Search results for ""pushkin press""

In Northern Sámi, the word Ædnan means the land, the ground, the earth. In this majestic verse novel, Linnea Axelsson chronicles the fates of two Indigenous Sámi families, telling of their struggle and persistence over a century of colonial displacement, loss and resistance. It begins with Ristin and Ber-Joná, who are trying to care for their troubled young sons while migrating their reindeer herd in northernmost Scandinavia during the 1910s. The coming of the Swedes brings new borders that lay waste to Sámi customs and migration paths - and mean devastating separation for this family. In the 1970s, Lise grapples with how she was forced to adapt to Swedish society, haunted by her time in a 'nomad school' where she was deprived of her ancestors' language and history. Lise's daughter, Sandra, seeks to reclaim that heritage, becoming an activist struggling for reparations from the Swedish state. As one generation succeeds another, their voices interweave and form a spellbinding hymn to lands and traditions lost and reclaimed. Written in sparse, glittering verse that flows like a current,?Ædnan is a profound and moving epic of Sámi life.

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THE INTERNATIONAL SENSATION - a stunning work of political fiction about the rise to power of Putin's notorious spin doctor 'A great book, casting light on the creatures that crawl and slither behind the Kremlin's walls, on the mineral hardness of Putin, on the chaos engine that is his way of hurting us' John Sweeney 'An acute and timely dissection of Russian power, told through the eyes of a shadowy political advisor to Putin' Financial Times 'A fictional wandering through the dark corridors of the Kremlin' The Times, Biggest Books of the Season __________ They call him the Wizard of the Kremlin. Working at the heart of Russian power, the enigmatic Vadim Baranov-Putin's chief spin doctor-has used his background in experimental theatre and reality TV to turn the entire country into an avant-garde political stage. Here truth and lies, news and propaganda, have become indistinguishable. But Vadim is growing increasingly entangled in the dark secret workings of the regime he has helped build, and now he is desperate to get out... Propelling the reader from the fall of the Soviet Union to the invasion of Ukraine, this breathless story of politics and power has become an international sensation.

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FINALIST FOR THE 2023 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR TRANSLATED FICTION 'A love story, an adventure tale, and an unflinching examination of the unexpected ways that colonialism and greed ravaged everyone it touched, European and African' MAAZA MENGISTE, Booker Prize-shortlisted author of The Shadow King 'Diop has opened a new way of thinking about the eighteenth century and its hideous cruelties' ABDULRAZAK GURNAH, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 'A compelling romantic adventure... Through an act of remembrance, Diop seeks to build a repository of lives and histories lost to the slave trade' FINANCIAL TIMES 'Diop explores the cruelties of colonialism in a powerful story of love destroyed' SUNDAY TIMES, Historical Fiction Pick of the Month __________ The captivating new novel from David Diop, winner of the International Booker Prize Paris, 1806. Michel Adanson is dying. The last word to escape his lips is a woman's name: Maram. Who was she? Why, in the course of his long life, has he never spoken of her before? As Adanson's daughter sorts through his things, she discovers a notebook. It reveals a secret history both fantastical and terrible, of his time as a young botanist travelling in Senegal. How Adanson first heard of the 'revenant': a young woman of noble birth, abducted and sold into slavery across the seas, who then did the impossible-she came back, to live in hiding. How he became obsessed with finding her, embarking on an odyssey that would lead to danger and destruction. How a man who longed to solve the mysteries of nature instead found himself faced with the uncontrollable impulses of the human heart. Tragic and tender, alive with feeling, this is a story of adventure, revenge and impossible desires, one which subverts our every expectation about who we are and who we love.

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'Immediately enticing, endlessly charming, full of wit, magic and deep, moving humanity. It transported me to a world both familiar and utterly unknown, keeping me enthralled on every page' CLAIRE NORTH, AUTHOR OF THE FIRST FIFTEEN LIVES OF HARRY AUGUST _____________ When Elina makes her annual summer pilgrimage to the remote family farm in Lapland, she has three days to catch the pike in a local pond, or she and the love of her life will both die. This year her task is made even more difficult by a host of deadly supernatural creatures and the homicide detective on her trail. Can Elina catch the pike and lay to rest the curse that has been hanging over her head ever since a youthful love affair turned sour? Can Sergeant Janatuinen make it back to civilization in one piece? And just why is Lapland in summer so weird?

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Nestled deep in the mist-shrouded mountains, The Village of Eight Graves takes its name from a bloody legend: in the sixteenth century eight samurai, who had taken refuge there along with a secret treasure, were murdered by the inhabitants, bringing a terrible curse down upon their village. Centuries later a mysterious young man named Tatsuya arrives in town, bringing a spate of deadly poisonings in his wake. The inimitably scruffy and brilliant Kosuke Kindaichi investigates.

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A compelling portrait of one of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century, by one of the bestselling writers of the twentieth. In this vivid biographical study, Zweig eschews traditional academic discussion and focuses on Nietzsche's habits, passions and obsessions. Concentrating on the man rather than the work, on his tragic isolation and volatile creativity, Zweig draws the reader inexorably into the drama of Nietzsche's life.

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A hapless Aleppo bureaucrat is stranded in the middle of the deserted countryside as a violent storm sets in. When he seeks refuge in an isolated old mansion, inhabited by an aged gentleman and his sinister servant, he begins to uncover a captivating tale of family secrets, lost passions, and shady dealings. He is transported by these stories to Aleppo's golden age - a time of art, music, wealth and laughter - and the all-female society of the banat al-ishreh, a society of women who live, love, and perform song and dance together. And as he gradually realises how these entanglements of love and passion, cruelty and resentment, stretch across the generations, he discovers that his own life is also in danger. Sirees spins astonishing literary beauty out of this tangled web of family secrets, and he writes with great humour and warmth about the conflict between past and present in this surprising and unique novel about a lost world.

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FOUR WOMEN. ONE FATAL PROMISE. Dina, Ronit, Naama and Sheila: the Others. As students, they chose to be different - bound by a pact never to have children. Even as their friendship fell apart, Sheila kept her promise. Now, years later, a serial killer is on the loose in Tel Aviv. Each victim is found with a baby doll glued to their hands and 'mother' carved into their forehead. Sheila suspects that she alone knows the killer's motive. The vow the Others made lands her at the heart of the murder investigation - but is she the next victim, or the primary suspect?

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Forced back to her remote hometown by the war, Giulia is immediately drawn to a couple in a similar situation: graceful, spontaneous Ada and her husband Paolo, a sickly teacher and partisan in hiding. Joined from Turin by Giulia's husband Stefano, the two couples form an intense bond; as the Germans begin to occupy Italy, a subtle dance of attractions begins, intensified by their shared isolation and the muffled hum of threat over a long, hard winter. In prose of subtle, enigmatic atmospheres and acutely precise images, Lalla Romano evokes both the tension and the stillness of life in occupied Italy. Translated into English for the first time, A Silence Shared is a captivating classic novel that inhabits the silent spaces between historic events, depicting the mysterious luminosity of human relationships in extraordinary circumstances.

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A twisty and ingenious classic Japanese murder mystery from the author of The Decagon House Murders Every year, a small group of acquaintances pay a visit to the remote, castle-like Mill House, home to the reclusive Fujinuma Kiichi, son of a famous artist, who has lived his life behind a rubber mask ever since a disfiguring car accident. This year, however, the visit is disrupted by gruesome murder, a baffling disappearance and the theft of a priceless painting. The brilliant Kiyoshi Shimada arrives on the scene, but as he investigates the seemingly impossible events of that evening, death strikes again, and again... Can Shimada get to the truth before the killer gets to him? And can you solve the mystery of the Mill House Murders before he does?

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>p>An off-kilter darkly ironic novella about a boy's strange obsession with the Japanese crested ibis, from a Japanese literary star Seventeen-year-old Haruo spends all his waking hours online, fixated on the endangered Japanese crested ibis, Nipponia Nippon. Alone in his Tokyo apartment, living off his parents' indulgence, he descends into a fantasy world where he alone shares a bond with the last of these noble birds, their lives caged in the national conservation centre. Haruo's destiny becomes clear. He will free the birds-alive or dead-from an undeserving civilization. As Haruo's emotional state grows increasingly erratic, he searches the internet for weapons and prepares for the night of reckoning.

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WINNER OF THE FRANÇOISE SAGAN PRIZE WINNER OF THE BOOKSTAGRAM PRIZE SHORTLISTED FOR THE GONCOURT PRIZE FOR DEBUT NOVEL 'With this book, Abigail Assor announces herself as one of the most distinctive voices in North African literature. This is a vibrant, sensual, subversive novel with an unforgettable heroine' LEÏLA SLIMANI _______________ Sarah is poor, but at least she's French, which allows her to attend Casablanca's elite high school for expats and wealthy locals. It's there that she first lays eyes on Driss. He's older, quiet and not particularly good looking-apart from his eyes, which are the deep green of thyme simmering in a tagine. Most importantly, he's rumoured to be the richest guy in the city. She decides she wants those eyes. And she wants a life like his. But to get to Driss she will have to cross the gaping divide that separates them and climb to the top of the city's society, from street corner merguez and chips to a mansion overlooking the ocean. Provocative, immersive, sensual, As Rich as the King is a twisted love story and a bittersweet ode to Casablanca.

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The irresistible literary debut about the hidden desires of church-going Black women 'Left me wanting more. Masterfully written' Candice Carty-Williams, author of Queenie 'Joyous... It's a book in love with life' The Times 'Exquisite... delicious' Bolu Babalola, author of Love in Colour The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires, and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. There is fourteen-year-old Jael, who nurses a crush on the preacher's wife; the mother who bakes a sublime peach cobbler every Monday for her date with the married Pastor; and Eula and Caroletta, single childhood friends who seek solace in each other's arms every New Year's Eve. With their secret longings, new love, and forbidden affairs, these church ladies are as seductive as they want to be, as vulnerable as they need to be, as unfaithful and unrepentant as they care to be - and as free as they deserve to be.

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'A gripping tale of homecoming and loss... ruthlessly honest and startlingly beautiful... profound and unforgettable' Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King 'Daring, intellectually rich, and unsettlingly hilarious. We have a powerful new voice in Maya Binyam, one who knows how to make a story sing' Alexandra Kleeman, author of Something New Under the Sun 'A subtle and peculiar novel about subtle and peculiar things - home, exile, injustice, family, return and life itself... a remarkable book' Keith Ridgway, author of A Shock 'A strikingly masterful debut... a clean, sharp, piercing - and deeply political novel' Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows __________ A man returns home to sub-Saharan Africa after twenty-six years living in exile in America. When he arrives, he finds that he doesn't recognize the country, or anyone in it. Thankfully, someone at the airport knows him - a man who calls him brother. As they travel to this man's house, the purpose of his visit comes into focus: he is here to find his real brother, who is dying. Hangman is his tragicomic journey through homecoming and loss. It is a hilarious and twisted odyssey, peopled by phantoms and tricksters, aid workers and taxi drivers, the relatives and riddles that lead this man along a circuitous path towards the truth. This is the strangley honest story of one man's search for refuge - in this world and the one that lies beyond it. An existential journey, a tragic farce, a slapstick tragedy: Hangman is the shockingly original debut novel about exile, diaspora and the search for Black refuge, from a thrilling new literary voice

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'Hypnotic... raises questions of exploration and wonder, of nature and humanity' New York Times Book Review 'Exquisite and shocking... just as any exploration of the deep should be' Helen Scales, author of The Brilliant Abyss '[A] rich, strange book' China Miéville, author of The City & the City ____________ 11 June, 1930. On a ship floating near the Atlantic island of Nonsuch, a curious steel ball is lowered 3000 feet into the sea. Crumpled up inside, gazing through three-inch thick quartz windows, sits the famed zoologist William Beebe. With uncontrollable excitement, he watches as bizarre, never-before-seen creatures flit out of the inky blackness, illuminated by explosions of bioluminescence. He is the first person to witness this alien world. Beebe's dives take place against the backdrop of a transforming and paradoxical America, home to ground-breaking scientists, eccentric adventurers, and eugenicist billionaires. Yet under the ocean's crushing pressure, scientific expectations disintegrate; the colour spectrum shatters into new dimensions; outlandish organisms thrive where no one expected them. The Bathysphere Book blends research, storytelling, and poetic experiments, traveling through entangled histories of scientific discovery into the bottomless magic of the deep unknown. ____________ Further praise for The Bathysphere Book 'The life work of an explorer-scientist becomes a thing of rich poetry' Helen Gordon, author of Notes from Deep Time 'A breathtaking book, full of suspense, revelation, and beauty' Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus 'An exhilarating read... shiveringly exciting, important, and new' Martin MacInnes, author of In Ascension 'An impressionistic work of art depicting one of the greatest moments of discovery in human history... tantalizing glimpses of deep-sea life' Edith Widder, author of Below the Edge of Darkness: Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea 'A genre-deying book about oceans that is imbued with intelligence, curiosity and wonder' Joanna Pocock, author of Surrender 'A brilliant work of literary art... a time-bending, gem-laden constellation' Wayne Koestenbaum, author of Ultramarine

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Stefan's Zweig's posthumously-published Journey into the Past (Widerstand der Wirklichkeit) is a beautiful meditation on the effect of time on passion-one of the most intense and compelling works from a master of the novella form. Published by Pushkin Press with a cover designed by David Pearson and Clare Skeats as part of a new range of Stefan Zweig paperbacks. Kept away for nine years by the First World War Ludwig has finally returned home, reunited at last with the woman he had so passionately loved, and who had promised to wait for him. Previously divided by wealth and class, both are now married and much changed by their experiences. Confronted with an uncertain future, and still haunted by the past, they discover whether their love has survived hardships, betrayals, and the lapse of time. Zweig's long-lost final novella- recently discovered in manuscript form-is a poignant examination of the angst of nostalgia and the fragility of love.. 'Journey into the Past is vintage Stefan Zweig lucid, tender, powerful and compelling.' — Chris Schuler, Independent 'Zweig belongs with three very different masters who each perfected the challenging art of the short story and the novella: Maupassant, Turgenev and Chekhov.' — Paul Bailey Translated from the German by Anthea Bell, Stefan Zweig's Journey into the Past is published by Pushkin Press. Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) was born in Vienna, into a wealthy Austrian-Jewish family. He studied in Berlin and Vienna and was first known as a poet and translator, then as a biographer. Zweig travelled widely, living in Salzburg between the wars, and was an international bestseller with a string of hugely popular novellas including Letter from an Unknown Woman, Amok and Fear. In 1934, with the rise of Nazism, he moved to London, where he wrote his only novel Beware of Pity. He later moved on to Bath, taking British citizenship after the outbreak of the Second World War. With the fall of France in 1940 Zweig left Britain for New York, before settling in Brazil, where in 1942 he and his wife were found dead in an apparent double suicide. Much of his work is available from Pushkin Press.

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'Exactly what you would ask a novel to be' SpectatorIn the seaside city of Kamakura, a student is drawn to an enigmatic older man who swims at the same beach. The man becomes his Sensei. Against a backdrop of the rapid modernisation of Japan, their relationship endures - until one day, the young man receives a letter that divulges the full story of his Sensei's past.One of Japan's most admired and bestselling modern classics, Kokoro is a psychologically rich, delicately drawn meditation on loneliness, desire and duty.Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.Translated by Edwin McClellan.Natsume Soseki (1867-1916) was one of Japan's most prominent novelists of the Meiji Era. After studying in England on a government scholarship, Soseki began a career at Tokyo University as a scholar of English literature before later devoting himself

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'One of the greatest writers of the first half of the tormented 20th century' - Simon Schama'An almost perfect book' Rolling StoneAt the close of the Great War, a captured Austrian soldier escapes Siberia and sets off in search of his fiancée, her photograph sewn into the lining of his coat. But the old order has vanished, and he is swept along on the current of revolution: first surrendering to his love for a Red Army beauty, then drifting phantom-like through Europe's cities.Here Joseph Roth tells one of his most personal stories - that of a man cast adrift in a changed world. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.Translated by David Le Vay and Beatrice Musgrave.JOSEPH ROTH (1894-1939) was born into a Jewish family in the small town of Brody in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. He studied first in Lemberg and then in Vienna, a

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'Stunningly moving, beautiful, witty and urbane' Kate SaundersEffi Briest is only seventeen when she is married off to Baron von Instetten, travelling to live with him in a provincial town on the remote Baltic coast of Prussia. He is twenty years her senior, an ambitious bureaucrat who is uninterested in his young wife, and lively Effi becomes increasingly isolated, bored and anxious in her stifling surroundings. A half-hearted affair with Major Crampas - a manipulative married man with a reputation for womanising - temporarily distracts Effi from her loneliness. But years later, this brief liaison will return to Effi with devastating consequences.In this witty masterpiece of poetic realism, Fontane portrays a woman torn between her own desires and her roles as wife and mother, between her heart and the obligations of social circumstance.Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the

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'Endo is one of the world's greatest novelists' Washington PostA group of Japanese tourists journey to the sacred River Ganges, each on a secret personal pilgrimage. Widower Isobe mourns for the devoted wife he neglected; gentle children's writer Numanda seeks out the bird he believes saved his life; Kiguchi is haunted by his time as a soldier along the Highway of Death; and Mitsuko reconnects with the classmate she tempted away from the church and cruelly discarded.At the softly lapping shores of the river - where the faithful come to bathe during their final moments - self-knowledge is sought and memories put to rest. Set against a rich backdrop of 90s India, Deep River is a beautifully moving story showing Endo at the height of his powers as a chronicler of religious experience.Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe.Translated by Van C. Ge

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'The supreme fabulist of modern man's cosmic predicament' John Updike 'The stories are dreamlike, allegorical, ghoulishly detached, exquisitely comic, numinous, and prophetic' New York Times The essential stories of one of the twentieth century's greatest and most influential writers No one has captured the modern experience, its wild dreams, strange joys, its neuroses and boredom, better than Franz Kafka. His vision, with its absurdity and twisted humour, has lost none of its force or relevance today. This essential collection, translated and selected by Alexander Starritt, casts fresh light on Kafka's genius. Alongside brutal depictions of violence and justice are jokes and deceptively slight, mysterious fables. These unforgettable pieces reflect the brilliance at the core of Franz Kafka, arguably most fully expressed within his short stories. Together they showcase a writer of unmatched imaginative depth, capable of expressing the most profound reality with a wry smile. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe Translated by Alexander Starritt Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was born to Jewish parents in Prague and wrote in German. He published only a few story collections and individual stories in literary magazines during his lifetime. The rest of his work was published posthumously. He is now considered one of the most influential authors of the twentieth century.

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'The best short story writer in the world' Susan Hill 'This book is a spectacular literary revelation' Sunday Times The collected stories of an award-winning, modern classic American writer who has been compared to Alice Munro, John Updike - and even Anton Chekhov Tenderly, incisively, Edith Pearlman captured life on the page like no one else. Spanning forty years of writing, moving from tsarist Russia to the coast of Maine, from Jerusalem to Massachusetts, these astonishing stories reveal one of America's greatest modern writers. Across a stunning array of scenes-an unforeseen love affair between adolescent cousins, an elderly couple's decision to shoplift, an old woman's deathbed confession of her mother's affair-Edith Pearlman crafts a timeless and unique sensibility, shot through with wit, lucidity and compassion. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe Edith Pearlman (1936-2023) published her debut collection of stories in 1996, aged 60. She won The National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for Binocular Vision. She published over 250 works of short fiction in magazines, literary journals, anthologies and online publications. Her work won three O. Henry Prizes, the Drue Heinz Prize for Literature, and a Mary McCarthy Prize, among others. In 2011, Pearlman was the recipient of the PEN/Malamud Award, which put her in the ranks of luminaries like John Updike and Joyce Carol Oates.

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'A subtle distillation of wisdom, stylistic grace and symmetry of form' Sunday Times 'It's hard to think of a more recent novel that has sung so eloquently the joys of being alone' Guardian An inspirational classic from Nobel Prize-winner Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha is a beautiful tale of self-discovery Dissatisfied with the ways of life he has experienced, Siddhartha, the handsome son of a Brahmin, leaves his family and his friend, Govinda, in search of a higher state of being. Having experienced the myriad forms of existence, from immense wealth and luxury to the pleasures of sensual and paternal love, Siddhartha finally settles down beside a river, where a humble ferryman teaches him his most valuable lesson yet. Hermann Hesse's short, elegant novel, echoing the life of the Buddha, has been cherished by readers for decades as an unforgettable spiritual primer. A tender and unforgettable moral allegory, it is an undeniable classic of modern literature. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe Translated by Hilda Rosner Hermann Hesse (1877-1963) is counted among the leading novelists and thinkers of the twentieth century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1946 for a body of literature renowned for its humanist, philosophical and spiritual insight. His most famous works include Siddhartha, Journey to the East, Demian, Steppenwolf, and Narcissus and Goldmund.

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'A tantalising mystery... a mesmerising work of literature' Antony Beevor 'Truly troubling, a weird meditation on death, war and sex' Paris Review A superb early postmodern classic by one of Nabokov's fellow émigré writers, rediscovered after more than half a century A man comes across a short story which recounts in minute detail his killing of a soldier, long ago - from the victim's point of view. It's a story that should not exist, and whose author can only be a dead man. So begins the strange quest for its elusive writer: 'Alexander Wolf'. A singular classic, The Spectre of Alexander Wolf is a psychological thriller and existential inquiry into guilt and redemption, coincidence and fate, love and death. Part of the Pushkin Press Classics series: timeless storytelling by icons of literature, hand-picked from around the globe Translated by Bryan Karetnyk Gaito Gazdanov (1903-1971) joined the White Army aged just sixteen and fought in the Russian Civil War. Exiled in Paris from the 1920s onwards, he eventually became a nocturnal taxi-driver and quickly gained prominence on the literary scene as a novelist, essayist, critic and short-story writer, and was greatly acclaimed by Maxim Gorky, among others.

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Travelling from Paris to Tokyo, from Seville, Oaxaca and Naples to Istanbul, she investigates the rapid decline of France's pot-au-feu, the misconstrued beginnings of pizza, the meeting of indigenous and European lineages in mole, and the complex legacy of multi-culturalism in a meze potluck."Never have we been more cosmopolitan about what we eat - and yet more essentialist, locavore, and particularist." With a witty mix of anecdote and research, Anya von Bremzen reassess the fascinating role that food can play in our cultural heritage, and uncovers how as a nation's political and social identity are called into question, so too is its palate.'A fast-paced, entertaining travelogue, peppered with compact history lessons that reveal the surprising ways dishes become iconic' -New York Times'This dazzlingly intelligent examination of how foods become national symbols . . . so enlightening - as well as so much fun to read . . . Von Bremzen is a superb describer of flavours and textures - but she also understands that food is never just about food' -Bee Wilson in Financial Times

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One evening the wealthy Roger Ackroyd is discovered slumped in his armchair, a knife buried in his heart. It is the start of a murder case that spurs the inhabitants of the sleepy English village of King's Abbot to feverish speculation. The local police are perplexed, but soon a recently retired Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, joins the investigation. The truth he uncovers will shock even the most imaginative of the village gossips. With its famously shocking ending, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is one of Agatha Christie's greatest mysteries, and the book that changed her career.

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A chilling collection of classic weird and supernatural tales from the dark heart of American literatureA masquerade ball cut short by a mysterious plague; a strange nocturnal ritual in the woods; a black bobcat howling in the night: these ten tales are some of the most strange and unsettling in all of American literature, filled with unforgettable imagery and simmering with tension. From Edgar Allan Poe to Shirley Jackson, Nathaniel Hawthorne to Zora Neale Hurston, the authors of these classics of supernatural suspense have inspired generations of writers to explore the dark heart of the land of the free.The stories in this collection have been selected and introduced by Laird Hunt, an author of seven acclaimed novels which explore the shadowy corners of American history.Contains:''The Masque of the Red Death'', Edgar Allan Poe''Young Goodman Brown'', Nathaniel Hawthorne''The Eyes'', Edith Wharton''The Mask'', Robert Chambers''Hom

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE The world can't seem to get enough of Dolly Parton. Her image is blazoned across T-shirts, she burns on desks as blasphemous candles, and well into her seventies she continues to grace awards stages, arenas and talk shows where women of a certain age are rarely seen. Yet not so long ago, Dolly was best known by many people as the punch line of a boob joke. So, what happened? In this affectionate, sharply insightful book, Sarah Smarsh charts Dolly's meteoric rise against the backdrop of her working-class roots. Drawing on her own experience growing up in rural Kansas, Smarsh crafts a resonant portrait of Parton's cultural importance, above all for the often-unheard women who populate her songs: struggling mothers, pregnant teenagers, diner waitresses with deadbeat boyfriends. Candid, intimate and searching, She Come By It Natural captures the enduring appeal of this singular star.

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Cooking is thinking! The spatter of sauce in a pan, a cook's subtle deviation from a recipe, the careful labour of cooking for loved ones: these are not often the subjects of critical enquiry. Cooking, we are told, has nothing to do with serious thought; the path to intellectual fulfilment leads directly out of the kitchen. In this electrifying, innovative memoir, Rebecca May Johnson rewrites the kitchen as a vital source of knowledge and revelation. Drawing on insights from ten years spent thinking through cooking, she explores the radical openness of the recipe text, the liberating constraint of apron strings and the transformative intimacies of shared meals. Playfully dissolving the boundaries between abstract intellect and bodily pleasure, domesticity and politics, Johnson awakens us to the richness of cooking as a means of experiencing the self and the world - and to the revolutionary potential of the small fires burning in every kitchen.

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As another term begins at her girls' school, Josephine Napier reasserts her iron grip over her teachers and family. Her air of studied self-sacrifice conceals ruthless manipulation, but with the introduction of a male teacher to her staff and the return of an old rival for her husband's affections, the mask begins to slip. Old deceptions and new rivalries come to the surface, and the starched perfection of her life is threatened. A consummate expression of Ivy Compton-Burnett's unique style, full of viciously witty dialogue laced with double meanings and veiled insults, More Women Than Men is a masterful dissection of gender and power by an essential twentieth-century writer.

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After enlisting in a revolutionary terrorist organization, the university student Nikolai Apollonovich Ableukhov is entrusted with a highly dangerous mission: to plant a bomb and assassinate a major government figure. But the real central character of the novel is the city of Petersburg at the beginning of the twentieth century, caught in the grip of political agitation and social unrest. Intertwining the worlds of history and myth, and parading a cast of unforgettable characters, Petersburg is a story of apocalypse and redemption played out through family dysfunction, conspiracy and murder.

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THE SENSATIONAL DEBUT CRIME NOVEL ABOUT A CHAIN-SMOKING, HEAVILY TATTOOED QUEER NUN TURNED AMATEUR DETECTIVE - 'UNIQUE AND CONFIDENT', GILLIAN FLYNN A Guardian Best Crime/Thriller Book of 2023 A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice and New York Times 'Best Crime Books of the Year' 2023 One of Apple's Best Books of 2023 'Satisfies right up to the twisty end' KARIN SLAUGHTER 'Deliciously insubordinate' MEGAN ABBOTT Sister Holiday is more faithful than most, but she's no saint When Saint Sebastian's School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding community are thrust into chaos. Unsatisfied with the authorities' response, chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun Sister Holiday becomes determined to unveil the mysterious attacker herself. To solve this high-stakes mystery, Sister Holiday will have to reckon with the sins of her chequered past. Her investigation leads down a twisty path of suspicion and secrets in the sticky, oppressive New Orleans heat, turning her against colleagues, students, and even fellow Sisters along the way. ------------------------------ 'A badass, brilliant queer nun solving a murder mystery in New Orleans? How could I not fall in love with this book?' MARA WILSON 'Skilfully plotted, propulsive, and deeply engaged with the communities it represents' DON WINSLOW 'A searing journey through faith, fire and female rage' ELIZABETH HAND 'Sister Holiday may be the most original character you'll come across for quite some time' CRIMEREADS 'Burns with the wholehearted energy of faith, love, and transgression' SOPHIE WARD 'If you're not sold by a punk rock nun solving mysteries then can your soul even be saved?' ELECTRIC LITERATURE

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The young Franz Kafka has too many fears to name. Mirrors, clothing, his own body, almost everything causes him to fret. How did this 'anxious and small bundle of bones' become one of the world's great writers?With telling details and sharply minimal illustrations, Nicolas Mahler tells a wickedly funny story of the development of Kafka's genius, offering a tribute that is as playful as it is profound.

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Initially published as No Place to Lay One's Head - the unforgettable story of one woman's struggle to survive persecution in wartime France In 1921, Françoise Frenkel-a Jewish woman from Poland-opens Berlin's very first French bookshop. It is a dream come true. The bookshop attracts artists and diplomats, celebrities and poets. It brings Françoise peace, friendship and prosperity. Then, in the summer of 1939, the dream ends and Françoise's desperate, headlong flight from Nazi persecution begins. Unfolding in Berlin, Paris and against the romantic landscapes of southern France, A Bookshop in Berlin is a heartbreaking tale of human cruelty and unending kindness; and of a woman whose lust for life refuses to leave her, even in her darkest hours.

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'Zweig's fictional masterpiece' GUARDIAN 'An intoxicating, morally shaking read... A real reminder of what fiction can do best' ALI SMITH 'It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that I don't already know about this?' WES ANDERSON _______________ The only novel written by one of the most popular writers of the twentieth century In 1913, young second lieutenant Hofmiller discovers the terrible danger of pity. He had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance-so begins a series of visits, motivated by pity, which relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope. Stefan Zweig's unforgettable novel is a devastating depiction of the betrayal of both honour and love, amid the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

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From humble origins, the eminent Russian scientist Nicholas Borodin forged a career in microbiology in the era of Stalin. Pragmatic and dedicated to his work, he accepted the Soviet regime, even working on several occasions with the Secret Police. But in 1948, while on a state-sponsored trip to the UK to report on the bulk manufacture of antibiotics, he could no longer ignore his rising consciousness of the suppression of independent thought in his country. It was then that he committed high treason by writing to the Soviet ambassador to renounce his citizenship. One Man in his Time is the story of a man trying to live an ordinary life in extraordinary times. Rich in incident and astonishing details, it charts Borodin's childhood during the revolution and famine through to his scientific career amidst the suspicion and violence of the purges. Unsparing and frank in its depiction of the author's collaboration with Soviet authorities, it offers unparalleled insight into the daily reali

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An irresistible gift edition of the mindbending thriller that inspired Hitchcock's Vertigo He isn't a cop anymore, but when an old friend asks Flavières to keep an eye on his dazzlingly beautiful wife, how can he refuse? And so he begins to scour the streets of wartime Paris in search of a woman who belongs to no one, not even to herself. Soon, intrigue is replaced by obsession, and dreams by nightmares, as the boundaries between the living and the dead begin to blur... This is the original breath-taking psychological thriller behind Hitchcock's legendary film-the story of a desperate man, tormented by his search for the truth, and ultimately destroyed by a dark, terrible secret.

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'An intimate story from the family archive, a story that is also the infamous history of our continent' Valeria Luiselli, author of Lost Children Archive'Powerful and searing' Samanta Schweblin, author of Fever DreamA provocative autobiographical novel that reckons with the legacy of colonialism through one woman's family ties to both colonised and coloniserIn an ethnographic museum in Paris, Gabriela Wiener is confronted with her unusual inheritance. She is visiting an exhibition of pre-Columbian artefacts, the spoils of European colonial plunder. As she peers through the glass, she sees sculptures of Indigenous faces that resemble her own - but the man responsible for pillaging them was her own great-great-grandfather, Austrian colonial explorer Charles Wiener.In the wake of her father's death, Gabriela begins delving into all she has inherited from her paternal line. From the brutal trail of racism and theft that Charles

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The raucously witty Yiddish classic about a Jewish Paradise afflicted by very human temptations and pains, in a new translation On being expelled from Paradise, young Samuel Abba pulls a crafty trick, managing to arrive on earth with his memory intact. He quickly begins regaling the humans around him with mischievous stories of a Paradise far from their expectations: a world of drunken angels, lewd patriarchs and the same divisions and temptations that shape the human world. The Book of Paradise is a comic masterpiece, and the only novel by one of the great Yiddish writers. Written in the midst of rising anti-Semitism in 1930s Europe, its raucous blend of sacred and profane is a slyly profound reflection of the author's turbulent times.

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A selection of Michel de Montaigne's most profound, searching essays, in a new translation and stunning hardback edition featuring an introduction by Yiyun Li 'I myself am the subject of my book'. So wrote Montaigne in the introductory note to his Essays, the book that marked the birth of the modern essay form. In works of probing intelligence and idiosyncratic observation, Montaigne moved from intimate personal reflection to roving theories of the conduct of kings and cannibals, the effects of sorrow and fear, and the fallibility of human memory and judgement. This new selection of Montaigne's most ingenious essays appears in a lucid new translation by the prize-winning David Coward. What Do I Know? offers the modern reader profound insight into a great Renaissance mind.

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In this collection, readers will rediscover Gertrude Stein as the bearer of a joyfully radical literary vision. A bold experimenter, her writing sparks with vitality, relishing in rhythm, repetition, sound and colour in its central vision: to prise apart language and association and find thrilling new ways to express the true essence of her subject with charming joie de vivre Stein considered her shorter writings to be the truest expressions of her enrapturing style. Her fascination with people and personalities can be located in expressive portraits of close friends such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Juan Gris, whilst her decades-long relationship with Alice B. Toklas is immortalised with shimmering eroticism. There are also playful meditations on her unique writing process, conveying her serious delight in meddling with conventions of grammar and composition.

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In Lucky Breaks, we encounter anonymous women from the margins of Ukrainian society, their lives upended by the ongoing conflict with Russia. A woman, bewildered by her broken umbrella, tries to abandon it like a sick relative; a beautiful florist suddenly disappears, her shop converted into a warehouse for propaganda; hiding out from the shelling, neighbours read horoscopes in the local paper that tell them when it's safe to go outside. In stories of linguistic verve and dark, absurdist wit, Yevgenia Belorusets writes of how trauma seeps into the mundane, telling surreal, unsettling tales of survival in a shattered country.

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA ILP JOHN CREASEY (NEW BLOOD) DAGGER 'A truly absorbing novel... legitimately frightening... unusually compelling' Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Brief History of the Dead 'Taut and timely' Alex Scarrow, author of the DCI Boyd thrillers 'A protagonist you want to root for... a fast-paced mystery Guy Morpuss, author of Five Minds ________________ DI Lucy Stone's life was changed forever when terrorists deployed a lethal nerve gas at Waterloo Station, killing 10% of London's population. Lucy should have died - but she didn't. When London's most important scientist is brutally murdered, Lucy discovers he may have been working on an antidote to the chemical weapon. But time is running out. Will Lucy find the antidote - and catch the killer - before it's too late? ________________ '[A] whirlwind of a read... Terrifyingly imagined... Read if you dare' Amy Lilwall, author of The Biggerers 'Gripping, evocative and will keep you guessing' Press Association 'Genuinely exciting, page-turning and frighteningly credible' Business Post

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING AND THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY New in paperback: an exhilarating, moving account of life on the wild Danish coast, from one of Denmark's most acclaimed writers 'A beautiful, melancholy account of finding home on a restless coast' Katherine May, author of Wintering This is the story of the windswept coastline that stretches from the northernmost tip of Denmark to the Netherlands, a world of shipwrecks and storm surges, of cold-water surfers and resolute sailors' wives. In spellbinding prose, award-winning writer Dorthe Nors invites the reader to travel through the landscape where her family lived for generations and which she now calls home. It is an extraordinarily powerful and beautiful journey through history and memory - the landscape's as well as her own. ________ FURTHER PRAISE FOR A LINE IN THE WORLD 'A place brimming with memories and strangeness, where storms surge and lighthouses blink... fascinating' Financial Times'A singular prose stylist... Nors is such a great companion, honest and curious and surprising' Max Porter, author of Lanny 'Brilliant... a personal, poetic meditation on this remote edge of windswept landscapes and wildwaters' New York Times 'The perfect winter read, making a virtue of dark nights and frost-bitten winds on the author's native North Sea coast' Observer 'A deep dive into a coastal landscape, both breathtaking and hypnotic' Natasha Carthew, author of Undercurrent: A Cornish Memoir of Poverty, Nature and Resilience

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A captivating feminist classic about a woman's struggle for independence in fascist Italy, from the author of Forbidden Notebook - with an afterword by Elena FerranteAlessandra has always wanted more than life offered her. Growing up in a crowded apartment block in 1930s Rome, she watches as her mother's dreams of becoming a concert pianist are stifled by an unsatisfying marriage. When her father's traditional family try to make Alessandra marry at a young age, she rebels against the future they imagine for her. Soon she falls passionately in love with Francesco, an anti-fascist professor, and a new world seems to open up. Working for the underground resistance, she tastes the independence that she has yearned for. But what will it take for her to break free from society's expectations, and live on her own terms?Drawing on Alba de Céspedes's own experiences in Italy's wartime uprising, Her Side of the Story is a feminist chronicle of fierce and unforgettable power.

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Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on the remote Gokumon Island bearing tragic news - the son of one of the island's most important families has died, on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second World War. But Kindaichi has not come merely as a messenger - with his last words, the dying man warned that his three step-sisters' lives would now be in danger. The scruffy detective is determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious prophesy, and to protect the three women if he can. As Kosuke Kindaichi attempts to unravel the island's secrets, a series of gruesome murders begins. He investigates, but soon finds himself in mortal danger from both the unknown killer and the clannish locals, who resent this outsider meddling in their affairs. Loosely inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, the fiendish Death on Gokumon Island is perhaps the most highly regarded of all the great Seishi Yokomizo's classic Japanese mysteries.

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This is a story of silenced histories, of dark secrets in a land of midnight sun. Finnish Lapland, 1947: Inkeri arrives in remote Enontekiö on a journalistic assignment, but her real motivation is more personal - this is where her husband was last seen before he disappeared during the war. As her probing questions meet with silence and hostility, Inkeri begins to investigate the fault-lines in this small community. Her burgeoning friendship with a young Sámi girl helps her piece together why the town does not want to dwell on the past, as traces of disturbing crimes emerge from the pristine landscape of snow and ice.

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When Rilke died in 1926, his reputation as a great poet seemed secure. But as the tide of the critical avant-garde turned, he was increasingly dismissed as apolitical, too inward. In Rilke: The Last Inward Man, acclaimed critic Lesley Chamberlain uses this charge as the starting point from which to explore the expansiveness of the inner world Rilke created in his poetry. Weaving together searching insights on Rilke's life, work and reception, Chamberlain casts Rilke's inwardness as a profound response to a world that seemed ever more lacking in spirituality. In works of dazzling imagination and rich imagery, Rilke sought to restore spirit to Western materialism, encouraging not narrow introversion but a heightened awareness of how to live with the world as it is, of how to retain a sense of transcendence within a world of collapsed spiritual certainty.

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