Showing titles in Literary History & Criticism

Leda, a middle-aged divorcee, is alone for the first time in years when her daughters leave home to live with their father. Her initial, unexpected sense of liberty turns to ferocious introspection following a seemingly trivial occurrence. Throughout the novel, Ferrante's language is as finely tuned and intense as ever, and she treats her theme with a fierce, candid tenacity.

Bloomsbury presents the 250TH BIRTHDAY EDITION of What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Mullan, read by Charles Armstrong ‘Almost as good as finding an unpublished novel’ The Lady 'Any new book on Austen raises the urgent question, Would I get more pleasure from reading this than from...

Longlisted for the 2014 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction (now the Bailie Gifford) ‘A thrilling and complex book, enlarges our view of Homer … There’s something that hits the mark on every page’ Claire Tomalin, Books of the Year, New Statesman Where does Homer come from? And why does...

Los Angeles, 1948: Easy Rawlins is a black war veteran just fired from his job at a defense plant. Easy is drinking in a friend's bar, wondering how he'll meet his mortgage, when a white man in a linen suit walks in, offering good money if Easy will simply locate Miss Daphne Money, a blonde beauty known to frequent black jazz clubs.

In The Big Four, Hercule Poirot takes on a puzzling series of murders that seem unrelated at first glance. But as always, the meticulous Belgian detective spots the one subtle clue tying them all together: the recurring presence of the number four. Determined to uncover its meaning, Poirot soon discovers the existence of a powerful international crime syndicate known only as “The Big Four.” Joined once again by his loyal friend Captain Hastings, Poirot embarks on a chase across Europe, tracking a network that always seems to stay one step ahead. It’s a race against time to expose a ...

P. D. James'sextraordinary memoir of her early life and time starting out as a novelist as well as diaries recording her in old age. In this intriguing and very personal book, part diary, part memoir, P. D. James considers the twelve months of her life between her seventy-seventh and seventy-eighth birthdays and looks back on her earlier life.

The Swiss Family Robinson follows the adventures of the Robinson family, who are shipwrecked on a deserted island. The father, William, leads his wife, Elizabeth, and their four sons—Franz, Ernst, Jack, and little Franz—through challenges as they adapt to their new environment. They learn to build a home, cultivate crops, and hunt for food, fostering teamwork and ingenuity. The family encounters various wildlife, creating both threats and opportunities for survival. As they thrive on the island, they discover the importance of family bonds, resourcefulness, and resilience. Eventually, they...

“Mary Oliver would probably never admit to anything so grandiose as an effort to connect the conscious mind and the heart (that’s what she says poetry can do), but that is exactly what she accomplishes in this stunning little handbook.”—Los Angeles Times From the beloved, legendary poet...

'Wonderful . . . all killer, no filler' Red Magazine 'Dazzling stories, as inventive as they are inspiring' Daily Mirror 'Where power and feminist rage meet' Stylist ______________________________ A fun and fearless anthology of feminist tales, by fifteen bestselling, award-winning writers...

Published in their entirety, Sylvia Plath's journals provide an intimate portrait of the writer who was to produce in the last seven months of her life some of the most extraordinary poems of the 20th century. Faithfully transcribed from the 23 journals and journal fragments owned by Smith College, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath includes two journals that Plath's husband, Ted Hughes, unsealed just before his death in 1998.

She said she wore a blindfold at all times. She said she didn't know who she was really having sex with. Two former best friends face each other in court at a sex offence trial. Miss X, making the accusation, claims she was tricked into queer sex, many times, by a best friend pretending to be her boyfriend. But that friend, Gayle Newland, tells a different story. They were secret lesbians, she says, lovers in the closet. The boyfriend was imaginary, and part of a role play that had been going on for years.

More than any other canonical English writer, Geoffrey Chaucer lived and worked at the center of political life - yet his poems are anything but conventional. Edgy, complicated, and often dark, they reflect a conflicted world, and their astonishing diversity and innovative language earned Chaucer renown as the father of English literature. Marion Turner, however, reveals him as a great European writer and thinker.

On 14 February 1989, Valentine's Day, Salman Rushdie was telephoned by a BBC journalist and told that he had been 'sentenced to death' by the Ayatollah Khomeini. For the first time he heard the word fatwa. His crime? To have written a novel called The Satanic Verses, which was accused of being...

A stunning collection of essays and memoir from twice Booker Prize winner and international bestseller Hilary Mantel, author of The Mirror and the Light In 1987, when Hilary Mantel was first published in the London Review of Books, she wrote to the editor, Karl Miller, ‘I have no critical...

Journey into the vibrant and often humorous exploration of human nature and society as encapsulated in the tales of various travelers. This collection delves into the complexities of social dynamics, moral dilemmas, and the timeless quest for meaning, all wrapped in storytelling that ranges from the satirical to the profound. Each week, our podcast presents a complete audiobook, offering listeners a chance to experience a different tale from an array of perspectives, historical contexts, and literary styles. This isn't a single narrative but a rotating showcase of stories that will engage your...

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Justin Avoth and Laurence Dobiesz. This definitive recording includes an introduction by Christopher Rowe read by Justin Avoth. 'Consider just this, and give your minds to this alone: whether or not what I say is just' Plato's...

MuggleCast is your weekly ride into the world of Harry Potter, including the books and upcoming TV show! Our Harry Potter podcast, hosted by four life-long friends, brings its listeners entertaining and thought-provoking discussions about the Wizarding World. With each new episode we discuss everything Harry Potter: the latest news, the Potter books, the upcoming HBO TV Show, the theme parks, the video games, the fandom, and more! We're currently hosting a Chapter by Chapter re-read of the original seven Harry Potter books while keeping listeners up to date on the Harry Potter TV show.

Dante Alighieri was early in recognizing that our age has a problem. His hometown, Florence, was at the epicenter of the move from the medieval world to the modern. The Divine Comedy was born in a time of troubling transition, which is why it still speaks today. In this narrative retelling and guide, from the gates of hell, up the mountain of purgatory, to the empyrean of paradise, Mark Vernon offers a vivid introduction and interpretation of a book that, 700 years on, continues to open minds and change lives.

With a foreword by Neil Gaiman, this comprehensive, entertaining, and authentic collection of English folktales is perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Philip Pullman, and the Brothers Grimm. This is a golden treasury of over one hundred English folktales captured in the form they were first collected in past centuries. Listen to these classic tales as they would have been told when storytelling was a living art—when the audience believed in boggarts and hobgoblins, local witches and will-o'-the-wisps, ghosts and giants, cunning foxes and royal frogs.

Female led relationship podcast by International Bestselling Female Led Relationship Author of 16 books, Marisa Rudder. Founder of the Love and Obey movement and social media influencer. A female led relationship means the Queen is in charge. She makes the decisions while her man is the supportive gentleman. More couples are enjoying female led relationships, transforming their lives and creating a fulfilling and loving partnership. Learn everything there is to know about a female led relationships, femdom, chastity, dominance and submission, power dynamics, ethical non monogamy, cuckolding, ...