Λογοτεχνία

It's early morning on New Year's Eve, and 9-year-old Massimo wakes up to a long, doleful cry and the disconcerting image of his dad being supported by two strangers. Inexplicably, his mother has disappeared, leaving only a vague trail of perfume in his room and her dressing gown bundled up at the foot of his bed. Where has she gone? Will she ever come back? And will Massimo be able to say sorry, after quarrelling with her the night before?

Sybil, or The Two Nations is one of the finest novels to depict the social problems of class-ridden Victorian England. The book's publication in 1845 created a sensation, for its immediacy and readability brought the plight of the working classes sharply to the attention of the reading public. The 'two nations' of the alternative title are the rich and poor, so disparate in their opportunities and living conditions, and so hostile to each other. that they seem almost to belong to different countries. The gulf between them is given a poignant focus by the central romantic plot concerning the love of Charles Egremont, a member of the landlord class, for Sybil, the poor daughter of a militant Chartist leader.

A man returns from the dead, and the body of a mysterious stranger is found in his room... A few weeks after marrying an attractive young widow, Gordon Cloade is tragically killed by a bomb blast in the London blitz. Overnight, the former Mrs Underhay finds herself in sole possession of the Cloade family fortune. Shortly afterwards, Hercule Poirot receives a visit from the dead man's sister-in-law who claims she has been warned by 'spirits' that Mrs Underhay's first husband is still alive. Poirot has his suspicions when he is asked to find a missing person guided only by the spirit world. Yet what mystifies Poirot most is the woman's true motive for approaching him...

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a cafe which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time . . . From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes Tales from the Cafe, a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula's time-travelling offer. Among some faces that will be familiar to readers of Toshikazu Kawaguchi's previous novel, we will be introduced to:The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years agoThe son who was unable to attend his own mother's funeralThe man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marryThe old detective who never gave his wife that gift . . . This beautiful, simple tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives. Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?

'I tender these tales of the Jazz Age into the hands of those who read as they run and run as they read.' Tales of the Jazz Age (1922) was Fitzgerald's second collection of short stories, and it contains some of the best examples of his talent as a writer of short fiction. Often overshadowed by his major novels, Fitzgerald's short stories demonstrate the same originality and inventive range, as he chronicles with wry and astute observation the temper of the hedonistic 1920s. In 'May Day' and 'The Diamond as Big as the Ritz', two of his greatest stories, he conjures up the spirit of theage; in other stories he adopts a variety of forms - parody, a one-act play, fantasy - with unrivalled versatility. 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', a tale of a man living his life backwards, features among the 'Fantasies' in Fitzgerald's self-deprecatory Table of Contents, alongside the groupings 'MyLast Flappers' and 'Unclassified Masterpieces'. In these eleven stories, Fitzgerald establishes the style that was to make him one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth-century. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

From the author of the Costa Award-winning Asha & the Spirit Bird comes a breathtaking, magical adventure ... 'I absolutely adored it ... an achingly beautiful story' SITA BRAHMACHARI'Atmospheric, dreamy, charged with wonder and menace, loss, sorrow and delight' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT'A lush, gorgeous setting in a novel as vivid and original as her Costa-winning debut.' THE GUARDIAN 'Beautifully written, richly atmospheric and touchingly spiritual, this brief novel sparkles like a polished gem' DAILY MAILTamarind never knew her Indian mum, Chinty, who died soon after she was born. So when she arrives at her ancestral home, a huge mansion in the Himalayas surrounded by luxuriant gardens, she's full of questions for her extended family. But instead of answers, she finds an ominous silence - and a trickle of intriguing clues: an abandoned hut, a friendly monkey, a glowing star ring, and a strange girl in the garden who calls herself Ishta. Slowly, Tamarind unravels a mystery at the heart of who she is ...

In an isolated olive grove on the idyllic Aegean island of Tinos, revered by pilgrims around the world as the Lourdes of Greece, the remains of two bodies charred beyond recognition are discovered chained together amid bits and pieces of an incinerated Greek flag.

When Tarzan is orphaned as a baby deep in the African jungle, the apes adopt him and raise him as their own. By the time he's ten, he can swing through the trees and talk to the animals. By the time Tarzan is 18, he has the strength of a lion and rules the apes as their king. But Tarzan knows he's different and yearns to discover his true identity.

The Taverna by the Sea is an enchanting, funny, poignant travel memoir about answering the call of adventure by taking on the challenge of running a Greek beach taverna. During a walking holiday on the island of Karpathos, a chance encounter with a Greek-American hotel owner results in a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Jennifer Barclay. The best-selling travel writer and long-term resident of Greece drops everything, returning with dog and tent to the remote bay that will form her home for one hectic, event-filled summer. This book offers a rare account of life in north Karpathos in the South Aegean, famous for its traditional community and dramatic, rugged landscape. While primarily a light, engaging, amusing read full of anecdotes, one-liners, twists and turns - perfect for summer - Barclay's fourth book about life in Greece also conveys the life-affirming importance of trusting one's instincts, taking risks and grasping opportunities. Wake with Jennifer to experience a summer of pink dawns over the olive grove and an empty bay, and swim with her in moonlight, hearing only the waves. Or help yourself to local cuisine - creamy yoghurt and local honey and warm figs, olive oil and rosemary, freshly baked bread, and wine on tap. Alongside a cast of characters from farmers to fishermen, mad guests and a wicked witch, meet Minas the hotel owner, a creative, unconventional Greek-American with the ability to fix anything mechanical and create money out of thin air with food, plus a penchant for drinking, singing and falling asleep. Experience days full of music, days of no running water, and days with a goat tied to a tree - but also nights when the overworked taverna manager awoke convinced there was a large fish in the tent, and customers outside waiting to be served. In The Taverna by the Sea, Barclay reveals what happens behind the scenes of an apparently blissful, peaceful paradise, capturing both the magic and the difficulties of island life. Underpinning an entertaining read for lovers of Greece and its cuisine is an inspiring call to live life to the full - and even escape the rat race.

Author of the best-selling Clifton Chronicles, Jeffrey Archer, gives us fourteen gripping and rewarding short stories for readers to return to time and again.

Find out what happens to the hapless young detective from Naples who travels to an Italian hillside town to solve a murder and the pretentious schoolboy whose discovery of the origins of his father’s wealth changes his life forever. Follow the stories of the woman who dares to challenge the men at her Ivy League university during the 1930s, and another young woman who thumbs a lift and has an encounter of a lifetime.

From the master of the short story, the refreshingly original stories in Tell Tale prove why Archer has been described by The Times as ‘probably the greatest storyteller of our age’.