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Overland
By Graham Rawle. 2018
Welcome to Overland! Where the California sun shines down on synthetic grass and plastic oranges bedeck the trees all year…
round. Steam billows gently from the chimney tops and the blue tarpaulin lake is open for fishing… Hollywood set-designer George Godfrey has been called on to do his patriotic duty and he doesn’t believe in half-measures. If he is going to hide an American aircraft plant from the threat of Japanese aerial spies he has an almighty job on his hands. He will need an army of props and actors to make the Lockheed factory vanish behind the semblance of a suburban town. Every day, his “Residents” climb through a trapdoor in the factory roof to shift model cars, shop for imaginary groceries and rotate fake sheep in felt-green meadows. Overland is a beacon for the young women labouring below it: Queenie, dreaming of movie stardom while welding sheet metal; Kay, who must seek refuge from the order to intern “All Persons of Japanese Ancestry”. Meanwhile, George’s right-hand Resident, Jimmy, knows that High Command aren’t at all happy with the camouflage project...With George so bewitched by his own illusion, might it risk confusing everybody – not just the enemy?Overland is a book like no other -- to be read in landscape format. Based on true events, it is a novel where characters' dreams and desires come down to earth with more than a bump, confronting the hardships of life during wartime. As surreal and playful as it is affecting and unsettling, no-one other than Graham Rawle could have created it.Orlando
By Virginia Woolf. 1928
Virginia Woolf's most unusual and fantastic creation, a funny, exuberant tale that examines the very nature of sexuality. WITH INTRODUCTIONS…
BY PETER ACKROYD AND MARGARET REYNOLDS As his tale begins, Orlando is a passionate young nobleman whose days are spent in rowdy revelry, filled with the colourful delights of Queen Elizabeth's court. By the close, he will have transformed into a modern, thirty-six-year-old woman and three centuries will have passed. Orlando will not only witness the making of history from its edge, but will find that his unique position as a woman who knows what it is to be a man will give him insight into matters of the heart. The Vintage Classics Virginia Woolf series has been curated by Jeanette Winterson and Margaret Reynolds, and the texts used are based on the original Hogarth Press editions published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf. **One of the BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**Only Human
By Kristine Naess. 2014
Bea Britt lives alone in her grandmother’s house in west Oslo. Early one morning, she wakes to find a police…
hunt outside her window and drama unfolding on her TV. Volunteers are scouring the local woods looking for Emilie, a missing schoolgirl. Emilie's rucksack is found in Bea Britt's garden. But as her spiralling doubts and suspicions take over, is she a suspect, a witness or a potential second victim? The mystery of Emilie’s disappearance and Bea Britt’s story are intricately bound to the lives of two other women: Bea Britt’s grandmother Cecilie, a troubled 1930s housewife whose marriage has broken down, and university student Beate, who is desperate for love but plagued by uncertainty. Only Human is a rich, urgent novel about family, enduring oneself and others, and what is needed when life wears thin. It lays bare the hopes, dreams, fears and failures of three infinitely human characters, and is delicately revealing of the choices that shape a human life and our quest for companionship and love.One Tongue Singing
By Susan Mann. 2004
Camille Pascal, a young, unmarried French nurse comes to South Africa with her father and her small daughter, Zara, during…
the closing years of the apartheid regime. The family settles amongst a wine-growing community in the Western Cape where they become involved in the lives of victims of the System. Interwoven with Camille's story is that of Jake Coleman, a painter with an international reputation, a deep-seated fear of failure, and a complicated private life. It is in the exclusive Jake Coleman School of Art that Zara, now a talented artist in her late teens, decides to enrol. She is a feral, troubled girl, obsessed with scenes of violence, and quite unlike anything Jake has encountered. One Tongue Singing explores some of the different faces of power, both in the ways it operates between individuals and in societies. It is written with economy, humanity and a hard brilliance, and it announces a distinctive new voice from South Africa.Of Ghosts and Goblins (Little Clothbound Classics)
By Lafcadio Hearn. 2022
Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by…
the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.In this haunting collection, the phantoms and ghouls of Japanese folklore stalk the page. Lafcadio Hearn, a master storyteller, drew on traditional Japanese folklore, infused with memories of his own haunted childhood in Ireland, to create these chilling tales. They are today regarded in Japan as classics in their own right.'The stories occupy the reverie world our mind projects onto the backs of our eyelids, where the ordinary mingles with the supernatural' - Wall Street JournalOf Dogs and Walls (Penguin Modern)
By Yuko Tsushima. 1982
'Though their house was new, the wall had been there a long time.'In these two stories, which have never before…
been translated into English, Tsushima shows how memories, dreams and fleeting images describe the borders of our lives.Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.Obabakoak
By Bernardo Atxaga. 1989
One of only a hundred or so books originally written in the Basque language during the last four centuries, Obabakoak…
is a shimmering, mercurial novel about life in Obaba, a remote, exotic, Basque village. Obaba is peopled with innocents and intellectuals, shepherds and schoolchildren, whilst everyone from a lovelorn schoolmistress to a cultured but self-hating dwarf wanders across the page.Obabakoak is a dazzling collage of stories, town gossip, diary excerpts and literary theory, all held together by Atxaga's distinctive and tenderly ironic voice.Nothing But The Truth
By Sam Lock. 1998
Samuel Lock's first novel, AS LUCK WOULD HAVE IT, was acclaimed by the critics as one of the most strikingly…
original first novels for years and went on to win the Sagittarius Award. NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, Lock's new novel, shares many of its qualities - an exact but curiously mysterious prose style, superb evocation of a time and place (in this case Chelsea's King's Road in the fifties), and range of deliciously eccentric characters. It is the story of Jason Callow, a mildly successful novelist, estranged from his wife and children. As Jason struggles to comprehend and overcome the inner crisis that grips him, he is observed by his neighbours, his family, his friends, all powerless, it seems, to alter the inexorable course of his destiny.Nothing But Grass
By Will Cohu. 2015
In the summer of 1875, two travellers walk south across the Lincolnshire Wolds to a village riven with dark secrets.When…
Norman Tanner kills his workmate on a cold February morning a century later, he thinks he’s got away with murder. But Norman doesn’t know about the workmate’s girlfriend, or the child that will come back to haunt him; and how he is caught up in a story that stretches back to that Victorian summer. For some in the village of Southby and its nearby grand estate, man is master of his fate, and the world is full of meaning; for others there is nothing but grass.No Name Lane
By Howard Linskey. 2015
An unstoppable serial killer. A fifth girl missing. A long-buried secret. A gripping crime thriller perfect for fans of LJ…
Ross, Mel Sherratt and Mark Billingham.There's a serial killer on the loose in north-east England. Four bodies have already been discovered. A fifth girl, Michelle Summers, has just disappeared.When a body is discovered, everyone fears the worst. But this isn't Michelle - this corpse has been dead for over fifty years.Out-of-favour DC Ian Bradshaw is pulled off the main case to investigate the skeleton. But it soon becomes clear that dark secrets lay buried along with the body - and now the police have more than one killer to worry about...The beginning of the highly acclaimed series starring Ian Bradshaw and journalists Helen Norton and Tom Carney, this is a gripping crime thriller you won't be able to put down.SEE WHAT BESTSELLING AUTHORS ARE ALREADY SAYING ABOUT BRITAIN'S BEST NEW CRIME AUTHOR'Howard Linskey is one of the best new writers around and this is the start of a must-read series' Mark Billingham'A new master of the gripping, gritty thriller. Howard Linskey takes you right to the heart of it.' Paul Finch'This is lacerating fare that makes most current crime fiction look like thin gruel' Financial Times'Linskey has elevated this story to a level of complexity and humanity seldom approached by British writers previously ... A new name on our criminal horizon' Maxim Jakubowski'Gripping and convincing' Kimberley Chambers'Brilliant ... This is first class stuff, an unstoppable tale, a real page-turner not to be missed' Sarah Broadhurst'Serial killer thrillers don't come much better than this. Old secrets and terrible new crimes woven into an immensely satisfying, utterly compelling narrative which keeps you constantly guessing. Fans of Linskey's critically acclaimed David Blake series will already know what an outstanding author he is, everyone else ... prepare to add another name to your must-read list' Eva Dolan'Linskey weaves together a compelling and twisty tale that gripped me from page one. If you like Val McDermid's thrillers, you'll love this' Mark EdwardsMy Ántonia (Penguin Modern Classics)
By Willa Cather. 2018
The final novel in the Great Plains trilogy, this is a celebration of the American midwest with Cather's strongest heroine…
at its heartJim and Ántonia meets as children in the wide open plains of Nebraska at the end of the nineteenth century. Jim leaves for college and a career in the east, while Ántonia stays at home, dedicating herself to her farm and family. As the years roll by, Jim will come to view Ántonia as the embodiment of the prairie itself - tough, spirited and enduring, despite the hardness and loneliness of pioneer life. Willa Cather's beautiful novel is a celebration of the Nebraskan prairie she loved she much, and a powerful depiction of a pivotal era in the making of America.Music Love Drugs War
By Geraldine Quigley. 2019
'A clever multiple-narrative account of teenage kicks and sectarian strife in early 80s Northern Ireland . . . this debut…
marks out Quigley as a writer of compassion and humour' GuardianThe end of the school year is approaching, and siblings Paddy and Liz McLaughlin, Christy Meehan, Kevin Thompson and their friends will soon have to decide what they're going to do with the rest of their lives. But it's hard to focus when there's the allure of their favourite hangout place, the dingy 'Cave', where they go to drink and flirt and smoke. Most days, Christy, Paddy and Kevin lie around listening to Dexys and Joy Division. Through a fog of marijuana, beer and budding romance, the future is distant and unreal.But this is Derry in 1981, and they can't ignore the turmoil of the outside world. A friend is killed, and Christy and Paddy, stunned out of their stupor, take matters into their own hands. Some choices are irreversible, and choosing to fight will take hold of their lives in ways they never imagined.With humour and compassion, Geraldine Quigley reveals the sometimes slippery reasons behind the decisions we make, and the unexpected and intractable ways they shape our lives.'A novel that is warm but also unsettling and exhilarating. That's some feat' Roddy Doyle'A poignant and powerful coming-of-age story' Sunday MirrorMrs Dalloway (Penguin Modern Classics)
By Virginia Woolf. 1992
'One of the most moving, revolutionary artworks of the twentieth century' Michael CunninghamClarissa Dalloway, elegant and vivacious, is preparing for…
a party and remembering those she once loved. In another part of London, Septimus Warren Smith is suffering from shell-shock and on the brink of madness. Smith's day interweaves with that of Clarissa and her friends, their lives converging as the party reaches its glittering climax. Virginia Woolf's masterly novel, in which she perfected the interior monologue, brings past, present and future together on one momentous day in June 1923. Edited by Stella McNichol with an Introduction and Notes by Elaine ShowalterMount Merrion
By Justin Quinn. 2013
Justin Quinn's Mount Merrion: a gripping family story spanning half a century, in the mould of Jonathan Franzen and John…
Lanchester.Declan and Sinead Boyle are pillars of society - born into prosperous families, educated at Dublin's finest schools, dwellers in a fine house in a leafy suburb. So why are they in so much trouble?Declan wants to serve his country - but he also wants to serve his own ambition. Sinead wonders if she is allowed, in the Ireland of the sixties and seventies, to have ambitions at all. Their son, Owen, seems intent on squandering the advantages of a prosperous upbringing and an expensive education. Their daughter Issie, gifted and attractive, has all the options in the world - and keeps choosing the wrong one.Mount Merrion, the dazzling debut novel by Justin Quinn, tells the story of the Boyles from Declan and Sinead's first meeting, in the late fifties, through decades of success, failure and tragedy. Set against the brilliantly realized backdrop of a changing Ireland, it is a page-turning drama, a biting satire and a lovingly detailed portrait of a marriage and a family.'Imaginative and compassionate ... Mount Merrion is about how a decent man, anxious to play by the rules - even if they're someone else's rules - can make the sort of choices that may end up ruining him' Mail on Sunday (four stars)'Taking the form of a family saga, [Quinn's] assured debut plays out over half a century - a state-of-the-nation novel as told through the fast-changing fortunes of middle-class married life ... his novel is filled with perfectly judged moments' Independent 'Mesmerising ... The story is a page-turner, and Quinn's prose consistently light and controlled' Irish Independent'A book that people will find hard to put down ... a gripping story' Sunday Business Post'A great story ... both beautifully written and a well-paced page-turner' Irish Times'Justin Quinn's debut novel is poignant - but it is also fiercely and poetically written, a beautifully observed trajectory of the rise and fall of a society and its assumptions, through the medium of a family story ... This is one of the best books of the year' Evening Herald'Exquisite' Irish Examiner'Absorbing ... A closely and sympathetically observed portrait of family life and Ireland's changing face, Quinn's wide-ranging tale culminates in a conclusion of considerable pathos' Daily Mail'An impressively accomplished trip through forty-odd years of Ireland's recent history ... quite brilliant' RTÉ Guide 'A bona fide thumping good read' Image'An ambitious take on both personal dramas and the altering political landscape of Europe' Sunday Telegraph'An epic yet intimate account of one family caught in the maelstrom of recent history' Metro Herald'Accomplished ... as a condition-of-Ireland novel it makes for salutary reading' TLS'Mount Merrion is epic and intimate, deliciously observed and wholly enjoyable. Justin Quinn is a shining talent.' Claire KilroyMonsieur Ka
By Vesna Goldsworthy. 2018
'A beautiful haunting novel… looking at a familiar London through a frosty, snowy lens. Wonderful' Caryl PhillipsThe London winter of…
1947 is as cold as St Petersburg during the Revolution. Albertine, the wife of a British army officer often abroad on covert government business, finds herself increasingly lonely. Eager to distract herself with work, she takes a job as companion to the mysterious 'Monsieur Ka', a Russian émigré. As she is drawn into Ka’s dramatic past, her own life is shaken to its foundations. For in this family of former princes, there are present temptations which could profoundly affect her future.Moonlight (Little Clothbound Classics)
By Guy De Maupassant. 2004
Introducing Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by…
the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.Celebrating the range and diversity of Penguin Classics, they take us from snowy Japan to springtime Vienna, from haunted New England to a sun-drenched Mediterranean island, and from a game of chess on the ocean to a love story on the moon. Beautifully designed and printed, these collectible editions are bound in colourful, tactile cloth and stamped with foil.Often described as the father of the modern short story, there is perhaps no other writer more closely associated with the form than Guy de Maupassant. Included here is his most famous story, 'Boule de Suif', as well as tales of love, such as the brilliant 'Happiness', and the supernatural, like the chilling 'The Horla'.The Moon and the Bonfires (Penguin Modern Classics)
By Cesare Pavese. 2021
'Insinuating, haunting and lyrically pervasive' The New York Times Book ReviewA new translation by Tim ParksTwenty years after making his…
fortune in America, Eel is drawn back to the closest thing he has to a home: the Piedmontese countryside where he grew up poor and illegitimate. Wandering the valleys and vineyards with his childhood friend Nuto, Eel remembers the farm where he worked, his employer's beautiful daughters, the rituals of rural life. Yet as he discovers more about what happened there during the war, he realizes that these timeless landscapes hide terrible, savage secrets. By turns fond and evocative, seductive and troubling, The Moon and the Bonfires is a lyrical masterpiece of memory and betrayal.Translated with an Introduction by Tim ParksThe Mix-Up: A must-read romcom for 2022 – an uplifting romance that will make you laugh out loud
By Holly McCulloch. 2021
Readers have fallen in love with Paige and Noah:'Totally touched my heart''I completely LOVED this book''I'm now obsessed with this…
author and can't wait to see what she does next!''A hilarious and heartwarming novel ... a definite five star read''If you're a fan of rom-coms, you HAVE to pick this up!''I adored this book and raced through it'---------------------------Two men to choose from. One fantastic mistake.Paige might bake wedding cakes for a living but that doesn't mean shes dreaming about her own perfect day. Far from it.Trusting people is hard after she was badly let down by her family and boyfriend just when she needed them most. And to make things worse, her ex has just walked into her bakery with his new fiancée...Needing a little no-strings-attached fun, Paige goes to a party where her friend knows just the guy - the guy in the black top.There's just one problem. There are two men wearing black tops.Noah was meant to be her perfect distraction...instead, he wants more than just a bit of fun. But could the wrong guy turn out to be the right choice?PRAISE FOR THE MIX-UP: 'So funny and so moving. I could not stop reading" Sophie Cousens, author of This Time Next Year'Holly strikes a perfect balance between raw and relatable, funny and heart-warming' Abigail Mann, author of The Lonely Fajita'A gorgeous, uplifting read that packs a real emotional punch' Gillian Harvey, author of Perfect on PaperMiddlemarch
By George Eliot. 2010
Discover one of the most admired, best loved and influential novels in the history of English literature. The perfect long…
read to lose yourself in.‘If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life…’Dorothea is bright, beautiful and rebellious. Lydgate is the ambitious new doctor in town. Both of them long to make a positive difference in the world. But their stories do not proceed as expected and both they, and the other inhabitants of Middlemarch, must struggle to reconcile themselves to their fates and find their places in the world.Middlemarch contains all of life: the rich and the poor, the conventional and the radical, literature and science, politics and romance, but above all it gives us a vision of what lies within the human heart, the roar on the other side of silence.'Glorious, sprawling, generous... It is a book I hope to read at every decade of my life, because I think each time it will have something new to teach me' Greta Gerwig**One of the BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**Lolly Willowes (Penguin Modern Classics #239)
By Sylvia Townsend Warner. 2012
'A great shout of life and individuality ... an act of defiance that gladdens the soul' Guardian Lolly Willowes, so…
gentle and accommodating, has depths no one suspects. When she suddenly announces that she is leaving London and moving, alone, to the depths of the countryside, her overbearing relatives are horrified. But Lolly has a greater, far darker calling than family: witchcraft. 'The book I'll be pressing into people's hands forever . . . It tells the story of a woman who rejects the life that society has fixed for her in favour of freedom ... tips suddenly into extraordinary, lucid wildness' Helen McDonald'Witty, eerie, tender ... her prose, in its simple, abrupt evocations, has something preternatural about it' John Updike