Literary studies: fiction Books

Book SynopsisThe first-ever volume of the photographs of German writer W.G. Sebald, exquisitely designed to shed new light on his creative process, as it chronicles the images and encounters that shaped his writing life. Shadows of Reality presents a unique, fully illustrated catalogue of W.G. Sebald's photographs- an extraordinary combination of film negatives, prints, and slides from the University of East Anglia's photographic collection, the Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach, and the Sebald Estate. Complementing the exhibition Lines of Sight- W.G. Sebald's East Anglia and edited by literary scholar Clive Scott and photography curator Nick Warr, this wonderfully comprehensive book covers the multiple photographic facets of Sebald's published work and includes a substantial amount of material that has not been made public before. Introduced by Nick Warr, who offers an intriguing overview of the author's critical relationship to photography, Shadows of Reality also includes an illuminating interview with Michael Brandon-Jones, the photographer who collaborated with Sebald on all of his publications. The book features a collection of extracts-principally on photography-from interviews with Sebald himself, bequeathed to the archive of recordings held at the University of East Anglia by his close friend Gordon Turner, who also provides a memoir. Accompanying these are inspired essays by Clive Scott and Angela Breidbach on Sebald's writing-with-photographs and the complex and mercurial interactions of those photographs with narrative design. A deeply important collection for anyone interested in Sebald's creative processes or the ways in which photography might serve fiction, Shadows of Reality is an inexhaustible treasure trove of new discoveries and revelations about the cherished international author.

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its range of best-loved, essential classics.''Wouldn''t it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could come true, and we could live in them?''An endearing tale of hardship, love and sisterhood during the American Civil War, Little Women tells the story of the March family. Newly impoverished, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy undertake their journey through life together, bound to each other and their beloved mother Marmee by fierce loyalty. Good and bad timescome and go as they struggle with the trials of growing up, getting along, and exploring life outside the comforting walls of home, each discovering her own distinct personality along the way.Full of charm and heart, Little Women is the first novel in a series cherished by children and adults alike.

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Book SynopsisJane Austen''s letters afford a unique insight into the daily life of the novelist: intimate and gossipy, observant and informative, they bring alive her family and friends, her surroundings and contemporary events with a freshness unparalleled in biography. Above all we recognize the unmistakable voice of the author of Pride and Prejudice, witty and amusing as she describes the social life of town and country, thoughtful and constructive when writing about the business of literary composition. R. W. Chapman''s ground-breaking edition of the collected Letters first appeared in 1932, and a second edition followed twenty years later. A third edition, edited by Deidre Le Faye in 1997, added new material, re-ordered the letters into their correct chronological sequence, and provided discreet and full annotation to each letter, including its provenance, and information on the watermarks, postmarks, and other physical details of the manuscripts. This fourth edition incorporates the findings of new scholarship to enrich our understanding of Austen and give us the fullest and most revealing view yet of her life and family. There is a new preface, the biographical and topographical indexes have been amended and updated, a new subject index has been created, and the contents of the notes added to the general index.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Review from previous edition Deidre Le Faye's new edition is necessary and very welcome; no one was better qualified, no one could have done it so well. * Independent on Sunday *We waited a long time for the new edition. It was well worth the wait. * Jane Austen Society of North America *for those who are starting to get the novels confused with the films, here is a chance to enjoy their beloved Jane at her most direct ... a generous and comprehensive book * Max Davidson, The Daily Telegraph *Most will enjoy reading Austen unbuttoned, in an unfussy and intelligently edited volume. * Sam Leith, The Observer *Le Faye re-orders the letters chronologically and provides useful background information. She also includes previously unpublished material. * The Express *Wiht little else to fill that ordinary life, Jane had plenty of time to write letters. They were witty, intimate and gossipy and brought alive her contemporaries and their surroundings. More than 160 are collected here, annotated and placed in chronological order. * Oxford Times *it is possible to appreciate Le Faye's edition for what it offers to readers both casual and academic. Most importantly, this is a highly readable text. ... Carefully detailed notes, biographical and topographical indexes, and bibliographical information about primary and secondary sources all contribute to the reader's sense that Le Faye's professional thoroughness has indeed made accessible 'the daily business' of Austen's world. * RES New Series, vol.XLVIII, No.190, 1997 *These are the letters of our greatest novelist ... they give glances and hints at her life from the age of 20 to her death at 41, the years in which she wrote her six imperishable books * Claire Tomalin, Independent on Sunday *[a] landmark collection ... Le Faye's work combines a meticulous compilation of data about the physical attributes and indexes that allow us to read over Austen's shoulder as she shares everyday news and frank opinions with family and friends. * Newsletter of the Jane Austen Society of North America, Volume 28: Issue Number 2 *For someone fairly new to Austen studies, who knows the novels and even the minor works but who is yet to immerse themselves in these tender, touching, entertaining products of their author's mind, there could be no better gift. * The Newsletter of the Jane Austen Society, no. 38 *Table of ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS; PREFACE TO FOURTH EDITION; LIST OF LETTERS; JANE AUSTEN'S LETTERS; ABBREVIATIONS AND CITATIONS; NOTES; GENERAL NOTES ON THE LETTERS; BIBLIOGRAPHY; BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX; TOPOGRAPHICAL INDEX; SUBJECT INDEX; GENERAL INDEX

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Book SynopsisThe name of the Marquis de Sade is synonymous with the blackest corners of the human soul, a byword for all that is foulest in human conduct. In his bleak, claustrophobic universe, there is no God, no morality, no human affection, and no hope. Power is given to the strong, and the strong are murderers, torturers, and tyrants. No quarter is given; compassion is the virtue of the weak. Yet Sade was a man of savage intelligence who carried the philosophy of the French Enlightenment to its logical extreme. His writings effectively release the individual from all social and moral constraint: for many, Sade is the Great Libertarian. The Victorians considered him `Divine' and Apollinaire called him `the freest spirit'; the Surrealists recognised him as a founding father, and he is a key figure in the history of modernism and post-modernism. With Freud and Marx, Sade has been oneof the crucial shaping influences on this century, and reactions to him continue to be extreme. But he has always bTable of ContentsThe Misfortunes of Virtue; Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Man; The Successful Ruse; The Pimp Well Served; The Windbags of Provence; An Inexplicable Affair; The Prude; Émile de Tourville; Augustine de Villeblanche; The Law of Talion; The Self-Made Cuckold; The Husband who Said Mass; The Lady of the Manor of Longeville; The Confidence Men

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Book SynopsisThis unique edition brings together for the first time Austen-Leigh's memoir of his aunt Jane Austen, together with shorter recollections by James Edward's two sisters. It also includes Jane's brother Henry's two biographical accounts.Trade Reviewa must for lovers of Austen's work * Choice Magazine *A very good introduction by Kathryn Sutherland * Derwent May, the Times, *

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Book Synopsis_________________________The perfect accompaniment to the definitive new editions of Georgette Heyer''s celebrated novels that are currently being reissued.A remarkable biography of one of Britain''s best-loved and best-selling novelists, ''the queen of Regency romance''.Georgette Heyer remains an enduring international bestseller, read and loved by four generations of readers and extolled by today''s bestselling authors. Despite her enormous popularity she never gave an interview or appeared in public. Georgette Heyer wrote her first novel, The Black Moth, when she was seventeen in order to amuse her convalescent brother. It was published in 1921 to instant success and it has never been out of print. A phenomenon even in her own lifetime, to this day she is the undisputed queen of regency romance. During ten years of research into Georgette Heyer''s life and writing, Jennifer Kloester has had unlimited access toTrade ReviewAn engaging portrait of a novelist beloved of four generations. A must for those wishing to explore the life of the queen of Regency romance. * Daily Express, 4/5 stars *All lovers of the great Heyer, inventor of the Regency Romance, will love this superb biography of a very private woman. * Saga magazine *Jennifer Kloester’s book is an exhaustive and detailed biography which is quite as gripping as The Regency Buck or The Corinthian. Recognition at last. * Country Life *This should be read on creative-writing courses everywhere. * Sunday Times *A compelling study of a fascinating life. Jennifer Kloester has opened the door on one of the most private literary icons of the past century, one whose works made and continue to make a lasting impression on readers worldwide. Meticulously researched and supported, Kloester's study is both sympathetic and exact, and paints a finely detailed portrait of the woman behind the books. An engaging, intriguing, absorbing read - history is rarely this entertaining! -- Stephanie Laurens, #1 New York Times bestselling historical romance author

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewIntroduction and notes by Andrew Sanders facilitated a proper understanding of period details and plot structure. I will continue to use this edition in future classes on Dickens's novels. * Helge Nowak, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universtitaet *

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Book SynopsisAuster''s radical modern ghost story from the author of contemporary classic The New York Trilogy: ''a literary voice for the ages'' (Guardian) Several months into his recovery from a near-fatal illness, novelist Sidney Orr enters a stationery shop in Brooklyn and buys a blue notebook. It is September 18, 1982, and for the next nine days Orr will live under the spell of this blank book, trapped inside a world of eerie premonitions and bewildering events that threaten to destroy his marriage and undermine his faith in reality.If The New York Trilogy was Paul Auster''s detective story, his mesmerizing eleventh novel reads like an old-fashioned ghost story. But there are no ghosts in this book - only flesh-and-blood human beings, wandering through the haunted realms of everyday life. Oracle Night is a narrative tour de force that confirms Auster''s reputation as one of the boldest, most original writers at work in America today.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1886 as a “shilling shocker,” Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde takes the basic struggle between good and evil and adds to the mix bourgeois respectability, urban violence, and class conflict. The result is a tale that has taken on the force of myth in the popular imagination. This Broadview edition provides a fascinating selection of contextual material, including contemporary reviews of the novel, Stevenson’s essay “A Chapter on Dreams,” and excerpts from the 1887 stage version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Also included are historical documents on criminality and degeneracy, the “Jack the Ripper” murders, the “double brain,” and London in the 1880s.New to this third edition are an appendix on the figure of the Victorian gentleman and an expanded selection of letters related to the novel; the introduction and bibliography have also been updated to reflect recent criticism.Trade ReviewMartin Danahay provides an authoritative text, an excellent introductory commentary, an up-to-date bibliography, and a well-chosen set of contextualizing appendices. For an in-depth understanding of Stevenson’s masterpiece of horror, this is the text of choice." - Patrick Brantlinger, Indiana University"Martin Danahay’s edition of Jekyll and Hyde is a treasure trove of biographical, cultural, and historical materials. It makes a number of important contexts for interpretation available through its accessible but intriguing assemblage of ancillary documents. It cannot fail to be the inspiration for deeper investigations of a masterpiece that is itself at the crossroads of Victorian anxieties about sex, class, psychology, evolution, and the rise of popular culture." - John Kucich, University of MichiganTable of Contents Acknowledgements Preface to the Third Edition Introduction Robert Louis Stevenson: A Brief Chronology A Note on the Text Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Appendices Select Bibliography

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Book SynopsisFrom the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Last Act of Love, Cathy Rentzenbrink's Dear Reader is the ultimate love letter to reading and to finding the comfort and joy in stories.'Exquisite' - Marian Keyes, author of Grown Ups'A warm, unpretentious manifesto for why books matter’ - Sunday ExpressGrowing up, Cathy Rentzenbrink was rarely seen without her nose in a book and read in secret long after lights out. When tragedy struck, it was books that kept her afloat. Eventually they lit the way to a new path, first as a bookseller and then as a writer. No matter what the future holds, reading will always help.A moving, funny and joyous exploration of how books can change the course of your life, packed with recommendations from one reader to another.Trade ReviewCelebrates reading as a means of connection and a vehicle for escapism . . . a heartfelt reminder that, for all the wholesome effects that reading arguably has, the first reason to do it is for pleasure. Fittingly, Dear Reader is a pleasure to read * Times *I will never, ever forget the way Dear Reader made me feel: it is profoundly tender, generous, joy-filled, love-filled and compassionate. I have read so many wonderful books this year but this is the one I would buy and give away to everyone in the world if I could -- Daisy Buchanan, author of How to Be a Grown-UpIf you love books or if you need companionship during a difficult patch in your life or if you simply want to be taken by the hand by a writer who is kind, wise, funny, generous, insightful and profound, then this is the book for you -- Elizabeth DayExquisite. Dear Reader is touching, beautiful and contains countless excellent book recommendations! -- Marian KeyesCathy Rentzenbrink’s exploration of reading books and the comfort they bring in Dear Reader feels like art in your hands * Stylist, 'Best Gift Books this Christmas' *Joyful, poignant and essential reading for people who love books . . . it is a book to cherish -- Nina StibbeBeautifully written and a joy to read, Dear Reader is a best friend of a book -- AJ Pearce, Sunday Times bestselling author of Dear Mrs BirdThis love letter to reading, which is packed with recommendations, is pure joy * Good Housekeeping *Dear Reader restored my soul -- Sara Collins, author of The Confessions of Frannie LangtonA companion for readers everywhere . . . intimate, kind and self-effacing, it feels like someone is sitting right next to you, holding your hand and sharing their secrets. I loved it -- Kit de Waal, author of My Name is LeonA warm, unpretentious manifesto for why books matter * Sunday Express *Dear Reader is the best thing I’ve read for ages and it will stay with me forever -- Philippa Perry, author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will be Glad That You Did)Your first port of call if you’re looking for a book to recommend or just a bit stuck on what to choose next. But it’s more than a reference book; it’s a personal account of how books have comforted the author and what they can do for the soul -- Kit de Waal * New Statesman, Books of the Year *A wonderful warm bath of a book. Perfect for all bookworms to sink into -- Jenny Colgan, author of Meet Me At The Cupcake CaféThis is a book that shows what can happen when reading becomes one of the foundation stones in someone’s life, how it miraculously reveals a map when you’ve lost your path and how it will always provide a connection to the world when we feel alone . . . Cathy, prepare for adulation -- Diane Setterfield, author of The Thirteenth TaleDear Reader is a comfort, an inspiration and a gift of a book for readers, reluctant readers and anyone who wants to feel better about themselves and the world. I applaud Cathy Rentzenbrink, she is a truly brilliant writer -- Julia Samuel, author of Grief WorksYour first port of call if you’re looking for a book to recommend or just a bit stuck on what to choose next. But it’s more than a reference book; it’s a personal account of how books have comforted the author and what they can do for the soul -- Kit de Waal, 'Books of the Year' * New Statesman *Comfort reading has been to the fore lately, and you'll find it in abundance in this joyous memoir of a life immersed in the pleasures and consolations of books by the author of The Last Act of Love . . . It's chock-full of Rentzenbrink's splendid reading recommendations, from "Children's Books I Love to Reread" and books about "Bad Love", to "Posh People Behaving Badly" and "Helpful Non-Fiction", which her own book most certainly is -- Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller *

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Book SynopsisThe Mortgaged Heart is an important collection of Carson McCullerss work, including stories, essays, articles, poems, and her writing on writing. These pieces, written mostly before McCullers was nineteen, provide invaluable insight into her life and her gifts and growth as a writer. The collection also contains the the working outline of The Mute, which became her best-selling novel The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

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Book Synopsis''Impeccable ... The most impressive of her novels'' Atlantic MonthlyIn this thoughtful and moving novel, four men find themselves inextricably bound together by their past histories. The aged Judge Clane dreams of resurrecting the confederacy, while his grandson, Jester, is involuntarily drawn to Sherman, a volatile black orphan who feels the sharp sting of racial injustice, especially when he finds out the truth about his parentage. Through the eyes of these individuals Carson McCullers explores the roots of racial prejudice and the dual moralities of the town''s leading whites.Trade ReviewThe greatest prose writer that the South produced ... She has examined the heart of man with an understanding that no other writer can hope to surpass -- Tennessee WilliamsOf all the Southern writers, she is the most apt to endure -- Gore VidalAgain [McCullers] shows a sort of subterranean and ageless instinct for probing the hidden in men's hearts and minds * New York Herald-Tribune *

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Book SynopsisCharles Dickens is the acclaimed definitive biography by bestselling author Claire Tomalin Charles Dickens was a phenomenon: a demonicly hardworking journalist, the father of ten children, a tireless walker and traveller, a supporter of liberal social causes, but most of all a great novelist - the creator of characters who live immortally in the English imagination: the Artful Dodger, Mr Pickwick, Pip, David Copperfield, Little Nell, Lady Dedlock, and many more.At the age of twelve he was sent to work in a blacking factory by his affectionate but feckless parents. From these unpromising beginnings, he rose to scale all the social and literary heights, entirely through his own efforts. When he died, the world mourned, and he was buried - against his wishes - in Westminster Abbey.Yet the brilliance concealed a divided character: a republican, he disliked America; sentimental about the family in his writings, he took up passionately with a young actress; usually generous, he cut off his impecunious children. From the award-winning author of Samuel Pepys, Charles Dickens: A Life paints an unforgettable portrait of Dickens, capturing brilliantly the complex character of this great genius. If you loved Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, this book is invaluable reading.''By far the most humane and imaginatively sympathetic account yet for the general reader'' Amanda Craig, New Statesman

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Book Synopsis''An indispensable writer ... Calvino, possesses the power of seeing into the deepest recesses of human minds and then bringing their dreams to life'' Salman RushdieThe difference between life and literature; the good intentions of holiday reading; the avante-garde; the fate of the novel; the fantastical; the art of translation: these are just some of the ideas in The Written World and the Unwritten World. A collection of essays, articles, interviews, correspondence, notes and other occasional pieces on writing, reading and interpreting books, this work gives us new insight into Italo Calvino''s expansive, curious and generous mind.Translated by Ann GoldsteinTrade ReviewElectric . . . this rich collection of essays, reviews, interviews and more . . . are not only the backstory to his fictional method, but often another expression of it -- Tim Adams * Observer *Engagingly whimsical . . . a wry sense of humour . . . there are gems to be mined. And, like real precious stones, they are found in unlikely places * Economist *Glimmering insight and wit . . . incisive . . . reading this book is time spent with a first-rate mind -- Chris Power * The Sunday Times *Playful . . . unfailingly stimulating . . . there are plenty of delights -- John Self * Guardian *It is for these moments of pathos, irony and honesty, when palaces of dazzling reflection are swept aside and the most adventurous thinking is undone, that one reads Italo Calvino -- Tim Parks * TLS *Intelligent, witty, pleasingly erudite and razor-sharp -- Alberto Manguel * Literary Review *Wonderful . . . surveys his varied interests and discerning style . . . Calvino's prose is sparkling as ever, and he approaches ideas with wit and an open mind, always ready to challenge a stale point of view. This anthology will delight Calvino fans old and new * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisRich girl, street punk, lost girl and icon ... scholar, stripper, victim and media-whore: The late Kathy Acker''s legend and writings are wrapped in mythologies, created mostly by Acker herself. In this first, fully authorized biography, Kraus approaches Acker both as a writer, and as a member of the artistic communities from which she emerged. At once forensic and intimate, After Kathy Acker traces the extreme discipline and literary strategies Acker used to develop her work, and the contradictions she longed to embody. Using exhaustive archival research and ongoing conversations with mutual colleagues and friends, Kraus charts Acker''s movement through some of the late 20th century''s most significant artistic enterprises.Trade ReviewThis is a gossipy, anti-mythic artist biography which feels like it's being told in one long rush of a monologue over late-night drinks by someone who was there. Acker emerges as an unlikely literary hero, but an utterly convincing one. -- Sheila Heti, author of How Should A Person BeThe path of the female artist. Is hell. Chris Kraus's veracious and intricately structured portrait rouses and stirs as it documents in meticulous and fascinating detail the life, work and body of Kathy Acker and what it takes to a become a 'great writer as countercultural hero.' -- Viv AlbertineKraus reconstitutes Acker's wanderings with real wit and beauty, understanding without pandering to the painfully high stakes of her identity games -- Olivia Laing * Guardian *To pin down the real Kathy Acker then is a self-defeating task but Chris Kraus's biography of her is a brilliant and necessary thing. Kraus pushes Acker's writing to the foreground making us understand how difficult a territory the so-called avant-garde was, and is, for a woman. -- Suzanne Moore * New Statesman *'To lie is to try,' Chris Kraus writes in this examination of the various personae of Kathy Acker, the fucked-up girl from high school who, through lying and trying, became an experimental writer of rare courage and vision. In some ways a contemporary and in some ways as far off as the days when people moved to New York and San Francisco for the cheap rent, Acker needed a key, and Chris Kraus provides it. -- Ben MoserChris Kraus's After Acker sets the bar for what will surely be a new era of critical and biographical reckoning with the life and work of Kathy Acker. Kraus had a ringside seat, has done her homework, and here provides a substantive effort to pay homage not only to the complex, singular, raucous, and crucial writer and human that Acker was, but also to the constellation of artists, musicians, writers, and thinkers who were her friends, lovers, inspirations, and fellow makers of history. -- Maggie NelsonHardly anyone writes better or more insightfully than Chris Kraus about the lives of women and artists. After Kathy Acker is an intense, riveting portrait of a writer who was raw and savvy, fragile and brilliant, whose self-deceptions were inseparable from her greatness. Quotes from her profane and passionate journals reveal Kathy the crazy poet, the bad girlfriend, the Upper East Side schoolgirl, the downtown writer, Kathy in love and in denial. Gossipy, sexy, tragic, terrific. -- Julie Phillips, author of The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon

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Book SynopsisFollowing his father''s death John Harmon returns to London to claim his inheritance, but he finds he is eligible only if he marries Bella Wilfur. To observe her character he assumes another identity and secures work with his father''s foreman, Mr Boffin, who is also Bella''s guardian.Disguise and concealment play an important role in the novel and individual identity is examined within the wider setting of London life: in the 1860s the city was aflame with spiralling financial speculation while thousands of homeless scratched a living from the detritus of the more fortunate-indeed John Harmon''s father has amassed his wealth by recycling waste.This edition includes extensive explanatory notes and significant manuscript variants. 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.

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Book Synopsis''The present system means joyless drudgery, semi-starvation, rags and premature death; and they vote for it and uphold it. Let them have what they vote for! Let them drudge and let them starve!''There is no other novel quite like The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. George Orwell called it ''a wonderful book''; its readers have become a living part of its remarkable history.Tressell''s novel is about survival on the underside of the Edwardian Twilight, about exploitative employment when the only safety nets are charity, workhouse, and grave. Following the fortunes of a group of painters and decorators and their families, and the attempts to rouse their political will by the Socialist visionary Frank Owen, the book is both a highly entertaining story and a passionate appeal for a fairer way of life. It asks questions that are still being asked today: why do your wages bear no relation to the value of your work? Why do fat cats get richer when you don''t? Tressell''s answers are ''The

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Book SynopsisThomas More: Utopia/ Francis Bacon: New Atlantis/Henry Neville: The Isle of Pines With the publication of Utopia (1516), Thomas More introduced into the English language not only a new word, but a new way of thinking about the gulf between what ought to be and what is. His Utopia is at once a scathing analysis of the shortcomings of his own society, a realistic suggestion for an alternative mode of social organization, and a satire on unrealistic idealism. Enormously influential, it remains a challenging as well as a playful text. This edition reprints Ralph Robinson''s 1556 translation from More''s original Latin together with letters and illustrations that accompanied early editions of Utopia. Utopia was only one of many early modern treatments of other worlds. This edition also includes two other, hitherto less accessible, utopian narratives. New Atlantis (1627) offers a fictional illustration of Francis Bacon''s visionary ideal of the role that science should play in the modern society. Henry Neville''s The Isle of Pines (1668), a precursor of Defoe''s Robinson Crusoe, engages with some of the sexual, racial, and colonialist anxieties of the end of the early modern period. Together these texts illustrate the diversity of the early modern utopian imagination, as well as the different purposes to which it could be put. 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.Table of ContentsUtopia ; New Atlantis ; The Isle of Pines

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Book SynopsisINTRODUCED BY LISSA EVANS''I envy anyone yet to discover the joy of Monica Dickens. She''s beady eyed, big hearted and blissfully funny'' NINA STIBBE '' Humorous, moving and fascinating'' CLARE MACKINTOSH Considering herself unsuitable for any other contribution to the war effort, Monica Dickens opts for nursing, imagining herself gliding through the wards, serene in a pure white halo cap. On enrolment, however, she is promptly stripped of all illusions. Intelligent and headstrong, Monica struggles to submit to the iron rule of the Matron and toils over the mountains of menial work that are a trainee''s lot. But there are friends among the staff and patients, night-time escapades to dances with dashing army men and her secret writing project to keep her going.One Pair of Feet is a witty and brilliantly observed autobiographical novel, based upon Monica Dickens''s own trials and tribulations as a wartime nurse.''Monica''Trade ReviewHumorous, moving and fascinating -- Clare MackintoshI envy anyone yet to discover the joy of Monica Dickens. She's beady eyed, big hearted and blissfully funny -- Nina StibbeOne of the most affectionate and humorous observers of the English scene -- John BetjemanMonica's naked curiosity and general bolshiness are easy to identify with, and as a narrator she always tells us what we're longing to know - it's like listening to a friend's anecdote, and egging them on -- Lissa EvansOne Pair of Feet is not just a spirited and entertaining account of a hospital nurse in wartime, but a fascinating glimpse into a time and a culture so recent and yet so utterly changed -- Marina LewyckaA brilliantly funny account -- Elizabeth Bowen

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Book SynopsisAuster''s unforgettable coming-of-age tale from the author of contemporary classic The New York Trilogy: ''a literary voice for the ages'' (Guardian) Sinuously constructed in four interlocking parts, Invisible opens in New York City in the spring of 1967 when twenty-year-old Adam Walker, an aspiring poet and student at Columbia University meets the enigmatic Frenchman Rudolf Born, and his silent and seductive girlfriend Margot. Before long, Walker finds himself caught in a perverse triangle that leads to a sudden, shocking act of violence that will alter the course of his life.Three different narrators tell the story, as it travels in time from 1967 to 2007 and moves from New York to Paris and to a remote Caribbean island in a story of unbridled sexual hunger and a relentless quest for justice.With uncompromising insight, Auster takes us to the shadowy borderland between truth and memory, authorship and identity to produce a work of unforgettable power that confirms his reputation as one of America''s most spectacularly inventive writers.

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Book SynopsisYork Notes Advanced offer a fresh and accessible approach to English Literature. This market-leading series has been completely updated to meet the needs of today's A-level and undergraduate students. Written by established literature experts, York Notes Advanced intorduce students to more sophisticated analysis, a range of critical perspectives and wider contexts.

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Book Synopsis** The Sunday Times Best Literary Book of 2023**** A Waterstones Best Book of 2023**'All Sorts of Lives is a beautiful, fastidiously researched and fascinating exploration of Mansfield's life and work' A.L. KENNEDYRestless outsider, masher-up of form and convention, Katherine Mansfield’s career was short but dazzling. She was the only writer Virginia Woolf admitted being jealous of, yet by the 1950s was so undervalued that Elizabeth Bowen was moved to ask, 'Where is she – our missing contemporary?'In this inventive and intimate study, Claire Harman takes a fresh look at Mansfield’s life and achievements, through the form she did so much to revolutionise: the short story. Exploring ten pivotal works, we watch how Mansfield’s desire to grow as a writer pushed her art into unknown territory, and how illness sharpened her extraordinary vitality: ‘Would you not like to try all sorts of lives – one is so very small.’‘What a gift to the biographer, this life of adventure and sickness and sex and celebrity… Brilliant’ Sunday Times‘A searching, incisive and compulsive book. A lesson in how to read and connect and understand’ Sunjeev SahotaTrade ReviewAll Sorts of Lives is a beautiful, fastidiously researched and fascinating exploration of Mansfield's life and work. This is great as an introduction to an unjustly neglected author and a joy for those of us who already love her writingIn this sensitive and comprehensive biography, Claire Harman uncovers some steamy new details about Mansfield’s bisexuality, but doesn’t let the life distract from the blisteringly intense stories * The Times, *Books of the Year* *What a gift to the biographer, this life of adventure and sickness and sex and celebrity - and that's before you start on Mansfield as a leading modernist . . . It's hard to imagine a more compelling advocate for Mansfield's fiction, or a better introduction to it . . . brilliant -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times *A wonderful book to mark the centenary of Mansfield's death . . . [her] clever insistence on placing the life and work side by side allows her to give brief but powerful accounts of Mansfield's relations with other writers -- Ruth Scurr * Spectator *Harman combines literary criticism with uncovering the life of the influential modernist writer, via chapters linked to individual short stories. The best literary biographies make you want to go back to the subject’s work with renewed passion, and Harman more than succeeds. In fact, her enthusiasm goes some way into bringing Mansfield’s own vitality to the page * Independent, Books of the Year *A kind of masterclass on the short story, taking the ideal practitioner as its focus . . . a valuable reminder of why - a hundred years after her death - we should still be reading and marvelling at Katherine Mansfield's stories -- Sarah Watling * Daily Telegraph *A worthy addition to the corpus of Mansfield interpretation . . . Like all the best writer biographies, All Sorts of Lives makes you reach again for the works -- Catherine Taylor * Financial Times *Step aside, Virginia Woolf - it was Katherine Mansfield who ushered in the modern age -- Frances Wilson * Daily Telegraph *An excellent, sensitively written introduction -- Miranda Seymour * The Times *An engaging, perceptive critical work, that is inseparable from the rich expanse of Mansfield biography. What the book so insists on, and so compellingly brings home, is Mansfield's utter commitment to the demands of writing -- Vincent O'Sullivan * Newsroom *What a searching, incisive and compulsive book. A lesson in how to read and connect and understand, it achieves a beautiful synthesis between Mansfield's stories, her life and our apprehension of both these things -- Sunjeev SahotaSensitive and comprehensive -- Susie Goldsbrough * The Times *Harman's book does that thing that all good literary biographies do. It sends us straight back into the delicate, exhilarating, risking world of Mansfield's fiction -- Kirsty Gunn * The Times Literary Supplement *[A] lucent biography * Tablet *This biography, graced by Harman's deep understanding as a reader, allows the work and the life to unfold side by side, a pairing designed for maximum impact... puts art - the beating heart of a writer's life - centre stage -- Lyndall Gordon * New Statesman *

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Book Synopsis“There never was a wilder story imagined,” wrote one reviewer on the first publication of Frankenstein in 1818: “we do not well see why it should have been written.” The admiring Sir Walter Scott felt that Frankenstein’s “unexpected and fearful events… shook a little even our firm nerves”. The prophetic power of novel’s imagery in reflecting the dehumanising effects of science, technology, empire, business and the mass media has never abated. Writing in 2002, Jay Clayton said: “As a cautionary tale, Frankenstein has had an illustrious career; virtually every catastrophe of the last two centuries – revolution, rampant industrialism, epidemics, famines, World War 1, Nazism, nuclear holocaust, clone, replicants and robots – has been symbolized by Shelley’s monster. Perhaps more than any other novel, Frankenstein has been interpreted as a warning impeding events.” For some readers these warnings have produced a monstrous creation in place of Mary Shelley’s own. “Frankenstein is a product of criticism, not a work of literature,” argues Fred Botting. Yet if the metaphorical interpretations of the novel appear to exceed the adolescent fantasy which gave rise to them, this is in itself a tribute to the original work, concludes Levine: “The book is larger and richer than any of its progeny and too complex to serve as mere background… The novel has qualities that allow it to exfoliate as creatively and endlessly as any important myth.” In this book, Josie Billington looks at the story and its legacy, and sifts the vast repertoire of critical opinion to give us the most interesting verdicts on the novel.

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Book SynopsisThe life, work and history of Aphra Behn: seventeenth century dramatist, poet, novelist, political propagandist, bisexual writer, and spy. Praise for the first hardback edition: Fascinating scholarship. Todd conveys Behn's vivacious character and the mores of the time. the New York Times Ground-breakingit reads quickly and lightly. Even Todd s throwaway lines are steeped in learning and observation. Ruth Perry, MIT, Women s Review of Books A major biography; of interest to everyone who cares about women as writers. Times Higher Education Supplement Fascinating, a page-turner and a delight, an astonishingly thorough book. Emma Donoghue All women together ought to let flowers fall on the tomb of Aphra Behn...For it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds. Virginia Woolf Aphra Behn, a spy in the Netherlands and the Americas, was the first professional woman writer. The most prolific dramatist of her age, innovative novelist, translator, lyrical and erotic poet, she expresses a frank sexuality addressing impotence, orgasm and bisexuality, whilst serving as political propagandist for the monarch. This revised biography of the extraordinary, ground-breaking writer, who is emblematic of the Restoration period, a time of masks and self-fashioning, is set in conflict-ridden England, Europe, and in the mismanaged slave colonies, following the Puritan republic in 1660. Janet Todd, novelist and internationally renowned scholar, was President of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, and a Professor at Rutgers, NJ. An expert on women s writing and feminism, she has published on many writers, including Jane Austen, the Shelley Circle, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Aphra Behn. "

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Book SynopsisThe first part of The History of The Lord of the Rings, an enthralling account of the writing of the Book of the Century which contains many additional scenes and includes the unpublished Epilogue in its entirety.The Return of the Shadow is the story of the first part of the history of the creation of The Lord of the Rings, a fascinating study of Tolkien's great masterpiece, from its inception to the end of the first volume, The Fellowship of the Ring.In The Return of the Shadow (the abandoned title of the first volume of The Lord of the Rings) we see how Bilbo's magic ring evolved into the supremely dangerous Ruling Ring of the Dark Lord; and the precise, and astonishingly unforeseen, moment when a Black Rider first rode in to the Shire. The character of the hobbit called Trotter (afterwards Strider or Aragorn) is developed, and Frodo's companions undergo many changes of name and personality.The book comes complete with reproductions of the first maps and facsimile pages from the earl

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Book SynopsisThe second part of The History of The Lord of the Rings, an enthralling account of the writing of the Book of the Century which contains many additional scenes and includes the unpublished Epilogue in its entirety.The Treason of Isengard continues the account of the creation of The Lord of the Rings started in the earlier volume, The Return of the Shadow.It races the great expansion of the tale into new lands and peoples south and east of the Misty Mountains: the emerence of Lothlorien, of Ents, of the Riders of Rohan, and of Saruman the White in the fortress of Isengard.In brief outlines and pencilled drafts dashed down on scraps of paper are seen the first entry of Galadriel, the earliest ideas of the history of Gondor, and the original meeting of Aragorn and Eowyn, its significance destined to be wholly transformed.The book also contains a full account of the original map which was to be the basis of the emerging geography of Middle-earth.This series of fascinating books has now bee

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Book Synopsis''You can leave a forest, but you can never leave a cloister; you are free in the forest, but you are a slave in the cloister.''Diderot''s The Nun (La Religieuse) is the seemingly true story of a young girl forced by her parents to enter a convent and take holy orders. A novel mingling mysticism, madness, sadistic cruelty and nascent sexuality, it gives a scathing insight into the effects of forced vocations and the unnatural life of the convent. A succès de scandale at the end of the eighteenth century, it has attracted and unsettled readers ever since. For Diderot''s novel is not simply a story of a young girl with a bad habit; it is also a powerfully emblematic fable about oppression and intolerance.This new translation includes Diderot''s all-important prefatory material, which he placed, disconcertingly, at the end of the novel, and which turns what otherwise seems like an exercise in realism into what is now regarded as a masterpiece of proto-modernist fiction. ABOUT THE SERIES: Trade ReviewRussell Goulbourne's wide-ranging introduction shows clearly how the work's past significance and it present meaning are linked: Goulbourne's excellent translation maintains the reader's involvement without sacrificing accuracy. * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.The only advice, indeed, that one person can give another about reading is to take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions.In her second volume of essays, Virginia Woolf delves deeper into the delights of reading. Here, she explores the novels of Thomas Hardy and Daniel Defoe, and recounts the fascinating lives of Christina Rossetti and Mary Wollstonecraft. In How Should One Read a Book?' she offers sage advice for the common reader, and sheds light on the lessons and pleasures literature can provide.Published in 1932, The Common Reader: Second Series is a wise and illuminating companion collection to her 1925 First Series. Woolf's enduring appeal and ideas continue to resonate with readers in the twenty-first century.

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Book SynopsisWith an introduction by comedian and novelist David BaddielA novel in seven volumes, Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time is considered a major literary work of the twentieth century. And even more crucially, one that you should have read by now. However, as one of its most distinguishing features is its staggering length, many of us feel intimidated and perhaps, even, fatigued at the thought of diving in. Alain de Botton’s hilarious and unexpected Proustian manual, is then, the perfect antidote to this problem.In How Proust Can Change Your Life, de Botton masterfully distils what Proust says about friendship, reading, being alive and taking your time, and mixes it with his own, no less nourishing commentary. As de Botton rereads Proust for our collective benefit, we see the continued relevance of his work and the rich and varied insights he can offer us, from how to reinvigorate your relationship to being a good host. This is Proust as you’ve never seen him before. He may even change your life.Trade ReviewIt contains more human interest and play of fancy than most fiction . . . de Botton, in emphasizing Proust's healing, advisory aspects, does us the service of rereading him on our behalf, providing of that vast sacred lake a sweet and lucid distillation -- John Updike * New Yorker *

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Book SynopsisComplete integrated indices of History of Middle-earth volumes to complement new series.For the first time every index from each of the twelve volumes of The History Of Middle-earth has been published together in a single volume to create a supreme index charting the writing of Tolkien's masterpieces The Lord of The Rings and The Silmarillion.This stunning work of reference complements the fascinating History of Middle-earth series, now repackaged to complement the distinctive and classic style of the black cover' A-format paperbacks of The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

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Book SynopsisThe Great American Novel of love and betrayal in the Jazz Age is now a major film.I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. Peoplewere not invited they went there.'Jay Gatsby's opulent Long Island mansion throngs with the bright young things of the Roaring Twenties. But Gatsby himself, young, handsome and mysteriously rich, never appearsto his guests. He stands apart from the crowd, yearning for something just out of reach Daisy Buchanan, lost years before to another man. One fateful summer, when the pair finally reunite, their actions set in motion a series of events that will unravel their lives, bringing tragedy to all who surround them.Widely considered F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby is a tale of excess and obsession, and a work of classictwentieth-century American literature.

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Book SynopsisThe story both of the real world of the Brontës at Haworth Parsonage, their home on the edge of the lonely Yorkshire moors, and of the imaginary worlds they spun for themselves in their novels and poetry. Wherever possible, their story is told using their own words – the letters they wrote to each other, Emily and Anne's secret diaries, and Charlotte's exchanges with luminaries of literary England – or those closest to them, such as their brother Branwell, their father Patrick Brontë, and their novelist friend Mrs Gaskell. The Brontës sketched and painted their worlds too, in delicate ink washes and watercolours of family and friends, animals and the English moors. These pictures illuminate the text as do the tiny drawings the Brontë children made to illustrate their imaginary worlds. In addition, there are facsimiles of their letters and diaries, paintings by artists of the day, and pictures of household life. This beautifully illustrated book offers a unique and privileged view of the real lives of three women, writers and sisters.

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Book SynopsisBestselling novelist Tatiana de Rosnay pays homage to Daphne du Maurier, the writer who influenced her deeply, in this startling and immersive new biography. A portrait of one writer by another, Manderley Forever meticulously recounts a life as mysterious and dramatic as the work it produced, and highlights du Maurier's consuming passion for Cornwall.De Rosnay seamlessly recreates Daphne's childhood, rebellious teens and early years as a writer before exploring the complexities of her marriage and, finally, her cantankerous old age. With a rhythm and intimacy to its prose characteristic of all de Rosnay's works, Manderley Forever is a vividly compelling portrait and celebration of an intriguing, hugely popular and (in her time) critically underrated writer.Trade ReviewVivid, dreamlike...the strength of de Rosnay's biography is that it makes me want to visit (or revisit) her subject's books. * Daily Mail *Ms. de Rosnay has written a biography that does justice to its heroine. * Wall Street Journal *immersive, as thrilling as any of du Maurier's plots...brilliant * Irish Independent *Clever and highly original...insightful and endearing * The Lady *It's impressive how Tatiana was able to recreate the personality of my mother, including her sense of humour. It is very well written and very moving. I'm sure my mother would have loved this book. * Tessa Montgomery d’Alamein, daughter of Daphne du Maurier *A fascinating, in-depth portrait...Through de Rosnay's novel-like narrative, exhaustive research and unbridled imagination, du Maurier's spirit comes alive on the page. * Publishers Weekly *

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Book SynopsisA high-tech business park on the Mediterranean is the setting for a most disturbing crime in this reissue featuring an introduction by Ali Smith.People are so immersed in their work they wouldn't notice the end of the world.A high-tech business park lies hidden in the hills above Cannes an ultra-modern utopia where residents live a life of luxury and seclusion.But when Jane Sinclair arrives in Eden-Olympia for a new medical post, a disturbing mystery awaits. What caused her apparently sane predecessor to murder ten people in a shooting spree that made headlines around the world? As her husband Paul explores his new surroundings, he begins to uncover a thriving subculture of crime that is spiralling out of control.Both novel of ideas and complex thriller, Super-Cannes is an extraordinary satire from the author of Empire of the Sun', The Drowned World' and Crash'.Trade Review‘Sublime…An elegant, elaborate trap of a novel, which reads as a companion piece to “Cocaine Nights” but takes ideas from that novel and runs further. The first essential novel of the 21st century’ Independent ‘Possibly his greatest book. “Super-Cannes” is both a novel of ideas and a compelling thriller that will keep you turning the pages to the shocking denouement. Only Ballard could have produced it’ Sunday Express ‘In this tautly paced thriller he brilliantly details how man’s darker side derails a vast experiment in living, and shows the dangers of a near-future in which going mad is the only way of staying sane’ Daily Mail ‘Vintage Ballard, a gripping blend of stylised thriller and fantastic imaginings’ Guardian

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Book SynopsisThe translation of Beowulf by J.R.R. Tolkien was an early work, very distinctive in its mode, completed in 1926: he returned to it later to make hasty corrections, but seems never to have considered its publication.This edition is twofold, for there exists an illuminating commentary on the text of the poem by the translator himself, in the written form of a series of lectures given at Oxford in the 1930s; and from these lectures a substantial selection has been made, to form also a commentary on the translation in this book.From his creative attention to detail in these lectures there arises a sense of the immediacy and clarity of his vision. It is as if he entered into the imagined past: standing beside Beowulf and his men shaking out their mail-shirts as they beached their ship on the coast of Denmark, listening to the rising anger of Beowulf at the taunting of Unferth, or looking up in amazement at Grendel's terrible hand set under the roof of Heorot.But the commentary in this book includes also much from those lectures in which, while always anchored in the text, he expressed his wider perceptions. He looks closely at the dragon that would slay Beowulf snuffling in baffled rage and injured greed when he discovers the theft of the cup'; but he rebuts the notion that this is a mere treasure story', just another dragon tale'. He turns to the lines that tell of the burying of the golden things long ago, and observes that it is the feeling for the treasure itself, this sad history' that raises it to another level. The whole thing is sombre, tragic, sinister, curiously real. The treasure is not just some lucky wealth that will enable the finder to have a good time, or marry the princess. It is laden with history, leading back into the dark heathen ages beyond the memory of song, but not beyond the reach of imagination.'Sellic Spell, a marvellous tale', is a story written by Tolkien suggesting what might have been the form and style of an Old English folk-tale of Beowulf, in which there was no association with the historical legends' of the Northern kingdoms.Trade Review“This is long-awaited, and hugely exciting for Tolkien readers” The Guardian “If he had never written The Lord of the Rings he would have been famous in academic circles for writing one published lecture on Beowulf called The Monsters and the Critics. It turned things upside down. Beowulf was probably the medieval text that influenced him the most and the commentary and lectures are ‘nuggets of gold’”The Independent “A tantalising prospect. Tolkien’s translation of Sir Gawain is a master class in linguistic chicanery – Middle English meets Middle Earth… it will be interesting to see if it gives Heaney's Beowulf a run for its money”Simon Armitage, The Guardian

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Book SynopsisThe world first publication of a previously unknown work of fantasy by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the powerful story of a doomed young man who is sold into slavery and who swears revenge on the magician who killed his father.Kullervo son of Kalervo is perhaps the darkest and most tragic of all J.R.R. Tolkien's characters. Hapless Kullervo', as Tolkien called him, is a luckless orphan boy with supernatural powers and a tragic destiny.Brought up in the homestead of the dark magician Untamo, who killed his father, kidnapped his mother, and who tries three times to kill him when still a boy, Kullervo is alone save for the love of his twin sister, Wanona, and guarded by the magical powers of the black dog, Musti. When Kullervo is sold into slavery he swears revenge on the magician, but he will learn that even at the point of vengeance there is no escape from the cruellest of fates.Tolkien wrote that The Story of Kullervo was the germ of my attempt to write legends of my own', and was a major matter in the legends of the First Age'; his Kullervo was the ancestor of Túrin Turambar, tragic incestuous hero of The Silmarillion. In addition to being a powerful story in its own right, The Story of Kullervo published here for the first time with the author's drafts, notes and lecture-essays on its source-work, The Kalevala, is a foundation stone in the structure of Tolkien's invented world.Trade ReviewPraise for J.R.R. Tolkien:‘One marvels anew at the depth, breadth and persistence of J.R.R. Tolkien’s labour. No one sympathetic to his aims – the invention of a secondary universe – will want to miss this chance to be present at the creation.’Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisNow revised and expanded for its first paperback publication, The Life of Crime was the winner of four major prizes for the best critical/biographical book related to crime fiction: the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and H.R.F. Keating Awards; and was shortlisted for both the Agatha and Gold Dagger AwardsIn this groundbreaking history of crime fiction, acclaimed expert Martin Edwards traces the evolution of the genre from the eighteenth century to the present, offering a brand-new perspective on the world''s most popular form of storytelling.The Life of Crime is the result of a lifetime of reading and enjoying all types of mystery fiction from around the world. Martin Edwards has drawn on his experience as an award-winning novelist to capture the breadth and complexity of crime writing, telling the story of the genre''s development and evolution in a way that will fascinate and entertain anyone who delights in a good mystery.With crime fiction being read more widely than ever, The Life of Cr

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Book Synopsis''I, who would wish to feel close over me the protective waves of the ordinary, catch with the tail of my eye some far horizon.''Intensely visionary yet absorbed with the everyday; experimental, daring and challenging, The Waves is regarded by many as Virginia Woolf''s greatest achievement. It follows a set of six friends from childhood to middle age as they experience the world around them and explore who they are and what it means to be alive. As the contours of their lives are revealed, a unique novel is slowly unveiled. Enfolded within Woolf''s lyrical and mysterious language, the mundane takes on a startling new significance while distant pasts are no less in play than the clamorous sounds and kaleidoscopic sights of the modern city. Yet precisely where the alluringly enigmatic pages of The Waves are leading, and what deeper meanings are held within its undulant chapters and shimmering interludes, are questions that have never ceased to enthral readers and critics alike.In this neTrade ReviewOxford World Classics has produced a terrific reissue of Virginia Woolf's novel The Waves. There are helpful endnotes, biographical information, a selected bibliography and an introduction... a beautiful, rich novel that cannot be completely grasped in one reading. It begs to be read again and again. When I finished it I was surprised by how emotionally charged and churned up I was. I felt abandoned on the shore as the tide went out, left to wait for its return, for a wave to grab me and pull me back out to sea. * Shiny New Books, Stefanie Hollmichel *Bradshaw's introduction helps the reader to see just how readable it actually is. * Lindsay Martin, Virginia Woolf Bulletin *

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Book SynopsisA collection of the very best recent journalism of A. A. Gill, 'by miles, the most brilliant journalist of our age' (Lynn Barber).Trade ReviewGill's broadsides, his impatience, his scathing penportraits were, it becomes particularly clear when you read his work en bloc, the byproduct of his desire that we should wriggle free of conformity, embrace pleasure, eat our fill -- Alex Clark * GUARDIAN *Lines in the Sand, a treat for his many fans, gathers the best of Gill's journalism from 2011 to 2016. Ranging from travel reportage to serio-comic appreciations of Savile Row tweed and the delights of condensed milk, the pieces are lit up by the author's trademark literary flourishes and waspish put-downs -- Ian Thomson * EVENING STANDARD *Serene, painfully wise ... glimpses of a loftier truth are the glory of Gill's essays, and they open metaphysical vistas in journalistic junkets or stunts contrived for the sake of a feature article ... His essays - so delicate in their connoisseurship of nature and culture, so tender in their sketches of family, friends and anonymous strangers in refugee camps, so brightly witty and yet so unexpectedly profound - affirm the manifold pleasures of being alive, which is why they enrich the life of anyone who reads them, and in Gill's absence will go on doing so -- Peter Conrad * OBSERVER *As Lines in the Sand, his final collection of journalism - published just a few weeks after his death from cancer, aged 62 - makes clear, Mr Gill's opinions actually held prejudice, piety and pretension to account ... Mr Gill's overriding message throughout these pieces is that experience should be gulped down, pleasure embraced, and conformity shunned ... "There's a basic human need to tell someone what we saw, where we've been," Mr Gill writes, and his dispatches - opinionated, experienced - are told with eloquence and elan, from war zones and home counties camp sites, to, finally, the cancer ward ... Elsewhere, he writes of Lord Snowdon: "His immensely sympathetic eye was often a surprise to people who knew only his waspish tongue." There could be no better epitaph for Mr Gill himself. -- Stuart Husband * MR PORTER *AA Gill was that rare writer, famously able to serve up waspishness and compassion in the same sentence. Both are on full display in Lines in the Sand ... Written with style and ubiquitous wit, this collection of essays is only further proof that Gill's voice will be sorely missed -- Laura Garmeson * FINANCIAL TIMES *I can't think of a writer whose style so exactly replicated their conversation as A. A. Gill. Reading his weekly dispatches was just like being with him in person, which is why so many readers took his death late last year very personally. People - even people who had never met him - felt they'd lost their funniest, most outrageous chum. Opening a paper without an article by him is like going to your store cupboard and finding that there's no chilli or salt: everything is blander without him. Two collections which came out this year, Lines in the Sand and The Best of A A. Gill, showcase him at his finest. Adrian showed incredible courage, wit and generosity of heart during his final weeks. Once my husband, always my friend, he is irreplaceable, on and off the page -- Cressida Connolly * THE SPECTATOR Books of the Year *Thankfully, the late A A Gill was neither diplomatic or sensitive. Collecting together the last five years of Adrian Anthony's many highlights, Lines in the Sand sees him wasp around the world with passion, honesty and glorious, wickedly funny words. He's already much missed * WANDERLUST *The late AA Gill was a journalist who you either loved or hated, but was impossible to ignore, and this is an excellent selection of his writing, spanning the wide range of his interests, from food and television to travel and family. Even when facing his own mortality, Gill was uninhibited and brutally honest This collection does him proud * CHOICE *

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Book SynopsisA new selection of Henry James''s essays on the art of writing, from his famous essay "The Art of Fiction" to pieces on George Eliot, Ivan Turgenev, Honoré de Balzac, and others. Witty, erudite, and passionate, James''s essays are a delight for any lover of the written word.Best known as a master novelist, Henry James was also an incisive critic whose essays on the novel had as profound an influence on its development as did his fiction. Here, Pulitzer-finalist Michael Gorra, author of Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece, gathers some of the most virtuosic essays from across fifty years of James?s career. From his landmark essay ?The Art of Fiction,? an exhilarating treatise on the complexity of literary form, to ?The Lesson of Balzac,? a tender portrait of one of James?s greatest touchstones, to career-defining assessmentsof writers such as George Eliot and Ivan Turgenev, James reveals himself as a passionate and sensitive reader, one whose unerring ability to locate the currents within Anglophone literature was matched only by his uncommon prescience regarding its future. Slyly humorous and unabashedly opinionated, On Writers and Writing is a compelling artistic biography of a writer at his cogent and stylish best.

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Book SynopsisA Telegraph Book to Read for Autumn 2022A Times Best Non-fiction Book for Autumn 2022A Daily Mail Book of the Year 2022A Waterstones Best Book of 2022: BiographyThe astonishing new portrait of the master of spy fiction, by the woman he kept secret for almost half his lifeJohn le Carré led a life entirely constructed of secrets. First as a British spook' during the Cold War, then as a world-renowned writer of espionage fiction, but also in his personal involvements. He guarded his private life with fierce determination, so that even when he finally permitted his life story to be written, there was still one element he insisted be excluded: the women.Married with children for virtually all his adult life, le Carré David Cornwell had a number of secret affairs, usually conducted abroad with women encountered by chance on his travels. These relationships were always intense, dramatic, even tragic, yet each was destined to last no more than a few months. But there was one love affair thatTrade Review.‘A posthumous love-letter to David Cornwell…le Carré’s private life seems to be perfectly aligned to his work.’The Daily Telegraph ‘Dawson is always aware of the complex duplicities le Carré is indulging in (she’s no fool) … A sly and clever book’William Boyd, New Statesman ‘A fascinating insight into how the betrayal, infidelity and lies that are at the heart of Le Carré’s spy novels were duplicated with exhausting precision in his private life’ Daily Mail ‘Those interested in le Carré will discover much fascinating detail … intelligent and perceptive’Adam Sisman, Spectator ‘A profound character study of a great writer’ The Times ‘Very sharp and funny’ Daily Telegraph

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Book Synopsis''The Life of Herod The Great like Hurston herself is a masterpiece, a miracle, and a marvel. In other words, treasure for the whole world'' Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage*In the 1950s Zora Neale Hurston penned a historical novel reconsidering the life of one of the most well-known biblical figures, Herod the Great. That novel was never published in Hurston''s lifetime. Now for the first time, it is brought to glorious life with commentary from scholar Deborah G. Plant.Far from his villainous portrayal in the New Testament, Hurston casts Herod as a forerunner of Christ, a beloved king who enriched Jewish culture and brought prosperity and peace to Judea. An intimate of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, the Judean king lived in a time of war and imperial expansion that was rife with political assassinations and bribery, as the old world gave way to the new.By bringing this complex, compelling and oft misunderstood leader into shining focus, The Life of Herod the Great invites the reader to reassess history and the world as they know it. What was in Herod's time is and will be again. Zora Neale Hurston's never-before-published novel is a lantern of understanding that might be held up to the present or the future, and nothing short of a masterpiece.A never-before-published novel from beloved author Zora Neale Hurston, revealing the historical Herod the Great not the demon the Bible makes him out to be but a religious and philosophical man who lived a life of adventure.*Praise for Zora Neale Hurston:''Zora Neale was a knockout in her life'' MAYA ANGELOU''Their Eyes Were Watching God is one of the very greatest American novels of the 20th century. It is so lyrical it should be sentimental; it is so passionate it should be overwrought, but it is instead a rigorous, convincing and dazzling piece of prose, as emotionally satisfying as it is impressive. There is no novel I love more'' ZADIE SMITH''To the last page that fills the soul with tears, Hurston''s novel delivers. To me, it is also a welcome reminder that books are democratic, subversive and life-changing'' THE TIMES

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Book SynopsisBorn in 1964, Tom Reiss is an American author and journalist who lives in New York. He is the author of The Orientalist, an acclaimed biography of Lev Nussimbaum (aka Kurban Said) which was shortlisted for the 2006 Samuel Johnson Prize; and The Black Count, a book about the real Count of Monte Christo.Trade ReviewWonderfully compelling... Deeply moving * Sunday Times *A wonderous tale, beautifully told...mesmerising, poignant and almost incredible * New York Times *Meticulous and fascinating... Inspiring reading * Spectator *Extraordinary on many counts... It has taken the tireless detective work of Tom Reiss to uncover the real Lev Nussimbaum * Sunday Times *A highly entertaining biography of a very unusual person * Literary Review *

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Book SynopsisSalman Rushdie is the author of eleven novels, one collection of short stories, three works of non-fiction, and the co-editor of The Vintage Book of Indian Writing. In 2008 Midnight's Children was judged to be the Best of the Booker, the best novel to have won the Booker Prize in its forty year history. The Moor's Last Sigh won the Whitbread Prize in 1995 and the European Union's Aristeion Prize for Literature in 1996. He is a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres and in 2007 was knighted for his services to literature.Trade ReviewJoseph Anton is a splendid book, the finest new memoir to cross my desk in many a year -- Jonathan Yardley * Washington Post *Funny, painfully moving and absolutely necessary to read -- Nicholas Shakespeare * Daily Telegraph *Joseph Anton is a book that makes you laugh. It makes you sympathise. It may even scare you. It should also make you — if you believe that freedom is essential — very, very angry. -- David Aaronovitch * Times *Frank and…more gripping than any spy story…the prose makes for powerful reading... He is a great writer who has been brave. -- Margaret Drabble * Observer *An intimate tale of fathers and sons, of the beginnings and ends of marriages, of friendships and betrayals. At the same time, Joseph Anton is a large-scale spectacle of political and cultural conflicts. * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisOne of Jane Austen's final uncompleted novels, started in the January the year she died. Perhaps Austen's most original work, stepping away from the mystique of the country estates. This edition includes an introduction, notes and bibliographyTrade ReviewA terrific introduction by Kathryn Sutherland, Professor of English Literature at St Anne's College, goes further in explaining the rage of the seaside during Austen's life time, but also how it allows Austen here to conjure up a cast of colourful, uncertain characters as tangy as vinegary fish and chips. * Richard Lofthouse, Quad *Light and funny, it's Austen's most experimental and poignant work. * Angela Wintle, Sussex Life *Table of ContentsIntroduction Note on the Text Select Bibliography A Chronology of Jane Austen Sanditon Explanatory Notes

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