Showing titles in World Literature

When her father remarries, the honest, innocent Molly Gibson suddenly finds herself with a new stepsister, Cynthia, who is beautiful, worldly and impetuous. This would be more than enough to deal with, but the new wife is the deeply snobbish (and darkly secretive) Hyacinth. Thwarted love, scheming ambition and small-town gossip underlie the warmth, irony and brilliant social observation which link the relationships and the inevitable conflicts as profound change comes to rural England.

'Mongrel is so beautiful that I became lost in it . . . Simply, it must be read' LISA TADDEO 'A brilliant explosion of writing and storytelling . . . This feels like reading an Oscar-winning film' AISLING BEA 'Heart-shatteringly visceral and precise . . . a triumphant tribute to the self' WIZ...

The 200th anniversary of the birth of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892), one of the most popular of poets, is celebrated in 2009. Works such as The Charge of the Light Brigade, Crossing the Bar and Tears, Idle Tears have made him an internationally famous figure, and the second most quoted writer of all time (after Shakespeare).

Three strangers are thrown together in one Manhattan apartment: a solitary writer; a Gen Z college drop-out; and a spirited parrot named Eureka. The Vulnerables reveals what happens when strangers are willing to open their hearts to each other and how far even small acts of caring can go to ease another's distress. Smart, funny and provocative, Sigrid Nunez's novel explores the nature and purpose of friendship, love and art in our complicated current times.

Brought to you by Penguin. Min works at the BBC as an audio engineer, where she is struggling to replicate the sound of a heartbeat. At home, other matters of the heart are making a mockery of life as Min knows it. Min has found herself the object of her lodger's affection. An internationally...

Brought to you by Penguin. ** Now a major Britbox TV show ** Detective Inspector Ray Lennox has fled to Miami to escape the aftermath of a mental breakdown induced by occupational stress and cocaine abuse, and a harrowing child-sex murder case back in Edinburgh. But his fiancée Trudi is only...

Peter Tinniswood was best known for his popular TV series The Home Front and I Didn't Know You Cared and award-winning novel A Touch of Daniel. But he was also a prolific writer for radio, where he created a host of wonderful characters - often funny, sometimes poignant and always totally believable. This compilation brings together six of his finest monologues, as well as his comic play The Governor's Consort.

Bloomsbury presents Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa, read by Suzanne Toren. A heart-wrenching, powerfully written novel: a Kite Runner for Palestine ‘One of the most thought-provoking books I've read ... written with passion and honesty, and poetry' Daily Mail Mornings in Jenin is a...

As the ninth century wanes, England appears about to be plunged into chaos once more. For the Viking-raised but Saxon-born warrior, Uhtred, whose life seems to shadow the making of England, this presents him with difficult choices. King Alfred is dying and his passing threatens the island of Britain to renewed warfare. Alfred wants his son, Edward, to succeed him but there are other Saxon claimants to the throne as well as ambitious pagan Vikings to the north.

"An entertaining plot, fascinating characters, lots of humour and warmth make Patrick Taylor’s 'Irish Country' books enjoyable reads - or listens. This audio book, like the others, is expertly read by John Keating." - Toronto.com A charming Christmas entry in Patrick Taylor's beloved...

Swann’s Way is the first of seven volumes in Remembrance of Things Past. It sets the scene with the narrator’s memories being famously provoked by the taste of that little cake, the madeleine, accompanied by a cup of lime-flowered tea. It is an unmatched portrait of fin-de-siècle France.

English novelist Barbara Pym’s career was defined, in many senses, by rejection. Her first novel Some Tame Gazelle was turned down by every publisher she sent it out in 1935, finally published only 15 years later. Though she picked up a publisher from there and received modest praise, the publishing industry grew restless and her sales spiralled downwards. By her seventh novel, she had been dropped. This brilliant biography, brimming with Pym’s private diaries and intimate letters, offers a first full insight into Barbara Pym’s life and how it informed her writing.

As the old sailor's adage goes, a woman on board invites bad luck, a superstation that turned out to be true for the enemies of notorious pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read. As quick to draw their cutlasses as they were to fall in love, Anne and Mary sailed the Caribbean leaving a trail of looted treasure, outfoxed law enforcement, and treacherous ex-lovers (suitably dealt with) in their wake. This series explores themes of equality, freedom, love and survival.

The author travels from London to Baghdad by train, following the route of an identical journey made by Agatha Christie in 1928. Many of the countries Eames passes through have been deeply troubled in recent years. Merging literary biography with travel adventure, The 8.55 to Baghdad is the journey of a lifetime.

The Pub Landlord says: My last book was all about helping Great Britain get back on her feet by providing an injection of Common Sense to make up for all the balls and waffle we've been subjected to in this once great nation of ours. This time it's personal - I'm offering to step out from behind...

‘Real escapism…for me the book was an absolute win’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A gorgeous Greek island A stranger in a veil And a fatal fall from the cliffs… Miss Atalanta Ashford is sightseeing near Venice when a mysterious veiled lady approaches her with the urgent request to look into her...

A new family moves in over the road. The new family is acting strange. This new family has some secrets. From the author of Audible's Thriller of the Year, Silent Child, comes another psychological thriller to keep you guessing until the very end. Performed by Sophie McShera, (Daisy Mason, Downton Abbey), enter the world of a family broken by lies, a woman traumatised by a dark past, and a child caught in the crossfire.

Drawing from the author's original, uncensored journals, Fire follows Anaïs Nin's journey as she attempts to liberate herself sexually, artistically, and emotionally. While referring to her relationships with psychoanalyst Otto Rank and author Henry Miller, as well as a new lover, the Peruvian Gonzalo More, she also reveals that her most passionate and enduring affair is with writing itself.

Set during the time of the Napoleonic Wars, this classic gives a satirical picture of a worldly society. The novel revolves around the exploits of the impoverished but beautiful and devious Becky Sharp who craves wealth and a position in society. Calculating and determined to succeed, she charms, deceives and manipulates everyone she meets. A novel of early 19th-century English society, it takes its title from the place designated as the centre of human corruption in John Bunyan's 17th-century allegory.

Long considered one of the best American novels of our time, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable tale of an American ambulance driver and his passionate affair with a beautiful English nurse. Set against the backdrop of World War I, this gripping semi-autobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war as only Hemingway can. A story of love and pain, loyalty and desertion, A Farewell to Arms paints an intimate portrait of the pain and intensity of a love overshadowed by the inexorable creep of global war.