood *Muscular, precise, lyric and unforgettable… Utterly singular -- Eileen Battersby * Irish Times *Simple, rich with dialogue and precious -- Anna Fielding * Stylist *[Pancake’s] words…combined with an unsparing vision of humanity create the spine-tingling sense that you’re reading an original -- Max Liu * Independent *Haunting brilliance -- John Dugdale * Literary Review *By any standards, [the story “Trilobites”] is a masterpiece; that it is an artistic debut is astonishing… To say that Breece D’J Pancake is not well enough known is a massive understatement… Quite simply, a literary genius -- John Burnside * Guardian *Impressive -- Philip Maughan * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisAs ice water melts into the Atlantic, and vast swathes of people make for the warmer south, Dylan is heading to Scotland, once the home of his late mother and grandmother. Though the weather worsens, his presence brings a new light to daily life, and when the ultimate disaster finally strikes, they'll all be ready.Trade Review[A] vivid and tender coming-of-age story set at the end of the world . . . For all its coldness and darkness, The Sunlight Pilgrims is ultimately a hopeful book – and for a novel that describes the end of the world, that is quite a feat. -- Kirsty Logan * Guardian *Fagan received widespread acclaim for her 2012 debut The Panopticon, and was named as one of the prestigious Granta Best of Young British Novelists a year later. The Sunlight Pilgrims further cements Fagan’s reputation as a writer of skill and depth, a book that shares a similar outsider charm to its predecessor, and one that delves deep into how we relate to others on a human level in the face of all the crap that life throws at us … The author also, it should be said, writes like the poet that she is, with an original eye for description, a wonderful rhythm to her prose, and some genuinely inspiring and unusual characters. An impressive read. -- Doug Johnstone * Big Issue *The Sunlight Pilgrims evokes a chillingly plausible near-future . . . intimately imagined. -- Paraic O'Donnell * The Spectator *Fagan’s vivid, poetic-prose style injects the book with energy. She writes at the pace of thought, sentences like gunfire … She has a poet's affection for precision and image. -- Sophie Elmhirst * Financial Times *Fagan is drawn to those who exist on the outer reaches, and in The Sunlight Pilgrims it is in the literal margins where a broader and yet more refined collection of voices is drawn together … The Sunlight Pilgrims is about the confluence of characters searching to fill the gaps in their lives … In the transgender 11-year-old Stella we have an engaging protagonist whose isolation is mental, physical and geographical, yet who is imbued with a survivalist’s steely resolve ... Indeed, it is somewhere between Alan Warner and Iain Banks that Fagan’s storytelling ability sits, the grit of her familial backstories and dysfunctional relationships dusted with the glitter of magical realism ... In heightened poetic prose, Fagan does for rural Scottish fiction what Kathleen Jamie is doing in poetry and Amy Liptrot in non-fiction: evocatively documenting the ever-changing daily drama of the landscape … This is a novel about summoning hidden strengths and finding one’s place in a universe defined by chaos. -- Ben Myers * New Statesman *

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Book SynopsisN. K. Sandars's landmark translation of one of the first and greatest works of Western literatureA Penguin ClassicGilgamesh, King of Uruk, and his companion Enkidu are the only heroes to have survived from the ancient literature of Babylon, immortalized in this epic poem that dates back to the third millennium BC. Together they journey to the Spring of Youth, defeat the Bull of Heaven and slay the monster Humbaba. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh’s grief and fear of death are such that they lead him to undertake a quest for eternal life. A timeless tale of morality, tragedy and pure adventure, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a landmark literary exploration of man’s search for immortality.N. K. Sandars’s lucid, accessible translation is prefaced by a detailed introduction that examines the narrative and historical context of the work. In addition, there is a glossary of names and a map of the Ancient Orient.For more than seventy Trade Review"The work of synthesis has been accomplished, and with a remarkable degree of tact and imagination."--Times Literary SupplementTable of ContentsIntroduction: the history of the epic; the discovery of the tablets; the historical background; the literary background; the hero of the epic; the principal gods of the epic; the story; survival; the diction of the epic; remarks on this version. "The Epic of Gilgamesh": Gilgamesh King in Uruk; the coming of Enkidu; the forest journey; Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the death of Enkidu; the search for everlasting life; the story of the flood; the return; the death of Gilgamesh.

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

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Book SynopsisCreated by an Irish clergyman, Melmoth is one of the most fiendish characters in literature. In a satanic bargain, Melmoth exchanges his soul for immortality. The story of his tortured wanderings through the centuries is pieced together through those who have been implored by Melmoth to take over his pact with the devil. Influenced by the Gothic romances of the late 18th century, Maturin''s diabolic tale raised the genre to a new and macabre pitch. Its many admirers include Poe, Balzac, Oscar Wilde and Baudelaire.

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Book SynopsisDante''s Inferno describes his descent into Hell midway through his life with the Roman Virgil as his guide, and is unparalleled in its depiction of the tragedy of sin. It is a work inspired by a profound confidence in human nature, yet also expresses Dante''s horror at the way individuals can destroy themselves and each other, creating Hell on Earth. A response to the violent society of thirteenth-century Italy, the Inferno reveals the eternal punishment reserved for sins such as greed, self-deception, political double-dealing and treachery. Portraying a huge diversity of characters culminating in a horrific vision of Satan, it broke new ground in the vigour of its language and its storytelling. It has had a particular influence on Modernist writers and their successors throughout the world.Robin Kirkpatrick''s new translation pays exceptional attention to the originality and force of Dante''s narrative. Printed in English with facing pages in Dante''s Italian, this edition also offers an introduction, along with commentaries and notes on each Canto by the translator, which identify the historical, cultural and philosophical issues behind the poem.Trade Review“A masterly translation.” ―Judith Thurman, The New Yorker“Kirkpatrick brings a more nuanced sense of the Italian and a more mediated appreciation of the poem’s construction than nearly all of his competitors. . . . There is much to recommend here―certainly the intelligence, the energy, the linguistic range. . . . His introduction and canto-by-canto notes are remarkably level and lucid, as attentive to structure as to syntax, language and motif, and deftly cross-reference the whole poem. On their own, they would justify the price.”―The Times (London)“We gain much from Kirkpatrick’s fidelity to syntax and nuance, and from the fact that the Italian is on the facing page for our inspection. . . . His introduction . . . tells you, very readably indeed, pretty much all you need for a heightened appreciation of the work. . . . Kirkpatrick edges us, smoothly, into Dante’s mind, and shows just how and why his influence has seemed to grow with the passage of time. We even get a map of trecento Italy (nestling against a map of hell). . . . If the Purgatorio and Paradiso are as good as this, then English readers will, I hope, start familiarising themselves with the two-thirds of the work most never get round to reading.” —Nicholas Lezard, The Guardian“Likely to be the best modern version of Dante . . . The perfect balance of tightness and colloquialism.” —Bernard O’Donoghue“This version is the first to bring together poetry and scholarship in the very body of the translation—a deeply informed version of Dante that is also a pleasure to read.” —David Wallace, University of Pennsylvania

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Book SynopsisA witty, moving philosophical novel, Jack Kerouac''s The Dharma Bums is a journey of self-discovery through the lens of Zen Buddhist thought. This Penguin Modern Classics edition includes an introduction by Ann Douglas.Following the explosive energy of On the Road, the book that put the Beat Genration on the literary map - and Jack Kerouac on the bestseller list - comes The Dharma Bums, in which Kerouac charts the spiritual quest of a group of friends in search of Dharma, or Truth. Ray Smith and his friend Japhy, along with Morley the yodeller, head off into the high Sierras to seek the lesson of solitude and experience the Zen way of life. But in wildly Bohemian San Francisco, with its poetry jam sessions, marathon drinking bouts and experiments in ''yabyum'', they find the ascetic route distinctly hard to follow.Jack Kerouac (1922-69) was an American novelist, poet, artist and part of the Beat Generation. His first published novel, The Town

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Book SynopsisThis surreal fable, set in America''s Old West, features a cast of notorious characters: The Crying Gun, who breaks into tears at the sight of his opponent; The Priest, who goes into gunfights giving his adversaries the last rites; and The Nihilistic Kid himself, Kim Carson, a homosexual gunslinger who, with a succession of beautiful sidekicks, sets out to challenge the morality of small-town America and fight for intergalactic freedom. Fantastical and humorous, The Place of Dead Roads continues William Burroughs'' exploration of society''s controlling forces - the State, the Church, women, literature, drugs - with a style that is utterly unique in twentieth-century literature.

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Book SynopsisObi Okonkwo is an idealistic young man who, thanks to the privileges of an education in Britain, has now returned to Nigeria for a job in the civil service. However in his new role he finds that the way of government seems to be backhanders and corruption. Obi manages to resist the bribes that are offered to him, but when he falls in love with an unsuitable girl - to the disapproval of his parents - he sinks further into emotional and financial turmoil. The lure of easy money becomes harder to refuse, and Obi becomes caught in a trap he cannot escape. Showing a man lost in cultural limbo, and a Nigeria entering a new age of disillusionment, No Longer at Ease concludes Achebe''s remarkable trilogy charting three generations of an African community under the impact of colonialism, the first two volumes of which are Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God.

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Book SynopsisA Cold War thriller from the master of spy fiction, John le Carré''s The Looking Glass War is a gripping novel of double-crosses, audacious bluffs and the ever-present threat of nuclear war, published in Penguin Modern Classics.When the Department - faded since the war and busy only with bureaucratic battles - hears rumour of a missile base near the West German border, it seems like the perfect opportunity to regain some political standing in the Intelligence market place. The Cold War is at its height and the Department is dying for a piece of the action.Swiftly becoming carried away by fear and pride, the Department and her officers send deactivated agent Fred Leiser back into East Germany, armed only with some schoolboy training and his memories of the war. In the land of eloquent silence that is Communist East Germany, Leiser''s fate becomes inseparable from the Department''s.If you enjoyed The Looking Glass War, you might like le Carré''s The Secret Pilgrim, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.''A devastating and tragic record of human, not glamour, spies'' New York Herald Tribune''A book of rare and great power'' Financial TimesTrade ReviewA book of rare and great power * Financial Times *A devastating and tragic record of human, not glamour, spies * New York Herald Tribune *

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Book SynopsisA chilling new collection of Henry James's short stories exploring the uncanny, including The Turn of the Screw, the basis for the new Netflix series The Haunting of Bly Manor   In The Turn of the Screw, one of the most famous ghost stories of all time, a governess becomes obsessed with the belief that malevolent forces are stalking the children in her care. It is accompanied here by several more of the very best of Henry James's short stories, all exploring ghosts and the uncanny.  For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best w

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Book SynopsisA remarkable collection of dark, funny and haunting short stories from the inimitable author of ''The Lottery''.An anxious devil, an elderly writer of poison pen letters and a mid-century Jack the Ripper; a pursuit though a nightmarish city, a small boy''s thrilling train ride with a female thief, and a town where the possibility of evil lurks behind perfect rose bushes. This is the world of Shirley Jackson, by turns frightening, funny, strange and unforgettably revealed in this brilliant collection of short stories.''Jackson at her best: plumbing the extraordinary from the depths of mid-twentieth-century common. [Just an Ordinary Day] is a gift to a new generation'' - San Francisco Chronicle''For Jackson devotees, as well as first-time readers, this is a feast ... A virtuoso collection'' - Publishers WeeklyTrade ReviewJackson at her best: plumbing the extraordinary from the depths of mid-twentieth-century common. [Just an Ordinary Day] is a gift to a new generation * San Francisco Chronicle *For Jackson devotees, as well as first-time readers, this is a feast ... A virtuoso collection * Publishers Weekly *One of the great practitioners of the literature of the darker impulses -- Paul Theroux * The New York Times Book Review *The world of Shirley Jackson is eerie and unforgettable -- A. M. HomesA dark, disturbing, wonderful treat ... A collection to press on people and demand they read -- Alison Flood * The Bookseller *

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling French graphic novel about the mind-bending world of quantum physicsTake an incredible journey through the quantum universe with explorer Bob and his dog Rick, as they travel through a world of wonders, talk to Einstein about atoms, hang out with Heisenberg on Heligoland and eat crepes with Max Planck. Along the way, we find out that a dog - much like a cat - can be both dead and alive, the gaze of a mouse can change the universe, and a comic book can actually make quantum physics fun, easy to understand and downright enchanting.''Billed as Tintin meets Brian Cox, the book was created by theoretical physicist Thibault Damour and illustrator Mathieu Burniat so it''s as scientifically accurate as it is beautiful'' BBC Focus

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Book SynopsisThe largest and richest English-language volume of poetry from “the greatest twentieth-century writer you have never heard of” (Los Angeles Times)   Edited, Translated, and with an Introduction by Richard Zenith, the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Pessoa: A BiographyA Penguin Classic Writing obsessively in French, English, and Portuguese, poet Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935) left a prodigious body of work, much of it credited to three “heteronyms”―Alberto Caeiro, Ricardo Reis, and Alvaro de Campos―alter egos with startlingly different styles, points of view, and biographies. Offering a unique sampling of his most famous voices, this collection features Pessoa’s major, best-known works and several stunning poems that have come to light only in this century, including his long, highly autobiographical swan song. Featuring a rich body of work that has never before been tTrade Review“Pessoa was one of the great, twentieth-century poets, the equal of Yeats, Rilke, Valéry, Lorca, Pasternak, or Hart Crane. Here, at long last, is a copious selection, translated by the gifted poet and scholar Richard Zenith. It is cause for rejoicing.” ―John Ashbery

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Book SynopsisVirginia Woolf's humorous biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's spaniel is charming yet also radical. A work of sensuous imagination, it opens up a range of questions about class, society, and cultural attitudes which are woven throughout the whole of Woolf's writing.

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Book Synopsis''I was conscious of a most horrible smell of mould, and of a cold kind of face pressed against my own...''Considered by many to be the most terrifying writer in English, M. R. James was an eminent scholar who spent his entire adult life in the academic surroundings of Eton and Cambridge. His classic supernatural tales draw on the terrors of the everyday, in which documents and objects unleash terrible forces, often in closed rooms and night-time settings where imagination runs riot. Lonely country houses, remote inns, ancient churches or the manuscript collections of great libraries provide settings for unbearable menace, from creatures seeking retribution and harm. These stories have lost none of their power to unsettle and disturb.This edition presents all of James''s published ghost stories, including the unforgettable ''Oh, Whistle and I''ll Come to You, My Lad'' and ''Casting the Runes'', and an appendix of James''s writings on the ghost story. Darryl Jones''s introduction and notes provide a fascinating insight into James''s background and his mastery of the genre he made his own. 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 commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Trade ReviewArguably the definitive collection by a single writer, this edition collects together all of James' spine-tingling tales in a single volume. From Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad to The Mezzotint, these stories guarantee unbearable horrified suspense. * The New European *In his introduction to the 2013 Oxford World Classics edition of MR James's Collected Ghost Stories, Darryl Jones cites the story Casting The Runes, in which a Mr Dunning, lying in bed in the dark, gropes for matches under his pillow. * Teddy Jamieson, Sunday Herald (Glasgow) *They are classics of the genre. He had a brilliant skill for unsettling you and you wake up panting in the night * Reverand Richard Coles, Daily Express *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; Select Bibliography ; Chronology of M. R. James ; Canon Alberic's Scrap-book ; Lost Hearts ; The Mezzotint ; The Ash-Tree ; Number 13 ; Count Magnus ; 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' ; The Treasure of Abbot Thomas ; A School Story ; The Rose Garden ; The Tractate Middoth ; Casting the Runes ; The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral ; Martin's Close ; Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance ; The Residence at Whitminster ; The Diary of Mr Poynter ; An Episode of Cathedral History ; The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance ; Two Doctors ; The Haunted Dolls' House ; The Uncommon Prayer-Book ; A Neighbour's Landmark ; A View from a Hill ; A Warning to the Curious ; An Evening's Entertainment ; There was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard ; Rats ; After Dark in the Playing Fields ; Wailing Well ; The Experiment ; The Malice of Inanimate Objects ; A Vignette ; Appendix: M. R. James on Ghost Stories ; Explanatory Notes

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Book SynopsisFrom the Booker-shortlisted author of To Rise Again at a Decent Hour comes a hilarious novel about fathers, sons, thwarted dreams and confronting the reality of who we really are'This is a fine American novel about family, love, and a decent but flawed man trying to be better. In dark times like these, I can't recommend this book too highly. It's strong' Stephen King on Twitter___________________________________Charlie Barnes is a mid-century man devoted to his newspaper and his landline. But Charlie is about to get dragged into our troubled age by his storyteller son, who has a different idea of him than he has of himself. Then there are his other children, his ex-wives, present wife, business clients, friends and acquaintances, all of whom have their competing opinions of Charlie. He certainly seems simple enough: he's a striver, a romantic, and a thoroughgoing capitalist. But suddenly blindsided by the Great Recession and a dose of bad news, he might have to rethink his life from

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Book SynopsisOver the course of his career, Tomas Tranströmer - a poet who could look on the barren isolation of Sweden''s landscapes and seascapes like no other, and find in them something hauntingly transcendent - emerged as one of the 20th century''s essential global voices. By the time he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2011, his luminous, almost mystical work had been translated into more than 50 languages.Gathering his poems from the early, nature-focused work to the later poetry''s widening of the scope to take in painting, travel, urban life, and the impositions of technology on the natural world, and stirred throughout by the poet''s profound love of music, The Half-Finished Heaven is a unique selection from Tranströmer''s work. It is also, in its way, a deeply intimate one: the poems hand-picked here are not only the most beloved, but also those which were translated in the course of Tranströmer''s nearly thirty-year correspondence with his close friend and collabor

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Book SynopsisDepicting a young woman''s life in Nazi Germany, a masterpiece from the author of Child of All Nations''I cannot think of anything else that conjures up so powerfully the atmosphere of a nation turned insane'' Sunday TelegraphNineteen-year-old Sanna just wants to drink her beer in peace, but that''s difficult when Hitler has come to town and his motorcade is blocking the streets of Frankfurt. What''s more, her best friend Gerti is in love with a Jewish boy, her brother writes books that have been blacklisted and her own aunt may denounce her to the authorities at any moment, as Germany teeters on the edge of the abyss. Written after she had fled the Nazi regime, Irmgard Keun''s masterly novel captures the feverish hysteria and horror of the era with devastating perceptiveness and humour.Translated by Anthea BellTrade ReviewI cannot think of anything else that conjures up so powerfully the atmosphere of a nation turned insane * Sunday Telegraph *Acerbically observed by this youthful, clever, undeceived eye....Crystalline yet acid * Jewish Chronicle *Explosive ... Reading After Midnight today [still] feels dangerous. I kept turning to the copyright page, unable to believe that such a sexually and politically frank book could have been published in 1937 Germany ... After Midnight haunts far beyond its final page * NPR *Brief, important and haunting -- Penelope Lively

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Book SynopsisFrom the prize-winning author of Reasons to be Cheerful comes a story about the ebb and flow of female friendship over half a lifetime''A true gift of a novel, I utterly adored it. For as long as I could make it last, the world just felt a bit nicer'' Meg Mason''Stibbe turns out more perfect, sharp, unique sentences than anyone else'' Caitlin Moran''Stibbe has an extraordinary gift'' Marian Keyes''Nina Stibbe makes being funny look easy, but that''s just because she''s very, very good at it'' Clare Chambers________________________________________________Susan and Norma have been best friends for years, at first thrust together by force of circumstance (a job at The Pin Cushion, a haberdashery shop in 1990s Leicestershire) and then by force of character (neither being particularly inclined to make friends with anyone else). But now, thirty years later, faced with a husband seeking immortality and No

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Book Synopsis''A comic masterpiece'' Patrick Gale, GuardianPillar of society and stern upholder of Victorian values, god-fearing Norfolk merchant John Barnard presides over a large and largely unhappy family. This is their story - his brandy-swilling wife, their hapless offspring and their changing fortunes - over the decades. Sylvia Townsend Warner''s last novel, The Flint Anchor gloriously overturns our ideas of history, family and storytelling itself.''A novel created with solidity and subtlety of feeling, a fusion of warmth, wit and quietly biting shrewdness that are reminiscent of Jane Austen'' Atlantic Review''As a sustained work of historical imagination, it has few rivals ... one of the most acute and intelligent writers of her age'' Claire HarmanTrade ReviewA novel created with solidity and subtlety of feeling, a fusion of warmth, wit and quietly biting shrewdness that are reminiscent of Jane Austen * Atlantic Review *One of our most idiosyncratic, courageous and versatile writers -- Hermione Lee

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