With an introduction by Brenda Bowen. A notice in The Times addressed to ` Those Who Appreciate Wistaria & Sunshine` advertises a `small medieval Italian Castle to be let for the month of April`. Four very different women take up the offer: Mrs Wilkins & Mrs Arbuthnot, both fleeing unappreciative husbands; beautiful Lady Caroline, sick of being `grabbed` by lovesick men; & the imperious, ageing Mrs Fisher. On the shores of the Mediterranean, beauty, warmth & leisure weave their spell, & nothing will ever be the same again. Published alongside a modern version of the same story entitled Enchanted August. ...

Originally penned as a travelogue, Melville's writings form a series of evocative sketches of each of these equatorial islands. Recounting their myths & stories of old, he conjures up the spirit of each in astonishing detail. Read together they create a timeless classic, perfectly capturing the islands' eternal charm & mystery. ...

Leskov`s stories of Russian life are explosions of imagination. Peopled by outsized characters including serfs, princes, Gypsy girls, horse dealers, nomadic Tartars & garrulous storytellers, Leskov`s writing exuberantly fables the national character of his age. For the first time, Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky`s translation brings Leskov`s original storytelling & irresistible voice to life. ...

A deluxe hardback edition of this classic & magical Blyton adventure
- the perfect gift for every child! When Joe, Beth & Frannie
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*LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2008* From one of the world’s most famous living authors, Salman Rushdie, comes The Enchantress of Florence, a tale of historical intrigue, love & power. Longlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize, “ The Enchantress of Florence” may repeat the success of Midnight’s Children, Rushdie’s 1981 novel, recently voted the greatest Booker-winning novel in the award’s 40-year history. In The Enchantress of Florence, a tall, yellow-haired young European traveller calling himself ` Mogor dell’ Amore`, the Mughal of Love, arrives at the court of the real Grand Mughal, the Emperor Akbar, with a tale to tell that begins to obsess the whole imperial capital. The stranger claims to be the child of a lost Mughal princess, the youngest sister of Akbar’s grandfather Babar: Qara Köz, ` Lady Black Eyes`, a great beauty believed to possess powers of enchantment & sorcery, who is taken captive first by an Uzbeg warlord, then by the Shah of Persia, & finally becomes the lover of a certain Argalia, a Florentine soldier of fortune, commander of the armies of the Ottoman Sultan. When Argalia returns home with his Mughal mistress the city is mesmerized by her presence, & much trouble ensues. The Enchantress of Florence is the story of a woman attempting to command her own destiny in a man’s world. It brings together two cities that barely know each other
- the hedonistic Mughal capital, in which the brilliant emperor wrestles daily with questions of belief, desire & the treachery of sons, & the equally sensual Florentine world of powerful courtesans, humanist philosophy & inhuman torture, where Argalia’s boyhood friend “il Machia”
- Niccolò Machiavelli
- is learning, the hard way, about the true brutality of power. These two worlds, so far apart, turn out to be uncannily alike, & the enchantments of women hold sway over them both. But is Mogor’s story true? & if so, then what happened to the lost princess? & if he’s a liar, must he die?


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Possibly the most comprehensive single volume reference published about Ireland & the achievemnts of its people. Presents over 5000 articles by 950 contributors & over 700 illustrations, covering an enormous range of topics eg. history, arts, geography, society, science, engineering & sport. It's all in here. ...

Readers! This book is not a real encyclopedia! It is an epic work of fiction, detailing the many tales & adventures of one lonely storyteller, on a quest for Enlightenment & True Love. This book contains many stories, big & small, about & pertaining to the following things: Gods, monsters, mad kings, wise old crones, shamans, medicine men, brothers & sisters, strife, mystery, bad science, worse geography, & did we already mention true love? Critics are saying it is probably the best thing since sliced bread. Maybe even since bread knives. ...

Often defined by the familiar images of taciturn Yankees, town meetings, maple syrup & rocky seacoasts, New England is both a distinctively American place & a distinctive place within America. Yet these images present only one aspect of the richly varied region that is New England in the twenty-first century. Today traditional scenes of white-clapboard buildings surrounding an idyllic village green, hillside farms & red-brick mills rub shoulders with advanced research centres, nuclear power plants & urban neighbourhoods of immigrants from around the globe. In entries written by leading authorities in the field, The Encyclopedia of New England presents a comprehensive view of this important region, past & present. Both authoritative & entertaining, this single-volume reference will be an invaluable resource for the scholar & an irresistible page-turner for the browser. ...

This is an entrancing, otherworldly collection of short stories from one of Serbia`s most accomplished 20th century writers, new to Penguin Modern Classics. A counter-prophet attempts the impossible to prove his power; a girl sees the hideous fate of her sister & father in a mirror bought from a gypsy; the death of a prostitute causes an unanticipated uprising; & the lives of every ordinary person since 1789 are brought to life in the almighty Encyclopaedia of the Dead. In this wide-ranging collection of stories about humanity, society & relationships, Kis plays with the distinction between fact & fiction, horro & comedy, drawing on key influences such as James Joyce & Franz Kafka. This was Kis` final work, published in Serbo-Croatian in 1983. ” Kis is one of the great European writers of the post-war period”. (Guardian). ” Compulsively readable”. (Daily Telegraph). ” Fantasy chases reality & reality chases fantasy. Pirandello & Borges are not far away. But these names are intended as approximate references. Kis is a new, original writer”. (Times Literary Supplement).” Intense & exotic, his mysteries hint at unspeakable secrets that remain forever beyond the story-teller`s grasp”. (Boyd Tonkin). Danilo Kis was born in the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1935. After an unsettled childhood during the Second World War, in which several of his family members were killed, Kis studied literature at the University of Belgrade where he lived for most of his adult life. He wrote novels, short stories & poetry & went on to receive the prestigious NIN Award for his novel Pescanik. He died in Paris in 1989. Mark Thompson is a British historian. His published work

Includes:: Birth Certificate: The Story of Danilo Kis.

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On August 15, 1953, the day of a tumultuous street carnival in Elephant Park, Ohio, the baker Rocco La Grassa receives a devastating piece of news: his son has died in a POW camp in Korea. Rocco`s dogged life is transformed. This unforgettable debut novel follows Rocco, an elderly abortionist, an enigmatic drapery seamstress, a teenage boy & a jeweller deep into the heart of a crime that will twist all of their lives. A National Book Award Finalist. ...