Category Archives: Travel Guides
The Penguin Portuguese Phrasebook
An indispensable, fully up-to-date phrasebook for travellers to both Portugal and Brazil, in a pocket-size format and beautiful cover designThis newly revised and updated Portuguese Phrase Book contains a wealth of useful words and phrases for travellers in both Portugal and Brazil, with a particular emphasis on Brazilian Portuguese. The book includes basic grammar, a
Burmese Days
Set in the days of the Empire, with the British ruling in Burma, “Burmese Days” describes both indigenous corruption and Imperial bigotry, when `after all, natives were natives – interesting, no doubt, but finally only a `subject` people, an inferior people with black faces`. Against the prevailing orthodoxy, Flory, a white timber merchant, befriends Dr
Crossing to Safety
A novel of the friendships and woes of two couples, which tells the story of their lives in lyrical, evocative prose by one of the finest American writers of the late 20th century. When two young couples meet for the first time during the Great Depression, they quickly find they have much in common: Charity
The Moon is Down
Originally published at the zenith of Nazi Germany`s power, The Moon Is Down explores the effects of invasion on both the conquered and the conquerors. Occupied by enemy troops, a small, peaceable town comes face-to-face with evil imposed from the outside and betrayal from within the close-knit community. As he delves into the motivations and
The Experience of Pain
`The seething cauldron of life, the infinite stratification of reality, the inextricable tangle of knowledge are what Gadda wants to depict` Italo CalvinoAt the height of Fascist rule in Italy and following the death of his mother, Carlo Emilio Gadda began work on his first novel, The Experience of Pain. This portrait of a highly
The Penguin Book of Dutch Short Stories
“The stories here will provoke, delight and impress. Joost Zwagerman`s selection forms a fascinating guidebook to a landscape you`ll surely want to wander in again.” Clare Lowden, TLS “There is a lot of northern European melancholy in the collection, though often tinged with wry humour… an excellent book” Jonathan Gibbs, Minor LiteraturesA husband forms gruesome
The House of Ulloa
A rich and unforgettable tragic-comic novel of sexual intrigue and political scheming, The House of Ulloa is one of the greatest works of nineteenth-century Spanish literature. The House of Ulloa follows pure and pious Father Julian Alvarez, who is sent to a remote country estate to put the affairs of the marquis, an irresponsible libertine,
From Here to Eternity
`I`ll never understand the fucking Army.` Prew won`t conform. He could have been the best boxer and the best bugler in his division, but he chooses the life of a straight soldier in Hawaii under the fierce tutelage of Sergeant Milt Warden. When he refuses to box for his company for mysterious reasons, he is
Decoded
Decoded tells the story of Rong Jinzhwen, one of the great code-breakers in the world. A semi-autistic mathematical genius, Jinzhen is recruited to the cryptography department of China`s secret services, Unit 701, where he is assigned the task of breaking the elusive `Code Purple`. Jinzhen rises through the ranks to eventually become China`s greatest and
Watermark: An Essay on Venice
“Reading Brodsky`s essays is like a conversation with an immensely erudite, hugely entertaining and witty (and often very funny) interlocutor”. (“Wall Street Journal”). “Watermark” is Joseph Brodsky`s witty, intelligent, moving and elegant portrait of Venice. Looking at every aspect of the city, from its waterways, streets and architecture to its food, politics and people, Brodsky
The Penitent
From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Isaac Bashevis Singer, `The Penitent` is the story of Joseph Shapiro, a disillusioned and aimless man who discovers a purpose to his life through the Jewish faith. Following his journey as he flees Nazi persecution in Poland in 1939, through wealth and a failed marriage in
King of the Fields
From the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Isaac Bashevis Singer, comes a fictional exploration of primitive history. Singer`s novel portrays an era of superstition and violence in a country emerging from the darkness of savagery. Set in Poland in the dark ages, it describes the brutality, prejudice and subjugation that occur when hunter-gatherers
Love and Exile
From pre-First World War Warsaw to the New York of the 1930s, Nobel Prize-winner Isaac Bashevis Singer traces the early years of his life in this autobiographical trilogy. In `A Little Boy in Search of God`, he remembers his bookish boyhood as the son of an Orthodox rabbi, equally absorbed in science, philosophy and cabbala.
Fever Pitch
As a young boy, growing up in London and watching his parents` marriage fall apart, Nick Hornby – author of `High Fidelity`, `About a Boy`, and `The Complete Polysyllabic Spree` – had little sense of home. Then his dad took him to Highbury. Arsenal`s football ground would become the source of many of the strongest
The Confession of a Child of the Century
Recently made into a film starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Pete Doherty and Lily Cole, this French novel of love and betrayal is now available in a new English translation for the first time in over a hundred years. Inspired by his scandalous real-life affair with the flamboyant woman who called herself George Sand, Alfred de Musset`s
Botchan
Botchan is a modern young man from the Tokyo metropolis, sent to the ultra-traditional Matsuyama district as a Maths teacher after his the death of his parents. Cynical, rebellious and immature, Botchan finds himself facing several tests, from the pupils – prone to playing tricks on their new, naive teacher; the staff – vain, immoral,
The Bird`s Nest
This is the unsettling story of a young woman`s descent into mental illness, from the author of The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived at the Castle. “An amazing writer”. (Neil Gaiman). Elizabeth Richmond is almost too quiet to be believed, with no friends, no parents, and a job that leaves her
Hour of the Star
Living in the slums of Rio and eking out a living as a typist, Macabea loves movies, Coca-Cola and her philandering rat of a boyfriend; she would like to be like Marilyn Monroe, but she is ugly and unloved. Yet telling her story is the narrator Rodrigo S.M., who tries to direct Macabea`s fate but
No Way Back
This is a rich and enjoyable novel about marriage, love and betrayal, from the great German realist Theodor Fontane. Charming, cheerful Count Holk is delighted to be called away from his solemn wife to the distant court of a Danish princess. Swept up in the romance of his new, lively surroundings at a `castle by
The Man of Feeling
“The Man of Feeling” is a story of love and memory by Javier Marias, whose highly-anticipated new novel “The Infatuations” is published in 2013. On a train journey from Paris to Madrid a young opera singer becomes fascinated by those in his compartment: a middle-aged businessman, his alluring wife and their male travelling companion. Soon
