Classic Fiction

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. And none more so than Lolita, who he'll do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster? ...Or is he all of these? Lolita invites readers to delve into these troubling questions, masterfully weaving...

HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. Wouldn't it be fun if all the castles in the air which we make could come true and we could live in them? A heart-warming tale of love, sisterhood and hardship during the New England Civil War, Little Women tells the story of the lovable March family. Meg,...

Part of a series of new editions of DH Lawrence's most famous novels, stories and poems. Constance Chatterley feels trapped in her sexless marriage to the invalid Sir Clifford. Unable to fulfil his wife emotionally or physically, Clifford encourages her to have a liaison with a man of their own class. But Connie is attracted instead to her husband's gamekeeper...

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics—irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Set in a frozen world that is gradually being devastated by ever-encroaching ice, Anna Kavan's masterwork follows one man's pursuit of a mysterious silver-haired girl to the ends of the earth; to the end of everything.

Marlow, a ferry-boat captain on foreign assignment in the Congo, searches for the legendary and feared Mr. Kurtz, unprepared for what he will find. On his journey, he encounters the darkness of the wilderness; the darkness of colonisation, and ultimately, the darkness within every man. Heart of Darkness is a powerful indictment of the evils of imperialism.

Hard Times, Dickens's satirical and enduring classic, is now available in a gorgeous new clothbound edition. This edition is part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. These delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Coketown is dominated by the figure of Mr Thomas...

Hard Times is set in the industrial town of Coketown, where life revolves around hard facts and rigid philosophies. The town is dominated by Mr. Thomas Gradgrind, a school headmaster and embodiment of Utilitarian principles, who feeds both his pupils and family with facts while banning fancy and wonder from young minds. As a consequence of this education, his obedient...

New translation by Roger Pearson of the novel considered to be Zola's masterpiece. Considered by Andre Gide to be one of the ten greatest novels in the French language, Germinal is a brutal depiction of the poverty and wretchedness of a mining community in northern France under the second empire. At the centre of the novel is Etienne Lantier, a...

Peter Carson's new translation of Turgenev's vivid and honest tale of generational conflict. When Arkady Petrovich comes home from college, his father finds his eager, naive son changed almost beyond recognition, for the impressionable Arkady has fallen under the powerful influence of the friend he has brought with him. A self-proclaimed nihilist, the ardent young Bazarov shocks Arkady's father by...

Far from the Madding Crowd is Hardy's first Wessex novel, presented in a gorgeous new clothbound edition. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take...

Agatha Christie’s seaside mystery thriller, based on the Devon location of Burgh Island, now reissued as a hardback ‘Special Edition’ with a gorgeous new artwork cover. It is peaceful. The sun shines. The sea is blue. But you forget, there is evil everywhere under the sun. It was not unusual to find the beautiful bronzed body of the sun-loving Arlena...

A sparkling new translation of Pushkin's masterpiece. Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s Russia, Pushkin's verse novel follows the fates of three men and three women. Engaging, full of suspense, and varied in tone, it contains a large cast of characters and offers the reader...

Eduard and Charlotte are an aristocratic couple who live a harmonious but idle life in their estate. But the peace of their existence is thrown into chaos when two visitors, Eduard's friend the Captain and Charlotte's passionate young ward Ottilie, provoke unexpected attraction and forbidden love. Taking its title from the principle of elective affinities — the theory that certain...

A beautiful clothbound edition of Miguel de Cervantes' mock-epic masterwork, Don Quixote. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Don Quixote has become so entranced by reading romances of chivalry that he determines to become...

Dombey and Son is both a firm and a family, and the ambiguous connection between public and private life lies at the heart of Dickens' novel. Paul Dombey is a man who runs his domestic affairs as he runs his business: calculatingly, callously, coldly, and commercially. Through his dysfunctional relationships with his son, his two wives, and his neglected daughter...

Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in the provincial town of N', visiting a succession of landowners and making each a strange offer. He proposes to buy the names of dead serfs still registered on the census, saving their owners from paying tax on them, and to use these souls as collateral to re-invent himself as a gentleman. In this ebullient...

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens is a great coming-of-age novel, now available in a beautiful new clothbound edition. This is the novel Dickens regarded as his 'favourite child' and is considered his most autobiographical. As David recounts his experiences from childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist, Dickens draws openly and revealingly on his own life....

Part of a series of new editions of Henry James's most famous novels and short stories. Travelling in Europe with her family, Daisy Miller, an exquisitely beautiful young American woman, presents her fellow countryman Winterbourne with a dilemma he cannot resolve. Is she deliberately flouting social convention in the outspoken way she talks and acts, or is she simply ignorant...

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics—irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino presents twelve enchanting and fantastical stories about the evolution of the universe. This collection, penned by the giant of Italian literature, features characters—whether human, dinosaur, or mollusc—who disport themselves among galaxies, experience the...

Waugh's great novel of the lost golden age before the Second World War, new to the Penguin English Library. The most nostalgic and reflective of Evelyn Waugh's novels, Brideshead Revisited looks back to the years before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly-disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted...

One of Japan's most treasured novels, new to Penguin Classics. Botchan is a modern young man from the Tokyo metropolis, sent to the ultra-traditional Matsuyama district as a Maths teacher after the death of his parents. Cynical, rebellious, and immature, Botchan finds himself facing several tests, from the pupils — prone to playing tricks on their new, naive teacher; the...

Young, attractive and very ambitious, George Duroy, known to his friends as Bel-Ami, is offered a job as a journalist on La Vie française and soon makes a great success of his new career. But he also comes face to face with the realities of the corrupt society in which he lives—the sleazy colleagues, the manipulative mistresses, and wily financiers—and...

Set against the backdrop of the Gordon Riots of 1780, Barnaby Rudge is a story of mystery and suspense which begins with an unsolved double murder and goes on to involve conspiracy, blackmail, abduction and retribution. Through the course of the novel, fathers and sons become opposed, apprentices plot against their masters, and Protestants clash with Catholics on the streets....

Set in one of the new Paris department stores, this poem of modern activity charts the mutual beginnings of the capitalist economy and bourgeois society. At the centre of the novel is Octave Mouret, who rises through charm, drive, and effort to become the director of this mighty shopping emporium. Mouret is a man who is aware of the power...

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. A Tale of Two Cities is part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. These delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into...

In 1665, the plague swept through London, claiming over 97,000 lives. Daniel Defoe was just five at the time of the plague, but he later called on his own memories, as well as his writing experience, to create this vivid chronicle of the epidemic and its victims. A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) follows Defoe's fictional narrator as he...

The hero of this curious novel is des Esseintes, a neurasthenic aristocrat who has turned his back on the vulgarity of modern life and retreated to an isolated country villa. Here, accompanied only by a couple of silent servants, he pursues his obsessions with exotic flowers, rare gems, and complex perfumes and embarks on a series of increasingly strange aesthetic...

Carpenter Adam Bede is in love with the beautiful Hetty Sorrel, but unknown to him, he has a rival in the local squire's son Arthur Donnithorne. Hetty is soon attracted by Arthur's seductive charm, and they begin to meet in secret. The relationship is to have tragic consequences that reach far beyond the couple themselves, touching not just Adam Bede,...

'Envy remained hidden in her heart, like a plague germ which may come to life and devastate a city.' Poor, plain spinster Bette is compelled to survive on the condescending patronage of her socially superior relatives in Paris—her beautiful, saintly cousin Adeline, the philandering Baron Hulot, and their daughter Hortense. Already deeply resentful of their wealth, when Bette learns that...

A voyage to the very ends of the world A beautiful paperback edition of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, book five in the classic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. This edition is complete with cover and interior art by the original illustrator of Narnia, Pauline Baynes. A king and some unexpected companions embark on a voyage that will...

Special unjacketed hardback edition of the second part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. This edition features the complete story with a unique cover design embellished with copper foil and the iconic maps appearing in red and black as endpapers. Frodo and the Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to...

A prince imprisoned – a country in peril A beautiful paperback edition of The Silver Chair, book six in the classic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. This edition is complete with cover and interior art by the original illustrator, Pauline Baynes. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, a noble band of friends is sent to rescue a...

A gentle retelling of C. S. Lewis’s classic bestseller, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, perfect for storytime with the youngest readers! Now available for the first time ever as a board book, a whole new generation of readers will fall in love with The Chronicles of Narnia in this abridged retelling of C. S. Lewis’s most beloved classic....

The last battle is the greatest of all battles A beautiful paperback edition of The Last Battle, book seven in the classic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. This edition is complete with cover and interior art by the original illustrator, Pauline Baynes. During the last days of Narnia, the land faces its fiercest challenge—not an invader from without but...

"How truth thickens and deepens when it migrates from didactic fable to the raw experience of a visceral awakening is one of the thrills of Tolstoy's stories." Sharon Cameron in her preface to The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories Tolstoy wrote in many genres for different audiences. In this, the first of three volumes of his shorter fiction...

Introducing Little Clothbound Classics—irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. The Cossacks follows Dmitry Andreich Olenin, who, in the hope of escaping the hollowness of his privilege, joins the army and heads to the Caucasus. There among the foothills, he will meet the Cossacks—a people he considers...

Six newly translated stories from the bestselling Austrian author. 'One of the masters of the short story' Guardian These six stories of obsession, secrets, delusions and desires from one of the greatest European writers show individuals caught up in forces beyond their control — whether an art dealer agreeing to a heartbreaking deception, a soldier destroyed by war, a servant...

A new translation by Tony Briggs of Tolstoy's last major novel. Resurrection (1899) tells the story of a nobleman's attempt to redeem the suffering his youthful philandering inflicted on a peasant girl who ends up a prisoner in Siberia. Tolstoy's vision of redemption achieved through loving forgiveness, and his condemnation of violence, dominate the novel. An intimate, psychological tale of...

George Orwell's terrifying vision of a totalitarian future, annotated for students and with a new introduction by D. J. Taylor. Ever since its publication in 1948, George Orwell's terrifying vision of a totalitarian regime where Big Brother controls its citizens like 'a boot stamping on a human face' has become a touchstone for human freedom, and one of the most...

The ten stories collected in this volume demonstrate Tolstoy's artistic prowess displayed over five decades, experimenting with prose styles and drawing on his own experiences with humour, realism, and compassion. Inspired by his experiences in the army, The Two Hussars contrasts a dashing father and his mean-spirited son. Illustrating Tolstoy's belief that art must serve a moral purpose, What Men...

Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell explores the struggle against dull, middle-class respectability and the worship of money through the character of Gordon Comstock. Gordon Comstock loathes these societal norms and gives up a 'good job' in advertising to work part-time in a bookshop, hoping it will give him more time to write. However, he instead slides into self-induced...

How Much Land Does a Man Need? & Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy is a collection of short works that range from Tolstoy's earliest tales to the brilliant title story. Rich in insights and passion, these stories embody the themes that define all of Tolstoy's explorations: love, war, courage, and civilization.

A superb new translation by Judson Rosengrant of Tolstoy's semi-autobiographical trilogy. Leo Tolstoy began his trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, Youth, in his early twenties. Although he would in his old age famously dismiss it as an 'awkward mixture of fact and fiction', generations of readers have not agreed. Readers find the novel to be a charming and insightful portrait of inner...

The new paperback series - Penguin English Library "Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice (she was so surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). "Now I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Goodbye, feet!" 'I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole ... without the least idea what was to happen...

Down the rabbit-hole and through the looking-glass! Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Other Stories features all of the best-known works of Lewis Carroll, including the novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, with the classic illustrations of John Tenniel. This compilation also features Carroll's novels Sylvie and Bruno and Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, his masterpiece of nonsense verse...

The daughter of an American millionaire dies on a train en route for Nice… When the luxurious Blue Train arrives at Nice, a guard attempts to wake serene Ruth Kettering from her slumbers. But she will never wake again – for a heavy blow has killed her, disfiguring her features almost beyond recognition. What is more, her precious rubies are...

A stunning new Clothbound Classics edition of Jane Austen's tantalising final work—set to be a major Andrew Davies ITV adaptation this autumn. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality, colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Written in the last months of...

One of the greatest translations of all time: Scott Moncrieff's classic version of Proust, published in three stunning clothbound volumes designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. Proust's masterpiece is one of the seminal works of the twentieth century, recording its narrator's experiences as he grows up, falls in love and lives through the First World War. A profound reflection on art, time,...

A Booktok favourite for its aesthetic on bookshelves, experience Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in this exclusive collector's edition featuring a delicate laser-cut jacket on a textured book with foil stamping and a ribbon marker. This beautiful book is an ideal gift for fiction lovers and book collectors alike. In Jane Austen's most popular novel, Elizabeth Bennet and eligible bachelor...

A sparkling literary satire and an Austen favourite, in a beautiful new clothbound edition. Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. During an eventful season at Bath, young, naive Catherine Morland experiences the joys of...

A message from a dead acquaintance prompts a bus tour to an unknown crime… In utter disbelief, Miss Marple read the letter addressed to her from the recently deceased Mr Rafiel—an acquaintance she had met briefly on her travels. Recognising in Miss Marple a natural flair for justice, Mr Rafiel had left instructions for her to investigate a crime after...

An all-new collection of summer-themed mysteries from the master of the genre, just in time for the holiday season. Summertime – as the temperature rises, so does the potential for evil. From Cornwall to the French Riviera, whether against a background of Delphic temples or English country houses, Agatha Christie’s most famous characters solve even the most devilish of conundrums...

Love and Freindship by Jane Austen offers readers a glimpse into the author’s brilliant, hilarious, and often outrageous early stories, sketches, and pieces of nonsense, newly compiled for Penguin Classics. Jane Austen's earliest writings date back to when she was just eleven years old, already showcasing the hallmarks of her mature work. However, these works are also products of the...

The inspiration for A Haunting in Venice – now a major motion picture. When a Hallowe’en party turns deadly, it falls to Hercule Poirot to unmask a murderer… At a Hallowe’en party, Joyce – a hostile thirteen-year-old – boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no-one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found,...

Before The Matrix, before Star Wars, before Ender's Game and Neuromancer, there was Dune, one of the greatest science fiction novels ever written. Melange, or 'spice', is the most valuable - and rarest - element in the universe. And it can only be found on a single planet: the inhospitable desert world Arrakis. Whoever controls Arrakis controls the spice. And...

Schooldays can be tough. Who will learn the fatal lesson? Late one night, two teachers investigate a mysterious flashing light while the rest of the school sleeps. In the sports pavilion, among the lacrosse sticks, they stumble upon the body of the unpopular games mistress—shot through the heart from point-blank range. The school is thrown into chaos when the ‘cat’...

The Little Prince is a moral allegory and spiritual autobiography, and it holds the distinction of being the most translated book in the French language. With its timeless charm, the story follows a little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny planet to explore the universe. As he travels, he learns about the peculiarities of adult behaviour through...

All 36 Little Miss stories in one fantastic collection! This delightful set features the complete collection of 36 timeless Little Miss stories, including the much-loved classic titles, Little Miss Naughty, Little Miss Sunshine and Little Miss Inventor. The lasting appeal of these classic books will ensure this collection takes pride of place on any child's bookshelf. Perfect for toddlers and...

Arrival and Departure is the third novel in Arthur Koestler's trilogy on ends and means, following The Gladiators and Darkness at Noon. It is noteworthy for being the first of the trilogy that Koestler wrote in English. The novel explores the central theme of the conflict between morality and expediency through the lens of individual psychology. The protagonist, Peter Slavek,...

A classic adventure from the author of A Town Like Alice and On the Beach. Young pilot Donald Ross has little in common with the Oxford don who has employed him on an expedition to the Arctic—and still less with his beautiful but stubborn daughter, Alix. But once the three of them reach the treacherous shores of Greenland, their destinies...

An Edwardian family party on an Irish holiday is disrupted by a seductive prima donna. Elissa Koebel's memoir is as scandalous and self-absorbed as its writer, but for Hope, it is more than just the latest salacious read. The chapter A Summer in Ireland tells of an episode that Hope remembers well, when the younger, beautiful and unconventional Koebel arrived...

One of 15 limited edition Vintage Future Classics published to celebrate Vintage's 15th birthday. The 15 titles were voted for by reading groups all over the UK as being books that would still be read in 100 years' time. All Quiet on the Western Front is probably the most famous anti-war novel ever written. The story is told by a...

THE SMASH HIT NO.1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER ~ A GUARDIAN and SUNDAY TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTH ~ TV IN DEVELOPMENT WITH NETFLIX IT’S THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY Everyone knows the Anna O case. Everyone knows it was Anna's fingerprints on the knife. But no-one knows the secrets of her sleepwalking. No-one knows whether she really meant to kill that...

The Murder at the Vicarage A quiet English village. A shocking murder. An unlikely detective. Nobody liked Colonel Protheroe. So when he’s found dead in the vicarage study, there’s no absence of suspects in the seemingly peaceful village of St Mary Mead. In fact, Jane Marple can think of at least seven. As gossip abounds in the parlours and kitchens...

Roald Dahl's canon of family stories and poetry with collectable new covers featuring Quentin Blake's iconic illustrations and archive material provided by the Roald Dahl Museum. We are now about to visit the most marvellous places and see the most wonderful things! This beautiful edition of James and the Giant Peach, part of The Roald Dahl Classic Collection, features official...

A phizzwhizzing new edition of Roald Dahl's classic story, in glorious full colour for the first time. Illustrated for the first time in full colour by Quentin Blake. Danny, the Champion of the World tells the story of Danny, who lives in a caravan with his father, the most marvellous and exciting father any boy ever had. All the land...

The first complete new translation for 25 years of the acknowledged masterpiece of Japanese literature. Lady Murasaki's great 11th century novel is a beautifully crafted story of love, betrayal, and death at the Imperial Court. At the core of this epic is Prince Genji, the son of an emperor, whose passionate character, love affairs, and shifting political fortunes offer an...

Set in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a dingy haberdasher's shop in the passage du Pont-Neuf in Paris, this powerful novel tells how the heroine and her lover, Laurent, kill her husband, Camille, but are subsequently haunted by visions of the dead man and prevented from enjoying the fruits of their crime. Published in 1867, this is Zola's most important work...

A compelling novel about the requirement to be perfect, without losing sight of yourself — by the greatest feminist of the twentieth century, Simone de Beauvoir. The Image of Her follows Laurence, a woman who appears to live an ideal life. Her weekends are spent in the country, weekdays in Paris, encapsulating all the trappings of 1960s French bourgeoisie. She...

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne is the author's most famous adventure, now available in a beautiful clothbound edition. One night at the Reform Club, Phileas Fogg makes a bold wager with his companions, claiming that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking away from the well-established routine of his daily life, he...

Written when landing on the moon was still a dream, and made into one of the most influential films of all time, 2001: A Space Odyssey remains a classic work of science fiction fifty years after its original publication. The discovery of a black monolith on the moon leads to a manned expedition deep into the solar system, in the...

Have fun with The Gruffalo and friends with this brilliant gift box, packed full of things to read, sing and do - the perfect Christmas gift! Enjoy the classic picture book The Gruffalo's Child Get creative with a fun colouring book Sing along with The Gruffalo and Friends Song Book This great value gift box includes three books, plus a...

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon’s two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today. The First Foundation has been defeated, crushed by the...

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon's two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today. After a long war which saw the First Foundation...

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best All-Time Series The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon’s two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today. The First Foundation survived two centuries of barbarism as...

WINNER OF THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST ALL-TIME SERIES The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon’s two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today. Faced with determining the fate of the galaxy, Golan...

'Let us now praise Ray Bradbury'THE TIMES Dark Carnival, Bradbury's first story collection, is a must-read for any fan of the genre, spinning stardust and cobwebs in its wondrous wake. It contains twenty-seven stories from science fiction’s master storyteller.

The New York Times No.1 bestselling YA crime thriller that everyone is talking about, now available in this special collector’s gift edition. From TikTok Author of the Year, Holly Jackson. Soon to be a major BBC series! Pip Fitz-Amobi is not a detective anymore. With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they...

I love this book . . . Iona Rangeley has written a wonderfully witty story in Einstein the Penguin which is beautifully complemented by David Tazzyman's hilarious illustrations. - DAVID WALLIAMS, author of GANGSTA GRANNY An outstanding debut. Funny and surprising. - The Times Best Books for Children 2021 When the Stewarts spend a sunny, frosty December day at London...

I Can Jump Puddles is Alan Marshall's story of his childhood—a happy world in which, despite his crippling poliomyelitis, he plays, climbs, fights, swims, rides and laughs. His world was the Australian countryside early last century: rough-riders, bushmen, farmers and tellers of tall stories—a world held precious by the young Alan.