Satirical fiction and parodies

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisLili and Goli have argued endlessly about where their mother, Bibijan, should live since the Iranian Revolution. They disagree about her finances too, which remain blocked as long as she insists on waiting for her son—still missing but not presumed dead yet—to return from the Iran–Iraq war. But once they begin to "share" the old woman, sending her back and forth between Paris and Los Angeles, they start asking themselves where the money might be coming from. Only their Persian half-sister in Iran and the Westernized granddaughter of the family have the courage to face up to the answers, and only when Bibijan finally relinquishes the past can she remember the truth. A story mirrored in fragmented lives, Us&Them explores the ludicrous and the tragic, the venal and the generous-hearted aspects of Iranian life away from home. It is a story both familial and familiar in its generational tensions and misunderstandings, its push and pull of obligations and expectations. It also highlights how "we" can become "them" at any moment, for our true exile is alienation from others. Acclaimed author Bahiyyih Nakhjavani offers a poignant satire about migration, one of the vital issues of our times.Trade Review"Us&Them is a timely exploration of the Iranian psyche, a nuanced reflection of the Iranian character: its largesse, its rich absurdity and genuine warmth, but also its complexity, its contradictions and internal conflicts. As an Iranian born in the U.K. I found it challenging, funny, moving and I'm now fretting about where I belong: am I one of 'us' or one of 'them'?" * Omid Djalili *"With Swiftian wit and prose both pithy and poetic, Us&Them offers a searingly honest satirical image of Iranian society and its large diaspora. In the alchemy of Bahiyyih Nakhjavani's masterful narrative, this becomes a tale of the traumas of exile, and of the human condition in a troubled time." -- Abbas Milani, Hamid and Christina Moghadam Director of Iranian Studies * Stanford University *"A glitteringly poignant novel. Beautifully cadenced, drily acute about human relationships, it keeps global and local perfectly in balance and addresses one of the central topics of our time: how to live within the losses and suspensions of diaspora while grieving the dead, honouring the family and being as honest as we can." -- Ruth Padel * author of Where the Serpent Lives and Darwin—A Life in Poems, Judge of 2016 International Man Booker Prize *"Sensitive, subtle, evocative. Bahiyyih Nakhjavani weaves threads of silk with her words, skillfully filling in the silences within and between cultures. It is a rare author who can write with such clarity of vision, compassion of heart and power of words and leave us readers in awe of her wisdom at the end." -- Elif Shafak * author of The Bastard of Istanbul and The Forty Rules of Love *

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Book Synopsis“Somewhere between Tom Perrotta and Erica Jong lies The Swing of Things, a charming, sexy, and surprisingly tender romp through the dark side of wish fulfillment. I’ll never look at the other playground parents the same way again.” —Marcus Sakey Told from the dual perspective of a husband and a wife, The Swing of Things is a sexy, provocative, page-turning novel about a suburban couple who wants out of their routine—but will they take things too far? Attorney Jayne Larsen loves her stay-at-home husband. Eric is attentive and a great father to their daughter. He’s also unfailingly committed to their Wednesday date nights—but things have gotten too predictable. Enter Theo and Mia Winters, the effortlessly cool, attractive couple who are the center of everyone’s attention. They are blissfully happy and ready to share their secret for keeping things spicy. But there are rules. And breaking them has consequences. As Jayne and Eric explore a more modern definition of marriage, they are forced to confront whether they’ve given up too much in the pursuit of trying to have it all.

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Book SynopsisNew York Times bestselling novelist Chuck Palahniuk presents a new novella with colourable pages.

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Book Synopsis'Lisa Owens is a comedy genius' Emma Jane Unsworth, author of Animals'Laugh-out-loud funny' Observer'Insanely funny but also moving and true' Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall'A deadpan comic debut for the procrastination generation' GuardianNow and again we all lie awake wondering what on earth we're doing with our lives . . . don't we?Claire Flannery has had more than a few sleepless nights lately. Maybe she shouldn't have walked out of her job with no idea what to do next. Maybe she should think before she speaks -- and maybe then her mother would start returning her calls. Maybe she should be spending more time going to art galleries, or reading up on current affairs, and less time in her pyjamas, entering competitions on the internet. Then again, maybe the perfect solution to life's problems only arises when you stop looking for it . . .Trade ReviewLisa Owens is a comedy genius and a seriously skilful and beautiful writer. Not Working is so clever and original, pithy and poignant, capturing the voice of a bright, lost generation -- Emma Jane Unsworth, author of ANIMALSI love Not Working. As close to the tenderness and funniness and uniqueness of real life as books get -- David Whitehouse, author of Mobile LibraryNot Working is absolutely brilliant. Insanely funny but also moving and true. Lisa Owens is one of those writers on whom nothing is lost -- Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the FallPin-sharp, utterly addictive * Vogue *A deadpan comic debut for the procrastination generation * Guardian *Full of crackling, voice-of-a-generation observations * Glamour *Sharp and funny . . . exquisitely nails the sensation of being the only one in a group of friends who can't work out what life is supposed to be about * Stylist *Sharp, incisive and laugh-out-loud funny * Observer *Piercingly observant and funny * Express *Agenda-setting . . . Combining the honesty of Bridget Jones with the bang-on social observation of early Sex and the City, this nails it -- Sam Baker * The Pool *Get ready to LOL at Not Working, the dazzling debut from Lisa Owens * Look *Quick-witted and sharp-tongued, lovable and flawed, Claire is a super narrator that readers will easily connect with . . . at once universal and unique * Irish Times *Hilarious . . . captures modern life with such pinpoint accuracy that it echoes the Bridget Jones's Diary phenomenon . . . funny, perceptive and entertaining * Daily Express *Imagine the diaries of Adrian Mole as written by the lovechild of Bridget Jones and Dorothy Parker . . . So good, so funny, so of its time * Red *Warm-hearted, clever . . . rich in humour and piercing insight * Metro *Hugely enjoyable * Mail on Sunday *A gem * Irish Times *I don’t tend to laugh out loud at books; this is still one of only a handful of novels that have forced an audible cackle from me. * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA ruthless satire of academic life, The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury is a witty campus novel and one of the most influential books of the 1970s.With an introduction by James Naughtie.Take a Valium. Have a party. Go on a demo. Shoot a soldier. Make a bang. Bed a friend. That’s your problem-solving system . . . But haven’t we tried all that?Howard Kirk, product of the Swinging Sixties, radical university lecturer, and one half of a very modern marriage, is throwing a party. The night will have all sorts of repercussions: for Henry Beamish, Howard’s desperate and easily neglected friend, and for Howard’s wife, promiscuous ’70s liberal and exhausted victim of motherhood.Funny, disconcerting and provocative, Bradbury's classic novel brilliantly satirizes a world of academic power struggles as his anti-hero seduces his away around campus. But is also reveals a marriage in crisis and demonstrates the fragility of the human heart.Trade ReviewThe funniest and best-written novel I have seen for a very long time -- Auberon WaughGrim wit, chill comedy and a fictional energy which is as imaginative as the tale is shocking -- A. S. ByattMalcolm Bradbury has come up with a novel that simply must be read -- Elizabeth Berridge * Daily Telegraph *Extremely witty . . . Bradbury writes brilliantly * New York Times *Very funny . . . a quite ruthless satire * Evening Standard *Exhilarating . . . A book which captures for all time the spirit of an age -- Margaret Drabble

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Book SynopsisThe misadventures of Lemuel Gulliver certainly are extraordinary. First he is shipwrecked in a strange land, and finds himself a prisoner of the tiny inhabitants of Lilliput. Then he washes up in Brobdingnag, where the people are giants of extraordinary proportions. Further exploits see him stranded with the scientists and philosophers of Laputa, and meeting a race of talking horses who rule over bestial humans. One of the finest satires in the English language, Gulliver’s Travels delights in the mockery of everything from government to religion and – despite the passing of nearly three centuries – remains just as funny and relevant today. This gorgeous Macmillan Collector’s Library edition of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver’s Travels features the beautiful artwork of the celebrated English illustrator Arthur Rackham, and an afterword by author and critic, Henry Hitchings. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector’s Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector’s Library are books to love and treasure.

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of the award-winning novel Buffalo Lockjaw comes a powerful collection of darkly humorous short stories. A young girl uses a burnt log for her ventriloquist act; Franz Kafka and an unnamed narrator cruise a dive bar for women; a grieving couple stage and execute their own funeral; a son brings hot chowder to his caged parents. This stunning collection—packed with moments of violence and tenderness—explores the humor and unease of modern life. Since he first began publishing his fiction, Greg Ames has been praised for his willingness to take risks and the strength and freshness of his voice. Assembled here for the first time, this collection brings together the best work from a brilliant American writer, a playful and innovative artist. In these twenty original short stories, Greg Ames earns his place as one of the best writers of his generation. In the tradition of Etgar Keret, Greg Ames’ prose style ties together the absurd hilarity and deep anguish of contemporary life. These wildly inventive stories will appeal to readers who thirst for a unique, deeply humane voice.Trade ReviewPraise for Funeral Platter "In his acclaimed debut novel, Buffalo Lockjaw, Ames explored the tension surrounding assisted suicide with droll irreverence. With the same wickedly absurd lens, his first story collection finds humanity in the darkest and most unexpected places. His is a world filled with precocious but deluded youth; passionate but aimless, sometimes scheming lovers; historical figures misplaced in time; and innocent strivers. . . . Ames’ characters are at once vile and charming; together, their stories humorously capture the angst-ridden, tentative business of connecting with others.” --Booklist "Darkly funny stories [that cover] the absurdities of modern life--and death."--Buzzfeed "Dark, funny, and deranged"--Electric Literature< "Eccentric, erratic, sometimes ecstatic . . . Greg Ames has effortlessly captured the absurd.”--Michigan Daily "In an era full of wildly smart and varied Buffalo-bred literary talent from all over the stylistic map, Ames is one of the wildest, most unexpected and best."--Buffalo News, editor's choice "Funeral Platter is a wonderful, witty collection of very funny and unusual short stories. Its singular characters, truly inventive premises, and manic, propulsive prose make for breakneck reading. Yet, without you knowing how it happened, these stories become genuinely insightful about our darkest secret: our loneliness." --Dana Spiotta, author of Innocents and Others and Stone Arabia "Greg Ames' trick, his sleight of hand, is to somehow take the absurd and make it vanish into tenderness, to pull laughter out of the particulars of cruelty, and to give each gorgeously rendered sentence a living human tongue. Every story here is its own cabinet of wonders. Funeral Platter is hands down one of the best collections I've read in years."—David Ryan, author of Animals in Motion and Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano "Vivid, witty and surprising, Greg Ames's stories will move you in unexpected ways."--Claire Messud, author of The Emperor's Children and The Woman Upstairs "If you think you’re ready for Ames’s life-changing brand of unhinged literary brilliance, first make sure that you’re someplace where it’s socially acceptable to lose your shit."— J. Robert Lennon, author of Familiar and Broken River "The stories in Greg Ames' Funeral Platter are dispatches from another planet, a planet that resembles ours, populated by people who look like us, but who are weirder, more unhinged, more dangerous than we are, or at least weirder, more unhinged, more dangerous than we like to think we are. A glorious book—hilarious, unnerving, one of a kind."—Brock Clarke, author of The Happiest People in the World "I can't say I've ever encountered a collection of stories as wildly varied as Funeral Platter. And so very funny too. This is a book where the ghosts of Kafka and Twain meet up with the likes of Carver and Barry Hannah who are all sitting around the campfire spinning tales of dark humor and candor. Each story told is a radical departure from what has come before it and what comes after. And yet, and then, there is the voice and vision behind each story that belongs entirely to Greg Ames. Bottom line here: This book is a thrill ride into what it means to be alive and stumbling in a world where to be bruised and confused is its own kind of fuel for amusement."—Peter Markus, author of The Fish and Not the Fish "The stories in this collection never ceased to blow my mind. Funeral Platter is a must read. One of the best collections out there." —Kim Chinquee, author of Oh Baby and Veer "A hilarious albeit at times unsettling rendition of contemporary middle-class life in America. This is the real deal. The stories are honest, visceral, utterly original, charming, relentless, poetic, memorable. An expertly woven, subtly interlinked collection, written with great narrative command, Funeral Platter will strike a chord with readers as it struck a chord with me."—Chinelo Okparanta, author of Happiness, Like Water and Under the Udala TreePraise for Greg Ames“I’m excited about this novel for a few reasons. One, Ames opens with a great quote from Flannery O’Connor’s under-appreciated novel Wise Blood: 'Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to was never there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it.' Two, it’s set in Buffalo, New York, which is full of frustrated artists, frustrated young people, and thousands of psychiatric patients who were given one-way bus tickets when they were released from New York City mental hospitals in the early eighties (Buffalo was the last stop). Three, the premise of a son trying to decide whether to help his Alzheimer’s-stricken mother commit suicide is provocative and memorable.” —The New Yorker"In this beautifully observed debut, a son wrestles with the possibility of assisted suicide for his mother, stricken with Alzheimer's . . . A novel about hard choices and doing the right thing that is modest, moving and true."—Kirkus, starred review "The voice of this novel invites you right in, and Ames knows how to build up the world with a light hand while still getting to the complicated and painful ways we muddle through. Funny and fresh and generous." —Aimee Bender, author of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt"Buffalo Lockjaw, like its charming, bitter screw-up of a narrator, reaches finally for larger meaning, and succeeds. Greg Ames has written a brazen and tender book about a city and a scene, a mother and a son, and the beauty and pain of several kinds of love." —Sam Lipsyte, author of Home Land"In Buffalo Lockjaw, Greg Ames manages to evoke place and expose the complexities of character in a single swift phrase. It is a funny-sad, heartbreaking, hypnotically readable debut." —Adrienne Miller, author of The Coast of Akron"Greg Ames has written a beautiful novel. It is infused with dark comedy and pathos and great, hardboiled prose. In Buffalo Lockjaw, love of one's parents and love of one's hometown mix powerfully with the mad undertow of loss that seems as inevitable in life as gravity. I'm honored to share a last name -- no relation -- with such a wonderful writer." —Jonathan Ames, author of Wake Up, Sir!"Greg Ames, one of the funniest writers I’ve ever read, faces dead-on the most terrifying event in a person's life. Buffalo Lockjaw is frightening, heart-rending, and beautiful. I pay it my highest compliment: I didn’t want it to end." —Poe Ballantine, author of Things I Like About America"Buffalo, N.Y., is as much a character as any of the slackers populating Ames's darkly humorous debut about a young man with a copy of Assisted Suicide for Dummies in his car and a 56-year-old mother with Alzheimer's who he believes wants to die. Ames's depiction of James's bedside concern for his mother straddles the line between caustically comic and wrenchingly emotional, while the wry riffs on family tension and the sad state of Buffalo that appear throughout this fine first novel don't undercut the serious consideration of murder or mercy for terminal patients.” —Publishers WeeklyPraise for Funeral Platter "In his acclaimed debut novel, Buffalo Lockjaw, Ames explored the tension surrounding assisted suicide with droll irreverence. With the same wickedly absurd lens, his first story collection finds humanity in the darkest and most unexpected places. His is a world filled with precocious but deluded youth; passionate but aimless, sometimes scheming lovers; historical figures misplaced in time; and innocent strivers. . . . Ames’ characters are at once vile and charming; together, their stories humorously capture the angst-ridden, tentative business of connecting with others.” --Booklist "Darkly funny stories [that cover] the absurdities of modern life--and death."--Buzzfeed "Dark, funny, and deranged"--Electric Literature< "Eccentric, erratic, sometimes ecstatic . . . Greg Ames has effortlessly captured the absurd.”--Michigan Daily "In an era full of wildly smart and varied Buffalo-bred literary talent from all over the stylistic map, Ames is one of the wildest, most unexpected and best."--Buffalo News, editor's choice "Funeral Platter is a wonderful, witty collection of very funny and unusual short stories. Its singular characters, truly inventive premises, and manic, propulsive prose make for breakneck reading. Yet, without you knowing how it happened, these stories become genuinely insightful about our darkest secret: our loneliness." --Dana Spiotta, author of Innocents and Others and Stone Arabia "Greg Ames' trick, his sleight of hand, is to somehow take the absurd and make it vanish into tenderness, to pull laughter out of the particulars of cruelty, and to give each gorgeously rendered sentence a living human tongue. Every story here is its own cabinet of wonders. Funeral Platter is hands down one of the best collections I've read in years."—David Ryan, author of Animals in Motion and Malcolm Lowry’s Under the Volcano "Vivid, witty and surprising, Greg Ames's stories will move you in unexpected ways."--Claire Messud, author of The Emperor's Children and The Woman Upstairs "If you think you’re ready for Ames’s life-changing brand of unhinged literary brilliance, first make sure that you’re someplace where it’s socially acceptable to lose your shit."— J. Robert Lennon, author of Familiar and Broken River "The stories in Greg Ames' Funeral Platter are dispatches from another planet, a planet that resembles ours, populated by people who look like us, but who are weirder, more unhinged, more dangerous than we are, or at least weirder, more unhinged, more dangerous than we like to think we are. A glorious book—hilarious, unnerving, one of a kind."—Brock Clarke, author of The Happiest People in the World "I can't say I've ever encountered a collection of stories as wildly varied as Funeral Platter. And so very funny too. This is a book where the ghosts of Kafka and Twain meet up with the likes of Carver and Barry Hannah who are all sitting around the campfire spinning tales of dark humor and candor. Each story told is a radical departure from what has come before it and what comes after. And yet, and then, there is the voice and vision behind each story that belongs entirely to Greg Ames. Bottom line here: This book is a thrill ride into what it means to be alive and stumbling in a world where to be bruised and confused is its own kind of fuel for amusement."—Peter Markus, author of The Fish and Not the Fish "The stories in this collection never ceased to blow my mind. Funeral Platter is a must read. One of the best collections out there." —Kim Chinquee, author of Oh Baby and Veer "A hilarious albeit at times unsettling rendition of contemporary middle-class life in America. This is the real deal. The stories are honest, visceral, utterly original, charming, relentless, poetic, memorable. An expertly woven, subtly interlinked collection, written with great narrative command, Funeral Platter will strike a chord with readers as it struck a chord with me."—Chinelo Okparanta, author of Happiness, Like Water and Under the Udala TreePraise for Greg Ames“I’m excited about this novel for a few reasons. One, Ames opens with a great quote from Flannery O’Connor’s under-appreciated novel Wise Blood: 'Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to was never there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it.' Two, it’s set in Buffalo, New York, which is full of frustrated artists, frustrated young people, and thousands of psychiatric patients who were given one-way bus tickets when they were released from New York City mental hospitals in the early eighties (Buffalo was the last stop). Three, the premise of a son trying to decide whether to help his Alzheimer’s-stricken mother commit suicide is provocative and memorable.” —The New Yorker"In this beautifully observed debut, a son wrestles with the possibility of assisted suicide for his mother, stricken with Alzheimer's . . . A novel about hard choices and doing the right thing that is modest, moving and true."—Kirkus, starred review "The voice of this novel invites you right in, and Ames knows how to build up the world with a light hand while still getting to the complicated and painful ways we muddle through. Funny and fresh and generous." —Aimee Bender, author of The Girl in the Flammable Skirt"Buffalo Lockjaw, like its charming, bitter screw-up of a narrator, reaches finally for larger meaning, and succeeds. Greg Ames has written a brazen and tender book about a city and a scene, a mother and a son, and the beauty and pain of several kinds of love." —Sam Lipsyte, author of Home Land"In Buffalo Lockjaw, Greg Ames manages to evoke place and expose the complexities of character in a single swift phrase. It is a funny-sad, heartbreaking, hypnotically readable debut." —Adrienne Miller, author of The Coast of Akron"Greg Ames has written a beautiful novel. It is infused with dark comedy and pathos and great, hardboiled prose. In Buffalo Lockjaw, love of one's parents and love of one's hometown mix powerfully with the mad undertow of loss that seems as inevitable in life as gravity. I'm honored to share a last name -- no relation -- with such a wonderful writer." —Jonathan Ames, author of Wake Up, Sir!"Greg Ames, one of the funniest writers I’ve ever read, faces dead-on the most terrifying event in a person's life. Buffalo Lockjaw is frightening, heart-rending, and beautiful. I pay it my highest compliment: I didn’t want it to end." —Poe Ballantine, author of Things I Like About America"Buffalo, N.Y., is as much a character as any of the slackers populating Ames's darkly humorous debut about a young man with a copy of Assisted Suicide for Dummies in his car and a 56-year-old mother with Alzheimer's who he believes wants to die. Ames's depiction of James's bedside concern for his mother straddles the line between caustically comic and wrenchingly emotional, while the wry riffs on family tension and the sad state of Buffalo that appear throughout this fine first novel don't undercut the serious consideration of murder or mercy for terminal patients.” —Publishers Weekly

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Book Synopsis“A delightful book that any fan of the undead is sure to love.” —Scott Kenemore, author of The Zen of Zombie and Zombie, Ohio Tiddles is a suave, carefree kitty cat whose only pleasures in life are eating mice, wooing the ladies, and being generally apathetic toward his owner, Jake. But when a toxic spill occurs outside of town, Tiddles finds himself savagely attacked by a nasty-looking radioactive field mouse, and he wakes up as one of the undead. However, he still retains a bit of compassion and refrains—for now—from zombie Bacchanalian delights, such as eating living beings’ brains! Umm . . . any brains at all! However, Tiddles, a.k.a. Zombie Cat, is decomposing rapidly and would prefer to live a normal life in the zombie apocalypse with his owner, Jake. But will Jake take in his former cuddly pet or will ZC be doomed to roam the streets trying to avoid the inevitable pull of his undead yearnings? Zombie Cat is a humorous adult picture book in the vein of Pat the Zombie and Ten Little Zombies: A Love Story. Isabel Atherton’s quirky storytelling combined with Bethany Straker’s captivating (and slightly grotesque!) illustrations make this the perfect addition to any Halloween collection. It’s the ideal gift for any crazed zombie fanatic—or equally crazed cat lover.Trade Review“A delightful book that any fan of the undead is sure to love.” —Scott Kenemore, author of The Zen of Zombie and Zombie, Ohio

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Book SynopsisLord Harrowby visits Lloyds of London and takes out an insurance policy on his future wedding, which guarantees a hefty payout if the ceremony stalls. It’s an odd request that leads to desperate measures from both parties. Lord Allan Harrowby is engaged to marry a wealthy American heiress. Prior to their nuptials, he decides to take out an insurance policy on their wedding. If it doesn’t occur by a certain time, Harrowby will receive a massive claim for his troubles. The insurers, Lloyds of London, sends one of their trusted employees to the wedding locale to make sure it goes off without a hitch. What happens next is a series of unexpected events that attempt to derail the ceremony at every turn.Love Insurance is a screwball comedy that uses the best elements of the genre. It is a fun and entertaining story that leaps off the page. The novel was later adapted for feature film including 1919’s Love Insurance, 1924’s The Reckless Age and 1940’s One Night in the Tropics With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Love Insurance is both modern and readable.

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Book SynopsisThe Anti-Pamela: Or, Feign'd Innocence Detected (1741) is a novel by Eliza Haywood. Blending tragedy and comedy, Haywood explores the intersection of gender and class to reveal how women perform and experience desire. Written in response to Samuel Richardson’s Pamela; Or, Virtue Rewarded, a novel in which a young girl resists the advances of her wealthy employer and eventually marries him honorably, Haywood’s novel flips the portrayal of static feminine desire on its head. Unlike Pamela, her protagonist is an anti-heroine who wields her sexuality for the purpose of social mobility, showing resilience and determination despite her repeated failures. Syrena Tricksy knows what she wants from men. To get it, she disguises herself as an unmarried aristocrat, a mistress, a widow, and a libertine, each time in pursuit of a wealthy nobleman to marry. Playing these parts with ease, she frequently gets in her own way, failing at the last moment through carelessness and greed. Resourceful and independent, Syrena is a character at odds with the stereotypical portrayal of feminine sexuality. She may not be perfect, but she is never passive. As a parody of Samuel Richardson’s popular novel of morality, The Anti-Pamela: Or, Feign'd Innocence Detected lampoons the unrealistic character at the heart of Pamela, a woman who gets what she wants through virtue alone. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Eliza Haywood’s The Anti-Pamela: Or, Feign'd Innocence Detected is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThough she is an orphan, Cecilia Beverly is an heiress to a small fortune, which she may keep under the stipulation from her uncle that when Cecilia marries, she will keep her Beverly name, asking her future husband to adopt it as well. After she leaves for London to stay with her guardians, she realizes that each of the three families left to care for her are greedy and vain people. Before arriving to the first pair of guardians, the Harrels, Cecilia visits their friend, Mr. Monckton, for breakfast. Mr. Monckton is stunned when he meets the beautiful, intelligent and wealthy Miss Beverly and is upset that he has married for money instead of waiting to meet a woman like Cecilia. Cecilia knows nothing of his admirations and attends a masquerade ball thrown by Mrs. Harrel. At the masquerade she is unable to meet people because a man dressed as a black demon is following and chasing others away. After she is rescued by a mysterious man masquerading as White Domino, it becomes a pattern in her social life. This man rescues Cecilia again at the opera when two men are fighting over her. She learns his identity is Mortimer Delvile and after spending time with his family, Cecilia begins to fall in love. Unfortunately, Mortimer believes she is engaged to one of the many suitors trying to win her favor. Cecilia must overcome the manipulation and extortion from her guardians and dangerous admirers in order to protect her fortune and find real love. First published in 1782, Cecilia; or Memoirs of an Heiress by Frances Burney is an exciting and wonderful romance. With themes of true love, class, and morality, Cecilia; or Memoirs of an Heiress satirizes the society it is set in. With captivating characters and a compelling plot, this 18th century romance is timeless. This edition of Cecilia; or, Memoirs of an Heiress by Frances Burney features an eye-catching new cover design and is presented in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition is accessible and appealing to contemporary audiences, restoring Cecilia: or, Memoirs of an Heiress to modern standards while preserving the tender romance and satirical genius of Frances Burney’s work.

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Book SynopsisThree Lives (1909) is a collection of novellas by Gertrude Stein. Characterized by its straightforward narrative style and disjointed prose, Three Lives proved a breakthrough for Stein, who had previously found it difficult bringing her works to publication. Each novella is set in Bridgepoint, a fictionalized version of Baltimore, where working class people of all races undergo the dignities and indignities of life in an industrialized nation. In “The Good Anna,” an immigrant housekeeper working in the home of a wealthy woman commands respect and order from all who cross her path. Caring only for her three small dogs, she does her best to forget a traumatic past. Having lost her mother in Germany at a young age, Anna moved to Bridgepoint with hope for a better future, but poor health and unlucky relationships haunt her throughout her life. “Melanctha” is the story of a young mixed-race woman who suffers from a lack of opportunity in a segregated city. Despite being honest and empathetic, she constantly finds herself betrayed and abandoned by those she trusts, and soon her pure heart and kind nature reach their limit. In “The Gentle Lana,” another German immigrant endures the banality and heartbreak of unhappily married life, raising a family and caring for a home without ever feeling fulfilled as an individual. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Gertrude Stein’s Three Lives is a classic work of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisLARGE PRINT EDITION. Three Lives (1909) is a collection of novellas by Gertrude Stein. Characterized by its straightforward narrative style and disjointed prose, Three Lives proved a breakthrough for Stein, who had previously found it difficult bringing her works to publication. Each novella is set in Bridgepoint, a fictionalized version of Baltimore, where working class people of all races undergo the dignities and indignities of life in an industrialized nation. In “The Good Anna,” an immigrant housekeeper working in the home of a wealthy woman commands respect and order from all who cross her path. Caring only for her three small dogs, she does her best to forget a traumatic past. Having lost her mother in Germany at a young age, Anna moved to Bridgepoint with hope for a better future, but poor health and unlucky relationships haunt her throughout her life. “Melanctha” is the story of a young mixed-race woman who suffers from a lack of opportunity in a segregated city. Despite being honest and empathetic, she constantly finds herself betrayed and abandoned by those she trusts, and soon her pure heart and kind nature reach their limit. In “The Gentle Lana,” another German immigrant endures the banality and heartbreak of unhappily married life, raising a family and caring for a home without ever feeling fulfilled as an individual. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Gertrude Stein’s Three Lives is a classic work of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisLARGE PRINT EDITION.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, follows a young boy who goes by the name “Huck.” Raised under the roof of his drunken father while fearing for his life, Huck escapes and embarks on the adventure of a lifetime.

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Book SynopsisWhat would happen if science gave Black Americans the choice to become white? Mirroring Wallace Thurman’s The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life, Black No More: Being an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free, AD 1933-1940, is one of the first Afrofuturistic novels ever published.On New Year's Eve, Max Disher’s romantic advances are rejected on the basis that he is a Black man. Come New Year’s Day, the answers for his frustration appear in the form of an announcement about a new scientific procedure called, “Black-No-More.” Believing that his life will have much more fortune in white skin he goes through with the treatment—changing his name to “Matthew Fisher,” the newly-made white Max has to decide what it means to live and breathe on the other side of the color line.Professionally typeset with a beautifully designed cover, this edition of Black No More: Being an Account of the Strange and Wonderful Workings of Science in the Land of the Free, AD 1933-1940 is a reimagining of a Harlem Renaissance staple for the modern reader.

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Book SynopsisWhen the government cracks down on alcohol sales, two men decide to leave their small fishing village to avoid the law and find new opportunities. The Flying Inn is an irreverent satire that delivers a unique commentary on power and politics. Humphrey Pump, also known as “Hump,” is a bar owner whose business is undercut by strict alcohol regulations. Adult beverages can only be sold when a pub sign in present. But instead of adhering to the rules, he hits the road with a sign and barrel of rum in tow. Pump is joined by Patrick Dalroy, an entertaining companion, who is just as committed to his wandering way of life. Despite their attempts to escape police, the rogue partners are eventually roped into a much larger plot. The Flying Inn is a daring piece of speculative fiction that uses satire to balance its more serious elements. Published in 1914, the story is greatly influence by the social and political concepts of its day. This gives readers insight into the many fears surrounding early twentieth century government. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of The Flying Inn is both modern and readable.

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Book SynopsisDaniel Deronda is a goodhearted man who’s often occupied with the struggles of others including the selfish Gwendolen Harleth and the young runaway, Mirah Lapidoth. In an effort to help Mirah, Daniel is exposed to a different culture and experiences that challenge everything he knows. Daniel Deronda grew up without a clear understanding of his family or heritage. He was raised as the ward of a wealthy gentleman called Sir Hugo Mallinger. Despite his unusual circumstance, Daniel always finds time to help others in need. He attempts to counsel a young woman, Gwendolen, who struggles to find stability after her family loses their fortune. He also intervenes with a Jewish girl, Mirah, who tries to drown herself in a river. In the midst of their troubles, Daniel makes a stunning revelation about his own history and potential future. This story gives insight into the social and political outlook of Jewish culture in Victorian era England. Eliot’s depiction of the community was a rarity at the time and provided unique representation. Daniel Deronda remains a standout amongst the author’s illustrious catalog. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Daniel Deronda is both modern and readable.

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of countless esteemed classics such as The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, , Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court follows an American engineer named Hank Morgan. When Hank suffers from a severe head injury, he falls unconscious, only to wake up in the medieval Camelot years. Learning that he has somehow traveled through space and time to be present in 6th century England during the time of King Arthur’s rule, Hank is shocked and worried when he is discovered by guards. However, after the initial confusion and concern, Hank understands the potential of his situation, and decides to use his future knowledge for the good of the people now around him. Of course, the subjects of King Arthur’s kingdom were skeptical of him, and consequently, soon after Hank arrived his execution was scheduled. However, because of Hank’s knowledge, he is able to trick the people, including the king himself, into thinking that he has special powers. After using a solar eclipse to “prove” his ability, Hank is elected into a position of power, using his new authority to modernize and Americanize the medieval people. Accepting the kingdom as his new home, Hank build relationships and feels that he is making an immense difference in the lives of King Arthur and his subjects. But when the Catholic church grows uneasy about Hank’s new influence and ideas, Hank finds himself in even more danger than he was in when he was scheduled for death row. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain is a classic comedy that features reflective and fascinating topics of social justice and science. Though originally published in 1889, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court addresses social and political issues that are still relevant today and even predicted the first world war. With an anecdotal narrative, Twain delivers a compelling plot with humorous prose and discussion of serious societal concerns. This edition of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court features a striking new cover design and is printed in a modern font to accommodate to the desires of a contemporary audience.

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Book SynopsisThe Confidence-Man (1857) is a novel by American writer Herman Melville. After the failure of his novels Moby-Dick (1851) and Pierre: or, The Ambiguities (1852), Melville struggled to find a publisher who would accept his work. When it was published, The Confidence-Man was seen as a flawed, unnecessarily complicated novel, and beyond several collections of poetry, it all but ended Melville’s career as a professional writer. When Melville’s work was reappraised in the 1920s, however, scholars recognized his status as one of nineteenth century America’s finest literary voices. A keen visionary, Melville’s satirical outlook and pessimistic sense of American morality drive the fragmented narrative of The Confidence-Man, his final, most complicated, and perhaps most rewarding novel. In St. Louis, a mute man dressed in cream colored clothes boards a riverboat bound for New Orleans. On the journey down the Mississippi, a cast of characters at once bizarre and commonplace passes the time playing cards, engaging in conversation, and attempting to gain one another’s trust. A crippled African American beggar faces disbelief when he speaks of his life on the streets. A young and naïve student idolizes wealthy men and hopes to make a fortune by investing in stocks. A man in a gray suit asks his fellow passengers to donate to a suspicious charity. As the boat sails on, it becomes increasingly clear that while confidence is easily purchased, honesty remains the rarest of commodities. Set and published on April Fool’s Day, The Confidence-Man is a satire of American life that explores with unsparing pessimism themes of religion, identity, morality, and the role of money in everyday life. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Herman Melville’s The Confidence-Man is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book Synopsis Set in an industrial city in Northern England during the Victorian era, Thomas Gradgrind, a wealthy and retired man, devotes his life to the rationalist philosophy, and raises his children, Louisa and Tom, to never engage in any imaginative activity. The two grow up feeling confused, like something is missing in their lives, yet are unable figure out what exactly that is and affected differently by their upbringing. Louisa struggles to feel joy, and Tom struggles to find ethical standards. When Josiah Bounderby, a crass, rich man, asks for Louisa’s hand in marriage, she cannot find a rational reason not to marry him. He would elevate her social status, was a friend of her father, and employed her brother at his bank. She decides to marry Bounderby, despite feeling no love for him. Meanwhile, Stephen, a poor laborer in one of the city’s factories, who is struggling under the oppression of the upper classes, meets Tom and Louisa, inspiring them in different ways. When the city is shocked by a scandalous and devastating bank robbery, Stephen, Tom, and Louisa’s lives are forever changed, and Gradgrind must question the strict beliefs on which he relies. Hard Times by Charles Dickens is revered not only for its skillfully constructed prose, but also its critique of capitalist and utilitarian philosophy. Dickens’ empathetic portrayal of the effects of such beliefs raises concern and advocates for the conservation of human creativity and joy in a way that is still applicable today. With an eye-catching cover design and a modern font, Hard Times by Charles Dickens is a thought-provoking novel written by the greatest and most influential writers of the Victorian era.

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Book SynopsisGulliver’s strange adventures in some of the most unusual lands ever imagined have made this one of the rare classics with an enduring and wide-ranging appeal to all ages. Gulliver’s bad luck at sea not only gets him shipwrecked and castaway, but repeatedly throws him into strange societies of even stranger people. Readers are likely aware of Gulliver’s experiences in Lilliput, where he meets a kingdom of six-inch-tall people with a set of prejudices that are as rigid as they are ridiculous. They may be less familiar with Gulliver’s time among the giants of Brobdingnag, the science-obsessed residents of the flying island of Laputa or the horse-like and thoughtful Houyhnhnms, all of which are much less well known despite being every bit as inventive and thought-provoking. Swift’s straightforward narrative style adds both realism and a kind of deadpan humor to his outrageous flights of the imagination. The fantastical nature of Gulliver’s adventures have led the book, especially the section taking place in Lilliput, to be seen by some as a story for children, but the tale’s political and philosophical underpinnings are not hidden and cast a decidedly skeptical eye on humanity. Seen as a collection of delightful fairy tales or as fables that probe the nature of society, Gulliver’s Travels occupies a unique position in the canon of English literature and will undoubtedly be reinterpreted, and enjoyed, as long as books are read. Included in this Mint Edition is Swift’s fierce satirical essay, A Modest Proposal. With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Gulliver’s Travels is both modern and readable.

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Book Synopsis Portraying the revolving clash between class ideals, Antic Hay is a stunning cultural critique on life in London circa 1923. With a sharp comedic edge, author Aldous Huxley delivers a novel of ideas aimed at characterizing the unsettling times following the end of World War I. With over-the-top characters, and ensuing brutish conversations, Antic Hay doesn’t follow a typical narrative arc. Huxley’s work portrays a world entirely fabricated on gossip, lies, and one man’s yearning for societal approval. Dripping with prose that brandished Huxley as somewhat of an iconoclast, Antic Hay has been hailed as Huxley’s first masterpiece, paving the way for books with even more controversial subject matter like that of his most popular novel, Brave New World. With an eye-catching cover that mirrors the complexities of Huxley’s world and a professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Antic Hay is both modern and readable. Also included is a new note about the author.

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Book SynopsisCatherine Morland is modest and well mannered, more comfortable reading her novels than socializing with people. When she is unexpectedly invited to the English resort city of Bath for the winter season, where many wealthy families reside, Catherine seizes the opportunity. Eager to create some excitement in her life, Catherine will not miss the doldrums of her home in the countryside. Catherine quickly makes friends with Isabella Thorpe, a coquettish young woman who has a predilection for spreading gossip. Quirky, outspoken, and with her nose in everybody’s business, Isabella is the complete opposite in personality to Catherine. Soon after her arrival in Bath, Catherine is invited by a family called the Tilneys to stay for a few weeks at their home, Northanger Abbey. Excited for the prospect of living out the very same circumstances as in her beloved gothic novels, Catherine is in for a rather rude awakening. From attending dances, to socializing with members of the upper-class, to investigating a mysterious wing of the old manor that no one is allowed to enter, Catherine escapes her sheltered life for one that is crowded with love, mystery, and betrayal. When she is finally forced to return home from Northanger Abbey, she is left with her wild imagination and a longing for her own chance at love. Worried she has spent too much time with her nose in a book, Catherine is faced with a stark reality-check, she must grow up fast or fear ending up alone. Northanger Abbey parodies the traditional gothic novel in subtle ways. With references to Ann Radcliffe’s gothic novels The Romance of the Forest and The Mysteries of Udolpho, Jane Austen created the character of Catherine to remind the reader to be weary of an overactive imagination and that one must exercise caution when decoding what is true as well as what we want to believe is true. With an eye-catching new cover, and a professionally type-set manuscript, this revised edition of Northanger Abbey is both modern and readable. Now in a collectable set, read all the great Austen classics from Mint Editions Books.

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Book SynopsisFrom the author responsible for the satirical work of genius, A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift’s A Tale of a Tub is an allegorical work that follows three brothers after the event of their father’s death. When their father, who meant to be God, dies, the three brothers, Peter, Martin and Jack, inherit his will and each receive a decorative coat. Their father also leaves them instruction not to alter these coats in any way because doing so would be damaging for their futures. Despite this warning, the brothers not only quickly make alterations, they also police each other for their choices. Each brother represents one of the major branches of Christianity. Peter, who represents the Roman Catholic church, is the first to change the coat left to him in the will. He adds many embellishments, claiming that the garment is better because of it. Jack, who represents the Protestant church, and Martin, who represents Anglicans, follow their brother’s lead and also add to the coats. Their actions lead to arguments between the brothers, each feeling that they know what’s best for the coats. Feeling like they are being controlled by Peter, Jack and Martin reject him, and then try to undo the alterations made to their garments, furthering the damage to the clothing and to their relationship with each other. Jonathan Swift created an allegory for the Reformation in his story of the three brothers. With satire and frank representation of the branches of Christianity, A Tale of a Tub addresses issues concerning society’s effect on religion, polluting the original message of its creator. Swift’s satire on the three major branches of Christianity was very controversial and though he wrote under a pseudonym, A Tale of a Tub was traced back to Swift. Even by modern standards, A Tale of a Tub invites controversial conversation that is both relevant and compelling. This edition of Jonathan Swift’s A Tale of a Tub features an eye-catching cover design and is printed in a modern font to appeal to a contemporary audience.

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Book SynopsisYoung Candide is ejected from his idyllic life in a protected castle and finds himself encountering wild adventures and harsh trials that put to the test his teacher’s claim that we live in the best of all possible worlds.Honest and simple to a fault, Candide finds that a bit of romance leads only to exile and sudden immersion in a larger and more frightening world. Armed with the optimistic teachings of his mentor Pangloss, he is soon astounded to be arrested, beaten and forced into military service. The author doesn’t spare his hero, hurling him into a shipwreck, an earthquake, a tidal wave and a city-wide wildfire in short order. Pursuing his true love and reunited with Pangloss, who interprets each new setback, no matter how horrific, as another sign that everything happens for the best, Candide refuses to abandon hope but begins to question his teacher’s bottomless optimism. An outrageous picaresque quest full of barbed observations about human behavior and belief, politics and institutions, Candide was condemned for the fiercely irreverent stance it delicately conceals beneath its hero’s guileless nature and chain of extravagant adventures. Triumphing over censorship, the book has had profound influence on philosophy and politics since its first appearance in 1759, but remains a classic that can be read for pure pleasure.With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Candide is both modern and readable.

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Book Synopsis A knight, a monk, a merchant, a summoner, and a wife all walk into an inn, and realize they are in the company of many others who intend to make the same pilgrimage to Canterbury. As a group of English people all gather at the Tabard inn, they learn that they will be travelling together. Usually divided by their differing social classes, professions, and beliefs, the group are united by their pilgrimage to Canterbury, where they’ll receive blessings from a Christian martyr. Upon this realization, the host of the inn proposes a competition: whoever can tell the best story on the journey to Canterbury wins a lavish dinner. All enamored by the promise of a good meal, each member takes a turn telling a story. With tales of true love, chivalry, crime, infidelity, piety, dishonesty, and adventure, the stories of the group humor, inspire, offend, and entertain. As the stories continue, members of the pilgrimage party interrupt, praise, scold, and even fight other members, enlightening them with lessons and new perspectives as they journey to complete their pilgrimage. With feuds, jokes, love affairs, and moral allegories, The Canterbury Tales treat audiences to a dynamic journey crafted with exquisite prose and elegant poetry. Originally published around 1400, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales have since inspired many adaptations of both its plot and narrative form. Using satire, allegory, and wit, The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories that explores various genres and literary purposes, creating an incredibly inclusive narrative. This edition of The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, features a new striking cover design and is printed in a modern font, crafting an approachable experience of one of the most influential works in English literature.

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Book SynopsisThe Devil’s Dictionary (1906) is a work of satire by Ambrose Bierce. Although he is commonly remembered for his chilling short stories on the experiences of Civil War soldiers, Bierce was recognized in his day as a leading journalist and humorist who spent decades ruffling feathers and drawing laughter with his witty opinion columns, poems, and definitions. Toward the end of his career, he decided to compile these satirical definitions into a book, following in the footsteps of Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, and Gustave Flaubert. Immensely popular upon publication, The Devil’s Dictionary inspired countless imitators, but remains one-of-a-kind. Reading Bierce’s definitions today, it’s not hard to imagine the controversy they must have caused, matched only by the laughs they must have roused, when published at the onset of the twentieth century. Written during a period of undaunted industrial growth, of immense wealth and promise in a nation recently torn apart by civil war, The Devil’s Dictionary preserves a tantalizing touch of irreverence and doubt which must remain funny to those who know humor when they sense it. “AIR, n. A nutritious substance supplied by a bountiful providence for the fattening of the poor.” “CONSERVATIVE, n. A statesman who is enamoured of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.” Crafted for the cynic, quoted by the misanthrope, Bierce’s definitions prove profoundly entertaining and frequently accurate—sort of—over a century after they were published. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Great American Novel (1923) is an experimental novel by William Carlos Williams. Although he is predominately known as a poet, Williams frequently pushed the limits of prose style throughout his career. In the defining decade of Modernism, Williams sought to try his hand at the so-called “Great American Novel,” a concept fueling impassioned debate in academic and artistic circles nationwide. Far from conventional, Williams’ novel is a metafictional foray into matters more postmodern than modern, a commentary masquerading as narrative and a satire of the all-American overreliance on cliché in form and content. “If there is progress then there is a novel. Without progress there is nothing. Everything exists from the beginning. I existed in the beginning. I was a slobbering infant. Today I saw nameless grasses—I tapped the earth with my knuckle. It sounded hollow. It was dry as rubber. Eons of drought. No rain for fifteen days. No rain. It has never rained. It will never rain.” Williams’ novel begins with the word and a birth. Language describes the experience of awakening to experience, of coming into consciousness as a living being in a living world. Using words from everyday speech, he builds a novel out of observations, a book that remains conscious of itself throughout. Like the child whose first experience with the written word often comes from names and slogans stretched over trucks and billboards, the reader eventually comes to accept their new reality, a world where people love and succeed and fail, where history and art intercede to make meaning where they can. The Great American Novel showcases Williams’ experimental form, stretching the meaning of “novel” to its outermost limit. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of William Carlos Williams’ The Great American Novel is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Rivet in Grandfather’s Neck (1921) is a comic romance novel by James Branch Cabell. Set in a world where history and fantasy collide, where the laws of chivalry and honor continue to hold sway in postbellum South, The Rivet in Grandfather’s Neck is included in a series of novels, essays, and poems known as the Biography of the Life of Manuel. “For Colonel Musgrave was by birth the lineal head of all the Musgraves of Matocton, which is in Lichfield, as degrees are counted there, equivalent to what being born a marquis would mean in England. Handsome and trim and affable, he defied chronology by looking ten years younger than he was known to be.” A man of honor and tradition, Colonel Musgrave comes from a prominent family whose wealth and power once depended on its ownership of slaves. Despite his illustrious title, “won by four years of arduous service at receptions and parades while on the staff of a former Governor of the State,” Musgrave is a librarian whose influence in town depends largely on the esteem of his ancestors. When a distant cousin visits Lichfield, bringing with her the intellect and wit of a modern woman, Colonel Musgrave finds how easily traditions can falter. Set in a fictionalized Southern town, The Rivet in Grandfather’s Neck is a captivating, hilarious tale of chivalry and romance. Cabell’s work has long been described as escapist, his novels and stories derided as fantastic and obsessive recreations of a world lost long ago. To read The Rivet in Grandfather’s Neck, however, is to understand that the issues therein—the struggle for power, the unspoken distance between men and women—were vastly important not only at the time of its publication, but in our own, divisive world. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of James Branch Cabell’s The Rivet in Grandfather’s Neck is a classic of fantasy and romance reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisTaboo (1921) is a comic fantasy novel by James Branch Cabell. Set in a world where history and fantasy collide, where a lowly pawnbroker can encounter monsters, gods, and devils, Taboo is a follow up to Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice, which was the subject of an obscenity trial pursued by the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. In 1923, after winning his case, Cabell made sure to immortalize the event with a revised edition featuring a “lost” chapter where Jurgen is persecuted for his writing by grotesque Philistines. In Taboo, one work in a series of novels, essays, and poems known as the Biography of the Life of Manuel, Cabell explores the cultural environment that led to his work’s persecution, inventing a whole world in which to air his grievances. “Since time's beginning, every age has had its literary taboos, selecting certain things—more or less arbitrarily, but usually some natural function—as the things which must not be written about. To violate any such taboo so long as it stays prevalent is to be ‘indecent’: and that seems absolutely all there is to say concerning this topic, apart from furnishing some impressive historical illustration...” While most authors in the midst of an obscenity trial would be content to let their lawyer do the talking, James Branch Cabell took the opportunity to reflect on the matter in the only way he knew how. In this work, written in the style of medieval history, Cabell tells the story of Philistia, a country dedicated to the persecution of all manner of ill-defined vice and taboo. Bold and satirical, this thinly veiled critique of his own, high-minded critics is essential to understanding Cabell’s vision of art. Cabell’s work has long been described as escapist, his novels and stories derided as fantastic and obsessive recreations of a world lost long ago. To read Taboo, however, is to understand that the issues therein—the struggle for power, the unspoken distance between men and women—were vastly important not only at the time of its publication, but in our own, divisive world. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of James Branch Cabell’s Taboo is a classic of fantasy and romance reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe Cords of Vanity (1920) is a comic romance novel by James Branch Cabell. Set in a world where history and fantasy collide, where the laws of chivalry and honor continue to hold sway in postbellum South, The Cords of Vanity is included in a series of novels, essays, and poems known as the Biography of the Life of Manuel. A man of honor and tradition, Robert Townsend comes from a prominent family whose wealth and power once depended on its ownership of slaves. Raised in a fast-changing world, in which the old agrarian way of life is being replaced in response to growing industrialization, Robert spends much of his time weaving tall tales. In dreams only, he lives up to the ideals of his ancestors, for whom honor was the most important thing of all. Set in a fictionalized version of Richmond, The Cords of Vanity is a captivating, hilarious tale of chivalry and romance inspired by the author’s experiences as a young man raised in a family of Southern aristocrats. Originally written in 1909, before Cabell found success and infamy with the publication of Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice (1919), the novel is a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a young writer hungry for critical acclaim. Cabell’s work has long been described as escapist, his novels and stories derided as fantastic and obsessive recreations of a world lost long ago. To read The Cords of Vanity, however, is to understand that the issues therein—the struggle for power, the unspoken distance between men and women—were vastly important not only at the time of its publication, but in our own, divisive world. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of James Branch Cabell’s The Cords of Vanity is a classic of fantasy and romance reimagined for modern readers.

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Book SynopsisThe definitive novel of today’s Silicon Valley, After On flash-captures our cultural and technological moment with up-to-the-instant savvy. Matters of privacy and government intrusion, post-Tinder romance, nihilistic terrorism, artificial consciousness, synthetic biology, and much more are tackled with authority and brash playfulness by New York Times bestselling author Rob Reid. Meet Phluttr—a diabolically addictive new social network and a villainess, heroine, enemy, and/or bestie to millions. Phluttr has ingested every fact and message ever sent to, from, and about her innumerable users. Her capabilities astound her makers—and they don’t even know the tenth of it.      But what’s the purpose of this stunning creation? Is it a front for something even darker and more powerful than the NSA? A bid to create a trillion-dollar market by becoming “The UberX of Sex”? Or a reckless experiment that could spawn the digital equivalent of a middle-school mean girl with enough charisma, dirt, and cunning to bend the entire planet to her will? Phluttr has it in her to become the greatest gossip, flirt, or matchmaker in history. Or she could cure cancer, bring back Seinfeld, then start a nuclear war. Whatever she does, it’s not up to us. But a motley band of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and engineers might be able to influence her. After On achieves the literary singularity—fusing speculative satire and astonishing reality into a sharp-witted, ferociously believable, IMAX-wide view of our digital age.Praise for After On“Rob Reid’s mind is like no other known thing in the universe, and this book is a truly spectacular way to discover it.”—Chris Anderson, head of TED   “An extended philosophy seminar run by a dozen insane Cold War heads-of-station, three millennial COOs and that guy you went to college with who always had the best weed but never did his laundry.”—NPR   “An epic cyberthriller peppered with pop-culture references, metadata, and Silicon Valley in-jokes.”—Kirkus Reviews   “It’s rare to find a book that combines laugh-out-loud humor and cutting-edge science with profound philosophical speculation. This is that book.”—Analog   “[Rob Reid] writes in a humorous and sarcastic style while unveiling a terrifying and frightening scenario that seems all too real.”—Associated Press

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Book SynopsisShortlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection 2021‘Wickedly, exquisitely hilarious’ – Alexandra Kleeman‘Open-source desire, self-replicating fantasy’ – Tom McCarthy‘A brilliant and brilliantly strange and strangely funny and menacing debut!’ – Sam LipsyteIn this provocative, bitingly funny debut collection, people attempt to use technology to escape their uncontrollable feelings of grief, rage or despair, only to reveal their most flawed and human selves.An architect draws questionable inspiration from her daughter’s birth defect. A content moderator for ‘the world’s biggest search engine’, who spends her days culling videos of beheadings and suicides, turns from stalking her rapist online to following him in real life. At a camp for recovering internet trolls, a sensitive misfit goes missing. A wounded mother raises the second incarnation of her child.In You Will Never Be Forgotten, Mary South explores how technology can both collapse our relationships from within and provide opportunities for genuine connection. Formally inventive, darkly absurdist, savagely critical of the increasingly fraught cultural climates we inhabit, these ten stories also find hope in fleeting interactions and moments of tenderness. They reveal our grotesque selfishness and our intense need for love and acceptance, and the psychic pain that either shuts us off or allows us to discover the greatest depths of empathy. This incendiary debut marks the arrival of a perceptive, idiosyncratic, instantly recognizable voice in fiction – one that could only belong to Mary South.Trade Review[An] edgily brilliant debut collection . . . Bringing together emotion and technology, South’s stories are comfortless but very sharp. * Sunday Times *[A] brilliantly biting debut . . . In a world that is more ‘connected’ than ever, loneliness is still endemic, hearts break, and melancholy and rage win out over the cool disinterest of machines every time. * Daily Mail *Weird and often wonderful . . . a joltingly strange critique of the contemporary moment. * Metro *Mary South’s You Will Never Be Forgotten is one of the most luminous, funny, totally thought-provoking story collections I have ever read. Don’t miss it. -- Douglas Stuart, author of Shuggie BainMary South's wickedly, exquisitely hilarious collection dwells in the intimate aches of modern life, writ large in strange, delightful stories that include, but are not limited to, clones, brain surgery, internet trolls, and warehouses full of spare men. Dazzlingly imagined and full of wit, You Will Never Be Forgotten is a gift to readers everywhere, a ferocious transmission from one of the most audacious, most original new voices in fiction. -- Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like MineSouth’s odd and wondrous short stories take place in a near future in which people broken by grief and loneliness use and work with technology that is meant to cure, or at the very least lessen, their hurt . . . At her best, South is reminiscent of George Saunders, replete with strangeness and dark humor. This intriguing collection should put South on readers' radars and is perfect for fans of Black Mirror. * Booklist *Written with dark humor and a striking lack of sentimentality, these stories are vehicles for characters who each use tech to try to retrieve that which is irrevocably lost. * The Atlantic *Prescient and unsettling . . . You Will Never Be Forgotten’s stories are united by South’s keen examination of the thrill and risk of human connection . . . [South] shows us there is still tenderness to be found, and protected, in the brave new world to come. * The Nation *Mary South couldn’t have predicted our current moment, but her stories could not feel timelier . . . The universes she conjures skate between science fiction-like dystopia and an all-too-familiar present reality . . . South is fixated in particular on women and the challenges they face in this always-online era — how they and their bodies can be manipulated, distorted, abused. Her depictions of pregnancy and childbirth bring to mind a Margaret Atwood-esque darkness. * New York Times *What a heady, delicious, devastating collection. These stories, in their limitless wit and invention, begin as satisfying intellectual puzzles and then bloom into something fiercer, wilder – expanding to contain the fullness of dread, loss, longing, shame, terror. Mary South has written a tremendous book. -- Clare Beams, author of The Illness LessonWhile Mary South's stories feature the cutting-edge technology of our present and near future, what makes this collection so exceptional is the deft hand with which she can peel back the sheen of novelty to get to the core of these characters' triumphs and struggles. With sharp insight and wit, South lays bare the timeless truths of love, loss and loneliness at the heart of these stories. -- Sara Novic, author of Girl at WarMary South's stories are a vital mix of wry humor, cunning provocation, disturbing prophecy and deep feeling. A brilliant and brilliantly strange and strangely funny and menacing debut! -- Sam Lipsyte, author of HarkMary South gets it. With dark humor, she knocks down like so many lined-up ducks all the consoling pieties that nurture humanist fiction, and sets up in their place a vision of subjects irremediably mediated, strung out along networks that far exceed them. Her universe is glitchy, full of weakly-encrypted memory, open-source desire, self-replicating fantasy: the human in hock to the algorithm. -- Tom McCarthy, author of Satin IslandOne of the strangest and most exciting collections I've read in recent times. This is what I hope for from speculative fiction: an unease that pulls you through the story with urgency, but also delivers new formations of haunting questions that linger long after the story ends. -- Jac Jemc, author of The Grip of ItHere are ten stories of loneliness and loss, bristling with gallows humor, and wrought of nimble, gleefully exacting sentences. With wide-reaching curiosity and deadpan wit, Mary South writes the absurdity and banality of technology-damaged life. -- Kathryn Scanlan, author of Aug 9 - FogSouth’s stories are both funny and profound, often on the same page, but perhaps her best skill is plumbing the intricacies of loneliness, expertly dissecting what that term means in a technology-driven world. This is an electric jolt from a very talented writer. * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *Imagine Black Mirror by way of Karen Russell and you’ll get a sense of this mordant and wondrous collection of short fiction. -- O Magazine"Inventive, exciting, daring, clever" doesn't go far enough, though this collection is all of these things. I love these stories. I whoop in honour of their wicked wit, sharp intelligence, and imaginative reach. What joy! -- Megan Bradbury, author of Everyone is WatchingI love the whipsmart energy and technology-run-amok vibe to these stories; seething with glitch and mania and mega-bite humour, they are also achingly apt explorations of the quicksand gap between digital and physical existence. Wonderful. -- Alan McMonagle, author of Ithaca

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Book SynopsisBucky Wunderlick is a rock and roll star. Dissatisfied with a life that has brought fame and fortune, he suddenly decides he no longer wants to be a commodity.He leaves his band mid-tour and holes up in a dingy, unfurnished apartment in Great Jones Street. Unfortunately, his disappearing act only succeeds in inflaming interest . . .Great Jones Street, Don DeLillo's third novel, is more than a musical satire: it probes the rights of the individual, foreshadows the struggle of the artist within a capitalist world and delivers a scathing portrait of our culture's obsession with the lives of the few.Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.Trade ReviewAmerica's greatest living writer. * Observer *Brilliant, deeply shocking. * New York Review of Books *DeLillo has the force and imagination of Thomas Pynchon or John Barth, with a sense of proportion and style which these would-be giants often lack. * Irish Times *

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Book Synopsis**SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE****SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER**Booker Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author Salman Rushdie has created a dazzling Don Quixote for the modern age. Inspired by the Cervantes classic, Sam DuChamp, mediocre writer of spy thrillers, creates Quichotte, a courtly, addled salesman obsessed with television, who falls in impossible love with the TV star Salman R. Together with his (imaginary) son Sancho, Quichotte sets off on a picaresque quest across America to prove worthy of her hand, gallantly braving the tragicomic perils of an age where 'Anything-Can-Happen'. Meanwhile his creator, in a midlife crisis, has equally urgent challenges of his own. Just as Cervantes wrote Don Quixote to satirise the culture of his time, Rushdie takes the reader on a wild ride through a country on the verge of moral and spiritual collapse, with the kind of storytelling magic that is the hallmark of his work. The fully realised lives of DuChamp and Quichotte intertwine in a profoundly human quest for love and a wickedly entertaining portrait of an age in which fact is so often indiscernible from fiction.Trade ReviewRushdie is one of the greats of his generation… But it’s rare for a writer to produce their best work towards the end of their career… Quichotte is one of the cleverest, most enjoyable metafictional capers this side of postmodernism… This novel can fly, it can float, it’s anecdotal, effervescent, charming, and a jolly good story to boot… Encore! Encore! * Sunday Times *A brilliant, funny, world-encompassing wonder… His readers realize that they would happily follow Rushdie to the end of the world… a glimmer of hope, like an impossible dream, is left for us [in Quichotte]. * Time Magazine *A triumphant assault on the coarsened American sensibility… [A] packed, funny, melancholy, masterpiece of a novel. * The Times *A novel that is as sharp as a flick-knife and as clever as a barrel of monkeys... More than just another postmodern box of tricks, [Quichotte] is a novel that feeds the heart while it fills the mind. * The Times *Rushdie’s fans will find much to love in this hyperactive, tenchicolour satire… Many balls are juggles here, but, somehow, Rushdie keeps them all gloriously in the air. * Daily Mail *

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Book SynopsisKafka meets The Thick Of It in a bitingly funny new political satire from Ian McEwanThat morning, Jim Sams, clever but by no means profound, woke from uneasy dreams to find himself transformed into a gigantic creature.Jim Sams has undergone a metamorphosis. In his previous life he was ignored or loathed, but in his new incarnation he is the most powerful man in Britain – and it is his mission to carry out the will of the people. Nothing must get in his way: not the opposition, nor the dissenters within his own party. Not even the rules of parliamentary democracy.With trademark intelligence, insight and scabrous humour, Ian McEwan pays tribute to Franz Kafka’s most famous work to engage with a world turned on its head.Trade ReviewA comic triumph… How do you make a show of people who are doing such a fabulous job of making a show of themselves? McEwan manages to do so with great style and comic panache. -- Fintan O'Toole * Observer, Book of the Day *The Cockroach is a satirical novella for our times, sharply observed and often very funny… an entertaining read, confronting the reality of Britain today. * Eastern Daily Press, *Book of the Week* *The latest instalment in his [McEwan’s] imaginative scrambling of English social history and of reality… [McEwan] finds room, amid all the Hansard send-ups and diplomatic silliness, to allude to more troubling physical-philosophical quandaries, while positing an alternative history of economic thought that culminates in a wayward version of our present. -- Leo Robson * New Statesman *Brexit has such a camp, knowing, performative quality that it is almost impossible to inflate it any further… McEwan manages to do so with great style and comic panache… very funny… McEwan’s comic parable at least provides some relief from a political farce that has long gone beyond a joke. -- Fintan O'Toole * Observer *A well-constructed novella by a master of the art. -- Stephen Bush * Big Issue *

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Book SynopsisA brilliantly comic satire about a love affair from the visionary, world-class storyteller.Set in 1967, at the peak of the Mao cult, this is the tale of a forbidden love affair between Liu Lian - the bored wife of a military commander - and a young soldier, Wu Dawang.When Liu Lian establishes a rule that Wu Dawang must attend to her needs whenever the household's wooden 'Serve the People!' sign is removed from its usual place, he vows to obey. What follows is both an enthralling love story and a deliciously comic satire on the political and sexual taboos of Mao's regime.'Drips with the kind of satire that can only come from deep within the machinery of Chinese communism' Financial TimesTrade ReviewOne of China's greatest living authors and fiercest satirists * Guardian *Brilliantly exposes the emptiness of Maoist ideals and the fraudulent ends for which they were used, but also relates a sorrowful tale of compromised relationships and modest hopes left unfulfilled * Publishers Weekly *A scathing sendup of life in 1960s China during the chaos of the country's Cultural Revolution...a wonderfully biting sature, brimming with absurdity, humor and wit * Los Angeles Times *

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Book Synopsis'The best novel I have read for ages. My heart was constantly in my throat as I read . . . There is so much to enjoy, to contemplate, to wonder at, and to be lost in' Stephen Fry'Meticulous and atmospheric . . . delicious unease and pervasive threat give this assured first novel great singularity and a kind of gothic edge' Michael Donkor, GuardianCambridge, 1994. Professor Don Lamb is a revered art historian at the height of his powers, consumed by the book he is writing about the skies of the Venetian master Tiepolo. However, his academic brilliance belies a deep inexperience of life and love. When an explosive piece of contemporary art is installed on the lawn of his college, it sets in motion Don's abrupt departure from Cambridge to take up a role at a south London museum. There he befriends Ben, a young artist who draws him into the anarchic 1990s British art scene and the nightlife of Soho. Over the course of one long, hot summer, Don glimpses a liberating new existence. But his epiphany is also a moment of self-reckoning, as his oldest friendship - and his own unexamined past - are revealed to him in a devastating new light. As Don's life unravels, he suffers a fall from grace that shatters his world into pieces.'A novel that combines formal elegance with gripping storytelling . . . wildly enjoyable' Financial Times'Tiepolo Blue really has blown me away . . . The last debut novel I read that had this much talent buzzing around inside it was Alan Hollinghurst's The Swimming-Pool Library.' Robert Douglas-FairhurstTrade ReviewThis divine debut from art critic and academic James Cahill is the smart, sexy read you need in 2022. Expect to see it on prize lists as well as Instagram feeds. The novel's protagonist is Professor Don Lamb, a precocious but prematurely stuffy art historian and Cambridge don, who likes measuring the skies in the paintings of Venetian master Tiepolo. Lamb takes preternatural offence when a Tracey Emin-esque bed sculpture is installed outside his college lodgings, and departs to London in a sulk for a new museum gig. There awaits a new kind of awakening - and it's not just because the YBAs are taking off. Not only an addictive pageturner, Cahill's book taps into the tensions and suspicions between generations that feels incredibly relevant for our testy times. * Evening Standard *Bringing together the Italian masters and the Young British Artists, this is a debut that looks at art, power, academia, and the potential of the urban setting at the end of the 20th century. * Dazed.com *The story of Tiepolo Blue and its people have invaded my dreams...something in the way Cahill puts the reader in Don Lamb's shoes does (or has done in my case) extraordinary things. I blushed and howled warnings and wanted to slap, cajole, hug, disown, disavow and walk away from him. His life will look so squalid and pathetic from the outside, but Cahill takes us inside and we somehow respect and love him. This is the best novel I have read for ages. It is so beautifully written, not a false note in any sentence. Cahill's presentation of the agonising clash of aesthetics, of culture, of generations... it's just masterly. Don's disintegration is painful to read, but it all grips you like a thriller. My heart was constantly in my throat as I read... There is so much to enjoy, to contemplate, to wonder at, and to be lost in. -- Stephen FryThe spirit of E.M. Forster is alive and well in James Cahill. The same palpating of damaged moral tissue, the same psychological canniness, the same gently invoked erudition, the same exactitude and eloquence - except Cahill is able to explore forbidden themes that Forster feared to touch on except posthumously -- Edmund WhiteThis is a novel full of suspense and surprise. It made me laugh and brought back memories of a time in my own life. I missed the characters as soon as I'd finished. -- Sarah LucasI travelled on the exquisite vessel of James Cahill's prose, unable to disembark. The journey is sensual, treacherous and elegiac. The final landing, breath-taking. -- Maggi HamblingWow. It is magnificent. Simply magnificent...Tiepolo Blue really has blown me away: the gorgeous phrase-making; the sure-footed pacing; the (re-)immersion in a world I know, or knew, in a way that is both hard-edged with historical detail and almost hallucinatory...The last debut novel I read that had this much talent buzzing around inside it was Alan Hollinghurst's The Swimming-Pool Library. -- Robert Douglas - FairhurstImagine if Hollinghurst and Murdoch collaborated on a witty update of Death in Venice and you'll see the appeal of James Cahill's assured debut. -- Patrick GaleJames Cahill's first novel, drawn from close observation, tells a gripping tale of the worlds of traditional academia and art history pitted against those of contemporary art, each failing horribly to understand the other. As a result all becomes infused with satirical comedy and ghastly tragedy. -- Norman Rosenthal * Curator of the ‘Sensation’ exhibition in 1997; former Exhibitions Secretary at the Royal Academy *An absorbing coming-of-age story. * The Art Newspaper *The standout [recent novel about art] is James Cahill's Tiepolo Blue...Interrogating beauty and meaning in art, Tiepolo Blue rewards rereading. Pointing to masked, tricksy identities, clues glitter gem-like amid hallucinatory prose...a stylish tale of love and long-game revenge. * Royal Academy Magazine *The worlds of art, academia and queerness collide in James Cahill's debut book. * i-D *[An] arresting debut novel . . . a masterly attention to (especially visual) detail and an irresistibly propulsive, almost swaggering style . . . Cahill is by no means a polemical author, and the novel is all the better for it. Any authorial commentary is barely detectable above the crowd of vivid characters with which Cahill has populated his novel, for Tiepolo Blue is, at its heart, an astute character study. * Literary Review *Evocative and accurate... meticulous and atmospheric... delicious unease and pervasive threat give this assured first novel great singularity and a kind of gothic edge... an electric new novel written by an author skilled in the evocation of vertiginous, heightened emotion' * Michael Donkor, Guardian *One of the standout debut novels is James Cahill's Tiepolo Blue, a coming-of-age tale set in London in the 1990s that deftly explores what it is like to suffer a very public fall from grace * Independent *What starts off as a campus novel soon shades into something weirder and much more mesmerizing... The plot is propulsive, though the crafted ambience of unease simultaneously destabilizes the reader at every turn. The prose is fluid and precise but the tone equivocal, bathos merging into pathos, tragedy into farce and back again... It's a measure of Cahill's sleight of hand that he manages to inject his plot with such page-turning momentum. -- Lucasta Miller * TLS *Art, academia and abject self-denial combine in this startlingly impressive, 1990s-set debut...A heavily perfumed, sexually tender, psychologically acute novel... as full of light and colour as Tiepolo's incandescent skies. * Daily Mail *[A] simmering debut novel * Esquire.com *With touches of Alan Hollinghurst, the musings of the book's protagonist on the radical power of art to act as a catalyst for personal change make it an exhilarating, erudite read. * Vogue.com *A novel that combines formal elegance with gripping storytelling...wildly enjoyable...The combination of arty milieu and sexual stirrings may evoke Alan Hollinghurst, but Iris Murdoch is a more obvious point of comparison...Snobbish and incompetent, Don may be difficult to like, but his painful awakening is delicately rendered. * Financial Times *I love the punctured idealism, contained savagery and ever-lurking farce of campus novels, and there are some delicious new additions to the genre - perfect antidotes for the cold. James Cahill's Tiepolo Blue tells the tale of a fusty ferociously fusty art historian whose academic career is upended by a ferociously unbeautiful sculpture. * TLS *[An] old-fashioned ambitious novel about the wonders of art and the depths of the human heart, full of people and ideas * The Times *I just devoured Tiepolo Blue, I could not put it down. The longing, the beauty, the detail, the complexity, the art, the intellect and the emotion . . . What a triumph! -- Paul KindersleyAlready a compelling psychosexual story about beauty, desire and art, Tiepolo Blue is all the more interesting because it hits notes of such strangeness -- Lucy Scholes, Fiction Books of the Year * Prospect *Tiepolo Blue is about a buttoned-up art historian in Cambridge in 1994 who messes up and gets a job managing a London gallery just as the Young British Artists enter their glory. One of them initiates his unbuttoning which is dizzying and exciting and unsettling, and beautifully told -- Rev Richard Coles, Big writers on their best reads of 2022 * Daily Mail *Most giddying are the passages that evoke the slow-mo slide of Don's professional collapse . . . I shivered with awful delight -- Alex Diggins * Critic *

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Elizabeth Bennet has politely declined your friend request and asks that you do not slide into her DMs again. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, will probably be verified on social media. The characters of Pride and Prejudice are navigating the same struggles on unfamiliar channels - social media channels, to be precise. When authors Claire McGowan and Sarah Day imagined how 'Pride and Prejudice on Social Media' might look, retelling the story through mocked-up social media posts, their post instantly went viral. Have you ever wondered what Austen's most famous couple might be like if it played out online? Well, here is the story in full . . .Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy . . .

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