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Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > General
New Contemporary Novel from an Award-Winning Author
Love... it means too much to me, far more than you can understand. At its simplest, Anna Karenina is a love story. It is a portrait of a beautiful and intelligent woman whose passionate love for a handsome officer sweeps aside all other ties - to her marriage and to the network of relationships and moral values that bind the society around her. The love affair of Anna and Vronsky is played out alongside the developing romance of Kitty and Levin, and in the character of Levin, closely based on Tolstoy himself, the search for happiness takes on a deeper philosophical significance. One of the greatest novels ever written, Anna Karenina combines penetrating psychological insight with an encyclopedic depiction of Russian life in the 1870s. The novel takes us from high society St Petersburg to the threshing fields on Levin's estate, with unforgettable scenes at a Moscow ballroom, the skating rink, a race course, a railway station. It creates an intricate labyrinth of connections that is profoundly satisfying, and deeply moving. Rosamund Bartlett's translation conveys Tolstoy's precision of meaning and emotional accuracy in an English version that is highly readable and stylistically faithful. Like her acclaimed biography of Tolstoy, it is vivid, nuanced, and compelling.
I simply wanted to step out of my ordinary life and find the Divine Appointment God had planned for me. I'd read about Mary Kinglsey, and it occurred to me that if I truly wanted to share an historical biography with my students, hers was it. So (with much trepidation) I booked the cheapest tour I could find to visit the Dark Continent of Africa. Who knew I'd meet a psychic named Vidalia (after the onion?) ' not that I should have been surprised (after all, Bremen Tours specialized in "Voodoo relics of the Dark Continent," or so it was emblazoned on their carry-alls, one of which I owned). But life got really strange when I met a mad (or was he drunk?) professor, a dashing prince (or possibly, the villain), a village headman (the warrior king? Or the prince of thieves?) and a witchdoctor who was neither witch nor doctor, but rather the sinister embodiment of a charlatan who preyed on tourists...and let's not forget the man who started the whole mess'an embezzler-turned-kidnapper...of me! And that's not to mention floating down a river full of crocodiles, two boys who wanted to hold me for ransom, an earthquake, a cave-in, the leopard in my bed, and a pink hippopotamus. In the end, my Divine Appointment from God held mystery, excitement and a whole lot more. Enjoy my adventure, Dear Reader, because I did!
A stolen text...When the Book of Aleth is stolen, Aaron, captain of the Royal Guard, is ordered by Emperor Therion to reclaim the ancient tome. The mission thrusts Aaron into a world he's never known'a world of elves and dwarves, races long thought extinct; a world where everything he has known and believed is a lie. A secret past...Forced to challenge his long-held beliefs, Aaron and his companions, two soldiers of the Royal Guard and two men of the Dwarvish kingdom of Brekken-Dahl, set out on a quest to recover the Book. Aaron resolves to discover the truth, and rescue the empire he is sworn to protect.
ANNA FORTUNE is a government intelligence analyst who longs for tropical sunsets, early morning beach walks, and a man bold enough to steal her heart. SONNY CAY is a large, lumbering toilet paper salesman with a terminal disease, unpaid medical bills and the haunting memory of a girl he lost years ago. She knows the location of terrorist cells, corrupt politicians and that no man can be trusted to keep his word, wedding date or promise to love forever. He knows life is for the taking, love for the making and both end all too soon. So when Anna is ordered to protect a presidential candidate polling in the single digits on a fund-raising junket in the Bahamas, both get a second chance at true love. He came because he loved her, because all those years ago, she'd stirred him the way no woman ever had. She was his Mt. Everest, the pinnacle of his small world. His head told him to run; his heart made him stay. Now only the gale force winds of a "Bahama Breeze" can cool the white-hot embers of old flames erupting.
Northanger Abbey tells the story of a young girl, Catherine Morland who leaves her sheltered, rural home to enter the busy, sophisticated world of Bath in the late 1790s. Austen observes with insight and humour the interaction between Catherine and the various characters whom she meets there, and tracks her growing understanding of the world about her.
When Ivy Rose returns to her hometown to oversee an estate sale, she soon discovers that her grandmother left behind more than trinkets and photo frames--she provided a path to the truth behind Ivy's adoption. Shocked, Ivy seeks clues to her past, but a key piece to the mystery is missing. Twenty-four years earlier, Harvey James finds an abandoned newborn who gives him a sense of human connection for the first time in his life. His desire to care for the baby runs up against the stark fact that he is homeless. When he becomes entwined with two people seeking to help him find his way, Harvey knows he must keep the baby a secret or risk losing the only person he's ever loved. In this dual-time story from debut novelist Amanda Cox, the truth--both the search for it and the desire to keep it from others--takes center stage as Ivy and Harvey grapple with love, loss, and letting go.
What does persuasion mean - a firm belief, or the action of persuading someone to think something else? Anne Elliot is one of Austen's quietest heroines, but also one of the strongest and the most open to change. She lives at the time of the Napoleonic wars, a time of accident, adventure, the making of new fortunes and alliances.
When spunky Marguerite Westing discovers that her family will
summer at Lake Manawa in 1895, she couldn't be more thrilled. It is
the perfect way to escape her agonizingly boring suitor, Roger
Gordon. It's also where she stumbles upon two new loves: sailing,
and sailing instructor Trip Andrews. But this summer of fun turns
to turmoil as her father's gambling problems threaten to ruin the
family forever. Will free-spirited Marguerite marry Roger to save
her father's name and fortune? Or will she follow her heart--even
if it means abandoning the family she loves?
Beasts Royal is the second book written by Patrick O'Brian - made available, at last, for the first time since the 1930s and elegantly repackaged. On the indigo waters of the South Sea, the crew of a schooner are attacked by a man-eating tiger-shark. In the humid depths of the African jungle, a thirty-foot python plots to rid himself of his rival, a wily old crocodile. Amid the heat and dust of the Punjab, the snake-charmer Hussein escapes into the forest on the elephant that he trained when a mahout in his youth. With the dry wit and unsentimental precision O'Brian would come to be loved for, we see the drama and tragedies of the natural world unfold for these, as well as other birds and beasts, in these twelve tales of animal adventure that would appear together in 1934 as the author's second book. O'Brian's debut, Caesar, had been published in 1930 and became an instant success, seeing him hailed as the `boy-Thoreau'. His second novel, Hussein, would expand upon one of the stories included in this collection and has been praised by Martin Booth of The Daily Telegraph as being `...as fresh today as when it was written....so rich in detail, it is breathtaking.' As with Caesar and Hussein, Beasts Royal sheds fascinating light on the formation of the literary genius behind the Aubrey-Maturin series of historical adventure tales, for which he is deservedly famous.
Harry Hole is back! A blistering new thriller from the number one bestselling author of The Snowman and Police. There’s a new killer on the streets... A woman is found murdered after an internet date. The marks left on her body show the police that they are dealing with a particularly vicious killer. He’s in your house... He’s in your room Under pressure from the media to find the murderer, the force know there’s only one man for the job. But Harry Hole is reluctant to return to the place that almost took everything from him. Until he starts to suspect a connection between this killing and his one failed case. He's out for blood When another victim is found, Harry realises he will need to put everything on the line if he’s to finally catch the one who got away.
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. How did the leopard get its spots? Why do the tides ebb and flow? How did the elephant get its trunk? And how was the alphabet made? Rudyard Kipling's classic collection of fables answers the great questions of animal- and humankind in a fun, eloquent and magical way - for children and adults alike. Kipling's beautifully imaginative answers echo the animal fables he heard during his childhood in India, paired with the folk tales he collected throughout his life. Kipling's enjoyment in playing with language, as well as his own delight in fatherhood, makes these stories a joy to read aloud, and children will request these tales as bedtime stories again and again. However, adults will also revel in Kipling's fanciful storytelling and gift for language, as every reading uncovers a new joke, subtext or fascinating embellishment. From the author of 'The Jungle Book' and 'Kim', 'Just So Stories' is the newest addition to the available canon of Kipling's work available in the handy format of Collins Classics!
'Exquisite' Veronica Henry Before A Christmas Carol there was... Miss Marley A seasonal tale of kindness and goodwill Orphans Clara and Jacob Marley live by their wits, scavenging for scraps in the poorest alleyways of London, in the shadow of the workhouse. Every night, Jake promises his little sister 'tomorrow will be better' and when the chance to escape poverty comes their way, he seizes it despite the terrible price. And so Jacob Marley is set on a path that leads to his infamous partnership with Ebenezer Scrooge. As Jacob builds a fortress of wealth to keep the world out, only Clara can warn him of the hideous fate that awaits him if he refuses to let love and kindness into his heart... In Miss Marley, Vanessa Lafaye weaves a spellbinding Dickensian tale of ghosts, goodwill and hope - a perfect prequel to A Christmas Carol. Praise for Miss Marley: 'A spellbinding Dickensian tale of ghosts, goodwill and hope' Mail on Sunday 'Redemptive... a fitting legacy for a writer who is so sadly missed' Red 'evocative' Heat 'delightful' Sunday Mirror 'a reminder of the power of kindness and love' Stylist A 'gem of a tale' Sunday Express 'A beautifully written Dickensian tale' Candis 'Captivating ... A beautiful and tender fable' Daily Express 'Fantastic' Good Housekeeping 'ghosts, goodwill and hope on every page' My Weekly 'Lafaye masterfully brings the setting of 19th-Century London to life' Woman 'Love, disappointment, kindness and greed all play their parts in this delightful companion piece to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol' Woman & Home 'A seasonal tale of kindness and goodwill that captures the atmosphere of Dickens' Yours 'Exquisite' Veronica Henry 'A beautiful, warm, rich hug of a story and bittersweet reminder to embrace life and enrich others as you go' Liz Fenwick
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'Look! You want to see! See! Feast your eyes, glut your soul on my cursed ugliness! Look at Erik's face! Now you know the face of the voice!' Living secretly beneath the Paris Opera House, 'The Phantom of the Opera', Erik has haunted those who work there with his demands and shrouded the opera house in fear with the legend of his disfigured face. When Christine joins the company, a young woman with a beautiful voice, Erik is instantly smitten and secretly teaches her to become a great singer. He soon develops an obsessive love for his beautiful protege, even though she has fallen for her childhood friend, resulting in her disappearance during a performance and sparking a tragic and terrifying chain of events. One of the most well-known and well-loved gothic horror stories, Leroux's suspenseful tale of unrequited love, passion and tragedy is both dark and moving in its portrayal of Erik, the anti-hero in his yearning for Christine.
Since it was first published in 1954, William Golding's classic debut novel has remained a stark allegory of civilization, survival, and human nature. As dystopian stories like Hunger Games and Battle Royale surge in popularity, this haunting tale of a group of young boys stranded on a desert island still captivates schoolchildren around the world, raising timeless and profound questions about how easily society can slip into chaos and savagery when rules and order have been abandoned. When a plane crashes on a remote island, a small group of schoolboys are the sole survivors. From the prophetic Simon and virtuous Ralph to the lovable Piggy and brutish Jack, each of the boys attempts to establish control as the reality- and brutal savagery-of their situation sets in. A teacher himself, Golding clearly understood how to interest children with a gripping story and strong, sympathetic characters. The novel serves as a catalyst for thought-provoking discussion and analysis of universal issues, not only concerning the capabilities of humans for good and evil and the fragility of moral inhibition, but beyond. The boys' struggle to find a way of existing in a community with no fixed boundaries invites readers to evaluate the concepts involved in social and political constructs and moral frameworks. Symbolism is strong throughout, revealing both the boys' capacity for empathy and hope, as well as illuminating the darkest corners of the human spirit. Ideas of community, leadership, and the rule of law are called into question as the reader has to consider who has a right to power, why, and what the consequences of the acquisition of power may be. Often compared to Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies also represents a coming-of-age story of innocence lost.
The definitive and revealing biography of the author of The Secret Garden. Frances Hodgson Burnett's favourite theme in her fiction was the reversal of fortune, and she herself knew extremes of poverty and wealth. Born in Manchester in 1849, she emigrated with her family to Tennessee because of the financial problems caused by the cotton famine. From a young age she published her stories to help the family make ends meet. Only after she married did she publish Little Lord Fauntleroy that shot her into literary stardom. On the surface, Frances' life was extremely successful: hosting regular literary salons in her home and travelling frequently between properties in the UK and America. But behind the colourful personal and social life, she was a complex and contradictory character. She lost both parents by her twenty-first birthday, Henry James called her "the most heavenly of women" although avoided her; prominent people admired her and there were many friendships as well as an ill-advised marriage to a much younger man that ended in heartache. Her success was punctuated by periods of depression, in one instance brought on by the tragic loss of her eldest son to consumption. Ann Thwaite creates a sympathetic but balanced and eye-opening biography of the woman who has enchanted numerous generations of children.
Ray Bradbury's internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 is a
masterwork of twentieth-century literature set in a bleak,
dystopian future.
Anna is eager to begin a new chapter in her life as a Lancaster County tour guide in the picturesque area where her Plain grandmother once stayed. Anna wishes she could talk with her grandmother about those long-ago days, but the elderly woman suffers from Alzheimer's, and beyond a vague hint about an old stone wall, much about that time is a mystery. Thankfully, Martin Nolt, a handsome Mennonite, takes the young Beachy Amish woman under his wing for her training, familiarizing her with the many local highlights, including Peaceful Meadows Horse Retreat, which serves children with special needs. The retreat's mission so inspires Anna that she returns to volunteer, and she quickly strikes up a friendship with Gabe Allgyer, the young Amish widower who manages it. As Anna grows closer to both Martin and Gabe, she finds herself faced with a difficult choice--one in potential conflict with the expectations of her parents. Will Anna find true love and the truth about her grandmother's past in Lancaster County? Or will she find only heartbreak?
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics. THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS, John Bunyan's masterful religious allegory, narrates the journey of an everyman hero, Christian, as he attempts to navigate the trials and tribulations of this world, the City of Destruction, on the path towards paradise, the Celestial City. Though weighed down by the burden of original sin, Christian overcomes the distractions of the world, moving past the Slough of Despond, the Hill of Difficulty and the Valley of the Shadow of Death, while simultaneously resisting the temptations of the Worldy Wise, the Vain and the Ignorant. The product of a lifetime of religious work and thought, Bunyan's virtuosic narrative fundamentally altered Protestant belief, and remains one of the most important and influential works in the English language.
The chilling and heart-pounding new novel from Norwegian superstar Jorn Lier Horst. THE INSPIRATION FOR THE HIT BBC FOUR SHOW WISTING After four years behind bars, notorious serial killer Tom Kerr is ready to talk. And Chief Inspector William Wisting is waiting to listen. Kerr has finally agreed to lead the police to his final victim's grave. But the expedition goes horribly wrong after his escape deep into the Norwegian forest. Wisting must launch a frantic search to find this cold-blooded killer before he strikes again. But the body of another woman, killed weeks before, has been found. Murdered in the same way as Kerr's victims. Is there a copycat killer on the loose? Has Kerr become a twisted role model for a second killer? And, if so, what might happen if master and apprentice unite? As the clock counts down to the next murder, Wisting must put everything on the line to stop a terrifying evil before it strikes again. Praise for Jorn Lier Horst 'Up there with the best of the Nordic crime writers' The Times 'Jorn Lier Horst writes some of the best Scandinavian crime fiction . . . His books are superbly plotted and addictive, the characters wonderfully realized' Yrsa Sigurdardottir 'One of the most brilliantly understated crime novelists writing today' Sunday Times
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