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Sometimes we must look to the past to survive the future. An entertaining novel about what really matters in life from the bestselling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Q wants a simpler and safer life. His work as a quantum cryptographer for the government has led him to believe a crisis is imminent for civilisation and he's looking for somewhere to ride out what's ahead. He buys a ruined farmhouse in Cornwall and begins to build his own self-sufficient haven. Over the course of this quest he meets the eccentric characters who already live on the moors nearby - including the park ranger in charge of the reintroduced lynxes and aurochs that roam the area; a holy man waiting for the second coming on top of a nearby hill; an Arthurian knight on horseback and the amorous ghost of an Edwardian woman who haunts the farmhouse. As life in the cities gets more complicated, and our systems of electronic control begin to fall apart, Q flourishes in the wild Cornish countryside. His new way of life brings him back in tune with his teenage children, his ex-wife, and his own sense of who he is. He also grows close to Eva, energetic and enchanting, who is committed to her own quest for love and meaning. In this entertaining and heart-warming novel Louis de Bernières pokes fun at modern mores, and makes us reconsider what is really precious in our short and precarious lives.
Sometimes we must look to the past to survive the future. A novel about what really matters in life from the bestselling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin Q wants a simpler and safer life. His work as a quantum cryptographer for the government has led him to believe a crisis is imminent for civilisation and he's looking for somewhere to ride out what's ahead. He buys a ruined farmhouse in Cornwall and begins to build his own self-sufficient haven. Over the course of this quest he meets the eccentric characters who already live on the moors nearby - including the park ranger in charge of the reintroduced lynxes and aurochs that roam the area; a holy man waiting for the second coming on top of a nearby hill; an Arthurian knight on horseback and the amorous ghost of an Edwardian woman who haunts the farmhouse. As life in the cities gets more complicated, and our systems of electronic control begin to fall apart, Q flourishes in the wild Cornish countryside. His new way of life brings him back in tune with his teenage children, his ex-wife, and his own sense of who he is. He also grows close to Eva, energetic and enchanting, who is committed to her own quest for love and meaning. In this entertaining and heart-warming novel Louis de Bernières pokes fun at modern mores, and makes us reconsider what is really precious in our short and precarious lives.
Extravagant, inventive, emotionally sweeping, Captain Corelli's
Mandolin is the story of a timeless place that one day wakes up to
find itself in the jaws of history. The place is the Greek island
of Cephallonia, where gods once dabbled in the affairs of men and
the local saint periodically rises from his sarcophagus to cure the
mad. Then the tide of World War II rolls onto the island's shores
in the form of the conquering Italian army.
Kefalonia, 1941. Captain Corelli, an enigmatic young Italian officer, is posted to the idyllic Greek island as part of the Axis occupying forces. Shunned by the locals at first, he proves to be civilised, humorous - and a consummate musician. The captain is soon thrown together with Dr Iannis's strong-willed and beautiful daughter, Pelagia, who discovers all of the complexities of love, and how it can blossom in the most unexpected and profound way. Rona Munro's adaptation of Louis de Bernieres' much-loved epic novel, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, premiered on tour of the UK in 2019, before transferring to London's West End.
A heartwarming tale about a very special dog. Beautifully illustrated, it is the perfect Christmas gift. One day, in the days when all the trains were driven by steam, a railway guard found something abandoned on a train... Mr Ginger Leghorn is used to collecting up umbrellas and other lost property but he's never found a puppy on his train before. He has no intention of keeping it but his five children - Alfie, Arthur, Beryl, Sissy and Albert - have other ideas and Jim is soon a much-loved, but often disruptive, member of the family. Whether it's his feud with the cat, getting stuck in rabbit-holes, accidentally going to sea, accompanying the children to school or carol singing at Christmas, Jim has a knack of making himself the centre of attention. This little black and tan puppy with his small bright eyes and very waggy rump becomes something of a hero in his town, and even catches the eye of the King himself. Station Jim is full of Christmas cheer for children and adults alike, and especially dog-lovers. It includes delightful pictures by celebrated illustrator Emma Chichester Clark, the creator of Plumdog.
Classics, modern fiction, non-fiction and more. Written for secondary and adult students the Oxford Bookworms Library has seven reading levels from A1-C1 of the CEFR. Listen along with downloadable MP3 audio.
INTRODUCED BY LOUIS DE BERNIERES 'I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym' RICHARD OSMAN 'I'd sooner read a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen' PHILIP LARKIN Formidable Miss Doggett fills her life by giving tea parties for young academics and acting as watchdog for the morals of North Oxford. Anthea, her great-niece, is in love with a dashing undergraduate with political ambitions. Of this, Miss Doggett thoroughly approves. However, Anthea's father, an Oxford don, is carrying on in the most unseemly fashion with a student - they have been spotted together at the British museum! But the only liaison Miss Doggett isn't aware of is taking place under her very own roof: the lodger has proposed to her paid companion Miss Morrow. She wouldn't approve of that at all. 'Brilliant, hilarious and so very, very English' DAILY MAIL 'My favourite writer . . . I pick up her books with joy' JILLY COOPER
'The kind of book that changes readers for the better' Guardian When a family tragedy means Mick is sent to the outback to live with his Granpa, it looks as if he has a lonely life ahead of him. The cattle station is a tough place for a child, where nature is brutal and the men must work hard in the heat and dust. However, after a cyclone hits, things change for Mick. Exploring the floodwaters, he finds a lost puppy covered in mud and half-drowned. Mick and his dog immediately become inseparable as they take on the adventures offered by their unusual home, and the business of growing up, together. In this charming prequel to the much-loved Red Dog, Louis de Bernieres tells the moving story of a young boy and his Granpa, and the charismatic and entertaining dog who so many readers hold close to their hearts.
Accompanying an exhibition at the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, this publication presents the glass swallow works Perched, created by the artist Feleksan Onar. While drawing on sources from her personal history as well as collective memory, Feleksan Onar's works in glass deal with notions of identity, constructed narratives, historical relations and impacts of politics on society. In her recent project Perched, her story-telling in glass reflects on the Syrian refugee situation. Triggered by witnessing the helpless refugees strolling around the streets of Istanbul, after being forced to leave their homelands, Perched has been exhibited in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin, the New Jersey Visual Arts Center and the Victoria& Albert Museum, London. The work was interpreted as "a visceral expression of the fact that in spite of differences of religion, culture, and individual histories, what we all want most is to be in the place we call home," by the art critic Lisa Morrow. A reading of Louis de Bernieres' novel Birds Without Wings was an inspiration for Onar to create the series. Glass works, inspired by a book, create its own history over time and turn into a book again. This book marks the most comprehensive publication on Perched to date. The result here is a complementary structure addressing the aesthetic and political concepts inherent in Feleksan Onar's art. Contiguity and fragility are the core of this project and provides the form for this book. Newly commissioned essays initiate sections that engage particular aspects of Onar's work. Renowned author Louis de Bernieres contributes a short story; Prof. Dr. Stefan Weber, Mariam Rosser-Owen and Stefanie Bach propose a reading of Perched through the exhibitions in the Pergamon Museum, the Victoria& Albert Museum and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden; and Nadania Idriss questions how is art supposed to foster a culture of peace and muses on being perched. Producing glass art, to use Onar's own words, "not only expresses my past and present, but also my anxieties and expectations for future. Through glass, I speak, breathe and live." This is the story of birds standing together in different places with their various colors and holding a vital crisis in their silence, breath and life.
Set against the backdrop of the collapsing Ottoman Empire, Birds Without Wings traces the fortunes of one small community in south-west Anatolia - a town in which Christian and Muslim lives and traditions have co-existed peacefully for centuries. When war is declared and the outside world intrudes, the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed. Birds Without Wings is a novel about the personal and political costs of war, and about love: between men and women; between friends; between those who are driven to be enemies; and between Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty, and Ibrahim the Goatherd, who has courted her since infancy. Epic in sweep, intoxicating in its sensual detail, it is an enchanting masterpiece. 'A mesmerising patchwork of horror, humour and humanity' Independent
A heartbreaking story of love, loss and survival from the multi-million copy bestselling author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Returning from life as a fighter pilot in the First World War, Daniel is struggling to put the trauma of the Western Front behind him. As the 1920s dawn, he and his wife Rosie move to a tea plantation in Ceylon with their small daughter to make a fresh start. Yet navigating their new world could test their marriage to its limits. Back in England, Rosie's sisters are dealing with impossible challenges in their searches for family, purpose and happiness. These are precarious times, and taking unconventional means may be the only way to get what they want. Around them the world changes, and events in Germany take a dark and forbidding turn. And soon there is no going back...
Louis de Bernieres is the master of historical fiction which makes you both laugh and cry. This book follows an unforgettable family after the Second World War. Daniel Pitt has seen a lot of action. He was an RAF fighter in the First World War and an espionage agent for the SOE in the Second. Now the conflicts he faces are closer to home. Daniel and Rosie's marriage has fractured beyond repair and Daniel's relationship with their son, Bertie, has been a failure since Bertie was a small boy. But after his brother Archie's death, Daniel is keen for new perspectives. He first travels to Peshawar to bury Archie in the place he loved best, and then finds himself in Canada, avoiding his family and friends back in England. But some bonds are hard to break. Daniel and Bertie's different experiences of war, although devastating, also bring with them the opportunity for the two to reconnect. If only they can find a way to move on from the past. Louis de Bernieres' new novel is a moving account of an extraordinary life in extraordinary times. Daniel is a flawed but captivating hero, and this coming-of-old-age story illuminates both the effect of two World Wars on a generation and the irrepressible spirit and love that can connect families despite great obstacles.
'In early 1998 I went to Perth in Western Australia in order to attend the literature festival, and part of the arrangement was that I should go to Karratha to do their first ever literary dinner. Karratha is a mining town a long way further north. The landscape is extraordinary, being composed of vast heaps of dark red earth and rock poking out of the never-ending bush. I imagine that Mars must have a similar feel to it. I went exploring and discovered the bronze statue to Red Dog outside the town of Dampier. I felt straight away that I had to find out more about this splendid dog. A few months later I returned to Western Australia and spent two glorious weeks driving around collecting Red Dog stories and visiting the places that he knew, writing up the text as I went along. I hope my cat never finds out that I have written a story to celebrate the life of a dog.'
Extravagant, inventive, emotionally sweeping, Captain Corelli's
Mandolin is the story of a timeless place that one day wakes up to
find itself in the jaws of history. The place is the Greek island
of Cephallonia, where gods once dabbled in the affairs of men and
the local saint periodically rises from his sarcophagus to cure the
mad. Then the tide of World War II rolls onto the island's shores
in the form of the conquering Italian army.
A return to the epic romance, heroism, history and warm and eccentric cast of characters that made CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN such an extraordinary hit (2.5 million copies sold). In the brief golden years before the outbreak of World War I, Rosie McCosh and her three very different sisters are growing up in an eccentric household in Kent, with their neighbours the Pitt boys on one side and the Pendennis boys on the other. But their days of childhood adventure are shadowed by the approach of the conflict that will engulf them on the cusp of adulthood. When the boys end up scattered along the Western Front, Rosie is left confused by her love for two young men - one an infantry soldier and one a flying ace. Can she, and her sisters, build new lives out of the opportunities and devastations that follow the Great War?
A Frenchman once pointed out to Louis de Bernieres that Britain was
the most exotic country in Europe, adding that it was 'an immense
lunatic asylum'. Casting his mind back to the village in southern
Surrey where he grew up in the sixties and seventies, but plagued
by a novelist's inability to stick to the truth, Louis de Bernieres
brings us in Notwithstanding stories of a vanished England which
will delight readers of his much-loved novels. "From the Hardcover edition."
"The most consistent of all series in terms of language control, length, and quality of story." David R. Hill, Director of the Edinburgh Project on Extensive Reading.
Of Love and Desire is a rich collection of love poems from Louis de Bernieres, written over a lifetime, and capturing its many forms - from rapture, infatuation, urgency, to sorrow, heartache and disillusion. Poetry was de Bernieres' first and greatest literary love, a passion evident in the musicality and emotion of his poems, which are full of stories and the truth of lived experience. This, his second collection, bears the mark of many influences, from the classical Persian poets, to Neruda, to Quintus Smyrnaeus, to Brian Patten. Beautifully illustrated by Donald Sammut, this is an indispensable companion on the lover's journey.
'De Bernieres is a singular, cherishable voice' Mail on Sunday From the master of historical fiction, this book follows an unforgettable family after the Second World War. Some bonds are hard to break... Daniel Pitt was an RAF fighter in the First World War and an espionage agent for the SOE in the Second. Now the conflicts he faces are closer to home. Daniel's marriage has fractured beyond repair and Daniel's relationship with his son, Bertie, has been a failure since Bertie was a small boy. But after his brother Archie's death, Daniel is keen for new perspectives. He first travels to Peshawar to bury Archie in the place he loved best, and then finds himself in Canada, avoiding his family and friends back in England. Daniel and Bertie's different experiences of war, although devastating, also bring with them the opportunity for the two to reconnect. If only they can find a way to move on from the past...
In his first novel since Corelli's Mandolin," " Louis de Bernieres creates a world, populates it with characters as real as our best friends, and launches it into the maelstrom of twentieth-century history. The setting is a small village in southwestern Anatolia in the waning years of the Ottoman Empire. Everyone there speaks Turkish, though they write it in Greek letters. It's a place that has room for a professional blasphemer; where a brokenhearted aga finds solace in the arms of a Circassian courtesan who isn't Circassian at all; where a beautiful Christian girl named Philothei is engaged to a Muslim boy named Ibrahim. But all of this will change when Turkey enters the modern world. Epic in sweep, intoxicating in its sensual detail, Birds Without Wings is an enchantment.
With the same ebullient storytelling, luxuriant prose, and irrepressible eroticism he brought to The War of Don Emmanuel s Nether Parts and Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord, Louis de Bernières continues his chronicle of Cochadebajo, the Andean village where macho philosophers, defrocked priests, and reformed (though hardly inactive) prostitutes cohabit in cheerful anarchy. But this unruly utopia is imperiled when the demon-harried Cardinal Guzman decides to inaugurate a new Inquisition, with Cochadebajo as its ultimate target.
The setting for this iridescent gem of storytelling by the bestselling author of Corelli's Mandolin and The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts is an unnamed South American country where the rule of law has given way to the rule of the lawless and the laws of magic. The young philosophy professor Dionisio Vivo is the only citizen who dares denounce his country's cocaine mafia. This makes him the object of several assassination attempts, as well as a national hero when the attempts on his life backfire with a regularity that is either farcical or supernatural. But Senor Vivo's immunity does not extend to the people he loves. Only Louis de Bernieres could so deftly manage the ensuing escalation from a macabre comedy to a wrenching tragedy of revenge. Senor Vivo and the Coca Lord is a work that engages on every level, delighting with its outsized characters and enchanting with its luminous prose.
A beautiful collection of poems from bestselling author Louis de Bernieres. From the very start of his writing career Louis de Bernieres has loved poetry. Here the author of the much-loved Captain Corelli's Mandolin returns to this first love with his third collection. The Cat in the Treble Clef focuses on family and the connections we make, and break, with other people. There are moving poems to and about his family: his great grandmother, his mother and father and his children. There are poems about places near and far, about the passing of time, music and about love in its various forms. In this collection, de Bernieres shares his passion with his readers, in a beautifully illustrated gift edition. |
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