Classic Fiction

How did a beautiful Georgian house inspire Agatha Christie's Dead Man's Folly? Or a stretch of the East Anglian coast become the place in which a murder victim is discovered in P. D. James's Devices and Desires?Novel Crime Scenes explores the landscapes of twenty crime novels in forensic detail. Beginning with the Devon moorland of The Hound of the Baskervilles...

A gorgeous pocket-sized special edition bound in real cloth with sprayed edges and a ribbon marker to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth. The designs in this collectable series are inspired by Jane Austen's life and work. Northanger Abbey tells the story of Catherine Morland, a naive young woman whose perceptions of the world around her are greatly...

Big Brother is watching you.Under the all-seeing eye of Big Brother, Winston Smith spends his days in the Ministry of Truth, rewriting the past to serve a government that erases and reshapes reality. But beneath his obedient surface, a flicker of rebellion smolders.Despite constant surveillance and the ever-present threat of repression, he starts to inwardly question the Party. A note...

Radical, ruthless - and razor-sharp. Welcome to the brutal, revolutionary crime thrillers of Jean-Patrick Manchette, reissued by Vintage Classics in a major new celebratory series When it comes to Revolution, everyone pays In Paris, the Nada gang - a small cell of left-wing radicals - hatch a plan to kidnap the U.S. ambassador. They're armed, angry, and almost successful -...

On board the whaling ship Pequod a crew of wise men and fools, renegades and seeming phantoms is hurled through treacherous seas by crazed Captain Ahab, a man hell-bent on hunting down the mythic White Whale. Melville transforms the little world of the whale ship into a crucible where mankind's fears, faith and frailties are pitted against a relentless fate....

In this hilarious story from the best-selling first-reader series, Mary learns what happens when you bring a hungry pet to class! You shouldn't bring a pet to school.But Mary's pet is super cool! You're not supposed to bring your pet to the School of Monsters if you haven't fed them yet. But Mary LOVES her little pet! Surely it will be OK...

'One of the tragicomic classics of the AIDS era' The Nation Mimi Smithers, forty-something housewife and aesthete manquee, has moved with her Union Carbide husband from Tehran to Westchester. Life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Joel, a dazzlingly handsome porn star. Soon she tumbles down the rabbit hole of Manhattan and Fire Island society, helping glamorous Joel with...

ONE OF THE BBC'S '100 NOVELS THAT CHANGED OUR WORLD''Exciting, relevant and thought provoking.' STEPHEN KING'One of my favourite books.' SUZANNE COLLINS'Exemplary.' IAN MCEWANWith an Introduction by Producer Joel Wilson, Director Marc Munden and Writer Jack Thorne'There aren't any grown-ups anywhere.'A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, they explore the...

A new edition of Tolkien’s famous illustrated Letters from Father Christmas to his children is presented in a stunning hardback format, complete with full colour illustrations. This classic festive book of Tolkien’s amazing Father Christmas letters written to his children between the 1920s and the 1940s has been reworked into a new hardback edition to match other beloved Tolkien titles....

A short, claustrophobic, shattering novel about a woman unable to act to save a teenager in her care, by the mistress of sustained dread, Marlen Haushofer. Claustrophobic and shattering, this is the story of one ordinary woman unable to save a teenager in her care. It is the story of Stella... Stella is a friend's nineteen-year-old daughter who has come...

In early 20th-century Japan, a lone hiker falls through a hole in the ground into Kappaland. This is a place ruled by amphibious creatures who share characteristics with tigers and turtles, but who, for all their strangeness, shed light on the human condition. In Kappaland children choose whether or not to be born, intellectuals think nothing of drinking themselves to...

Featuring enchanting cover art from artist Laci Fowler, this exquisite collector's edition of Jane Eyre invites readers to relive Charlotte Brontë's timeless tale of love, independence, and haunting secrets.This deluxe painted edition is perfect for book collectors, Charlotte Brontë enthusiasts, and fans of Gothic romance and classic literature. Whether purchased as a gift or to treasure yourself, this edition features:...

A classic Western from one of the masters of the genre. A remote stage-coach station is closing down and a small group of travellers are thrown together on the last wagon out- the mysterious Doctor Favor and his wife, a traumatised girl, a brutal stranger called Braden, the station manager, the sharp-eyed young narrator and John Russell, known simply as...

Lift the flaps and join in the fun with this bestselling preschool classic, Hide-and-Seek Pig by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo. Pig and Hen are playing hide-and-seek. But where on earth could Hen be? Can you lift the flaps and help Pig find out where Hen is hiding? With sturdy flaps on every spread and rhyming...

A stunning wizarding package for readers to enjoy – the complete collection of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter adventures presented in hardback, with fun character stickers!This starry book trunk, decorated with magical owls and postmarks, is the ultimate way to escape to Hogwarts! Seven beautiful hardbacks are collected inside, featuring spectacular cover illustrations by Jonny Duddle, as well as quizzes, listicles...

From the original publishers of Harry Potter come the POCKET POTTERS, a gorgeously illustrated, collectable series packed with exciting story moments, quotes and fun information. Read about Hagrid in this magical mini-guide, with more wizarding favourites to come!The perfect gift for younger readers who love Harry Potter, each book introduces a much-loved character with bright, full-colour illustrations and magical details....

Caroline Blackwood's masterpiece, shortlisted for the 1977 Booker Prize - a gothic family drama in miniatureIn her gloomy mausoleum of a home, the terrifying matriarch Great Granny Webster spends her days sitting bolt upright in a Victorian chair, entirely alone except for her one-eyed maid - and her orphaned great-granddaughter, sent to stay for the sea air. She presides over...

'Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day.' Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Civil War, Margaret Mitchell's magnificent historical epic is an unforgettable tale of love and loss, of a nation mortally divided and a people forever changed. Above all, it is the story of beautiful, ruthless Scarlett O'Hara...

First Stories: Goldilocks and the Three Bears is the perfect introduction, for young children, to this classic fairy tale. Push, pull and turn mechanisms bring the story to life and introduce the main characters: Goldilocks and the Bear family. This well-loved fairy tale is beautifully imagined for a new generation by children's illustrator Natascha Rosenberg. Little ones can collect more...

A brilliant story of revenge and counter-revenge in Atlantic City After being shot by a mugger, Lt Vincent Mora is convalescing in Puerto Rico. There he meets Iris, a beautiful young woman who is bored and frustrated, looking for excitement and a new life. Then she is offered a job as a 'hostess' at a casino in Atlantic city by...

One of BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World, Frankenstein is the most famous novel by Mary Shelley: a dark parable of science misused. Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but wayward scientist, builds a human from dead flesh. Horrified at what he has done, he abandons his creation. The hideous creature learns language and becomes civilized but society rejects him. Spurned,...

Radical, ruthless - and razor-sharp. Welcome to the brutal, revolutionary crime thrillers of Jean-Patrick Manchette, reissued by Vintage Classics in a major new celebratory series Murder isn't always ugly. Aimee is drop-dead gorgeous, razor-sharp, and lethally efficient. A killer with a cool head and a taste for chaos, she arrives in the backwater town of Bleville - a festering stew...

​​When Hitler launches an invasion of the Netherlands,​​ Karel ​is almost killed in an air raid and falls in love for the first time, with a Jewish girl. But the bliss this passion brings is short lived, as his new love and her mother are forced to flee for their lives before the Nazi advance...Inspired partly by Kouwenaar's own experiences...

'A masterpiece of nostalgia, magic and warm-hearted storytelling... [It] will keep 4+ year olds enchanted for hours' School Reading ListCosta and Carnegie winning author and artist’s timeless, enchanting picture book, about shopping with the fairies in Silverbell Street.In Silverbell Street the shops are always open, if you believe in fairies. You can buy a cloak of invisibility or magic lamp,...

The special edition hardback of Agatha Christie’s disturbing 1960s mystery thriller, with a gorgeous new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. Gipsy’s Acre was a truly beautiful upland site with views out to sea – and in Michael Rogers it stirred a child-like fantasy.There, amongst the dark fir trees, he planned...

Oft-copied but never bettered, Jane Austen's Emma is a remarkable comedy of manners that follows the charming but insensitive Emma Woodhouse as she sets out on an ill-fated career of match-making in the little town of Highbury. Taking the pretty but dreary Harriet Smith as her subject, Emma creates misunderstandings and chaos as she tries to find Harriet a suitor,...

From the original publishers of Harry Potter come the POCKET POTTERS, a gorgeously illustrated, collectable series packed with exciting story moments, quotes and fun information. Read about Dobby in this magical mini-guide, with more wizarding favourites to come!The perfect gift for younger readers who love Harry Potter, each book introduces a much-loved character with bright, full-colour illustrations and magical details....

In a tranquil Kentish village, Dr Sandys and his wife are preparing for Christmas with their guest, Liane 'Lee' Crauford. Festivities start badly when their party is spoiled by an enigmatic widow new to the village, and the atmosphere hits rock bottom when the pompous local nobleman and ceramic-collector Sir Henry Metcalfe unexpectedly dies. Sensing potential villains among Metcalfe's circle,...

John Langan, author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman, returns with ten tales of cosmic horror. In these stories, he continues to chart the course of 21st-century weird fiction, from the unfamiliar to the familial, the unfathomably distant to the intimate. A Halloween haunted house becomes a conduit to something ancient and uncanny. The effigy of a movie...

Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice like you've never seen it – or read it – before! Classics in Graphics: The Merchant of Venice has been adapted into a graphic novel by expert authors, Steve Skidmore and Steve Barlow, with illustrations by Wendy Tan Shiau Wei. Follow the fate of Antonio, Bassanio, and Portia, who exist at the mercy of the...

Shakespeare's King Lear like you've never seen it - or read it - before! Classics in Graphics: King Lear has been adapted into a graphic novel by expert authors, Steve Skidmore and Steve Barlow, with illustrations by Juan Calle. You'll be sure to get swept up in the wild family drama that swirls across each page - as Lear's daughters...

Classic Horror Stories is a spine-chilling anthology that celebrates the thrilling pleasure and rich literary legacy of horror writing. From the sinister imagination of Edgar Allan Poe to the supernatural suspense of H. G. Wells, this collection of stories explores a range of eerie experiences. There are hauntings, monsters, and plenty of often inexplicable and always terrifying dramas. The classic...

'As gritty and hard-driving a thriller as you'll find . . . The action never stops, the language sings and stings' Washington Post Clement Mansell knows how easy it is to get away with murder. The crazed killer is back on the Detroit streets—thanks to some nifty courtroom moves by his lawyer—and this time he's feeling invincible enough to execute...

"I have been in love with no one, and never shall," she whispered, "unless it should be with you." A lonely castle, deep in the Styrian forest - here, Laura leads a solitary life, with only her elderly father for company, until a moonlit night brings an unexpected guest to the schloss. At first, Laura is glad to finally have...

Make choices to survive Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers in this Choose Your Path adaptation of classic literature's historical adventure. France is on the verge of war with England, and King Louis XIII has become the target of a deadly plot. Only you can save him! You are the young and talented D'Artagnan. You wish to become a musketeer, an...

The classic Caldecott Honor Book about berry-picking in Maine, now available for the first time in board book edition! Caldecott Honor Book. National Bestseller. Adored by generations of readers, this gorgeously illustrated classic tells a tale of youth, curiosity, and delight as a little girl and her mother make unexpected friends while picking blueberries in the Maine countryside. One of...

From the nation’s favourite storyteller comes a powerful, moving and heartwarming retelling of the beloved, unforgettable story of Black Beauty. A story championing kindness, compassion, and humanity, and a rallying cry for the rights of animals, readers have fallen in love with the story of a horse called Black Beauty for 150 years. Now, this faithful retelling, beautifully written with...

When morning broke, the ravages of this strange visitant were but too visible: graves had been opened, and the remains of the dead, frightfully torn and mutilated, lay scattered upon the earth. A village is driven to a murderous frenzy by the wolf walking among them. In the dead of night, a sleepwalking monk reenacts a scene of violence glimpsed...

Berlin, 1920s: a beacon of culture and hedonism, but a political mess. The streets are crowded with war veterans, beggars, prostitutes, and madmen, desperately chasing any means to secure a few marks or a roof over their heads. Come nighttime, a rag-tag group descends on the Jolly Huntsman pub to dance and drown their cares in all the schnapps they...

A riveting, funny coming-of-age story — the second volume in Pirkko Saisio's award-winning Helsinki trilogy. Teenaged Pirkko can't decide which she hates most — God, her communist father, or her growing breasts. Grandpa has moved into the room long promised to her, and Mother, overworked and distant, tries to keep the peace between her headstrong daughter and husband. It's 1960s...

Hans, an esteemed surgeon, has just returned from the hellish battlefields of the First World War. But everything in his home feels alien—even his wife Grete. As he tries to regain a sense of normality, he is haunted by nightmarish visions and a profound sense of dissociation. Has the war turned him into someone else? Or has another man wormed...

Discover your new favourite forgotten female classics with the Mermaid collection - No 7 - Henrietta Hamilton's Answer in the Negative with a foreword by Sophie Hannah. Frank Morningside, assistant at The National Press Archives on Fleet Street, is receiving nasty poison pen letters. His superior, Toby Lorn, wants to put a stop to it, so he calls on his...

Published in 1945, George Orwell's famous allegorical story Animal Farm is a satire about the corrupting effects of power, reflecting Orwell's views on the failures of communism. Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover....

France's favourite country policeman investigates a suicide and gets involved in a tricky local issue in the latest adventure in this ever-popular and bestselling mystery series. 'FRENCH TOURISM SHOULD RAISE A GLASS TO WALKER'S DORDOGNE MYSTERIES' Daily Mail An Enemy in the Village features Bruno Courrèges, the chief of police of the lovely Dordogne town of St Denis, with a...

Step right up to see the enchanted Ferris wheel whose magical gifts are to die for! Marvel at the man-eating menagerie and dreadful secrets of 'Satan's Circus'! Behold the nightmare waxworks of Mrs. Groby's Chamber of Horrors! Carnivals and sideshows are settings closely entwined with the history of horror cinema, but in the realms of literature, there is a strain...

Discover all there is to love about the USA with The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Discover all there is to love about the United States with The Very Hungry Caterpillar in this tabbed board book. The perfect way to celebrate America's 250th anniversary with your little one! Take a trip across the United States with The Very Hungry Caterpillar in this...

The characters are so carefully and believably crafted and the pace of the storytelling in her writing never slows, making this latest novel in the series another fantastic page turner. Freedom may be within their grasp... As the devastation of the potato blight continues, Cormac and Bridget grapple with their dual roles at Bewley Hall in England and Oakleigh Manor...

Susie Murphy...is an absolute HIT...This is another excellent installment to a beautiful series. - The Lit Bitch, book reviewer Their choices have shackled her dreams... It's 1836, and Bridget and Cormac have arrived, full of hope, to the city of Boston with their growing family. However, as they adjust to domestic life together for the first time, they face anti-Irish...

EDITORS' CHOICE, HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY 'This series keeps getting better... Once I started reading this book, it was so hard to stop... Such evocative writing.' - Elizabeth Bell, author of the Lazare Family Saga His past could destroy their future... Having escaped capture in London, Bridget and Cormac flee to Ireland with their daughter, Emily. Their homecoming is bittersweet as...

A book that you can't stop reading because you want to see how it ends, and yet you never want it to end...Susie Murphy is becoming one of my favourite authors. — Ashley O'Melia, author and freelance writer They never thought they'd see each other again... Trapped in a loveless marriage far from home, Bridget does what she can to...

I am completely blown away by this series...Simply outstanding. Book Reviews for U, book reviewer This single paperback volume contains the first, second, and third books in Susie Murphy's historical fiction series A Matter of Class. Society said they shouldn't fall in love... A Class Apart: It's 1828, and Ireland is in turmoil as Irish tenants protest against their upper-class...

A new selection of lyrically haunting 1960s short stories from a Japanese literary icon. A writer is seized by apocalyptic visions, a trio of beatniks dance to modern jazz in the ruins of an abandoned church, and a séance brings forth the reproachful spirits of the military dead. In Voices of the Fallen Heroes, stark autobiography contrasts with pure horror,...

Sororicidal didn't so much move me as arrest me. It stopped me in my tracks. A far more powerful thing. - Angela O'Keeffe A punk-gothic historical novel in which sisterhood is the defining experience of two women's lives - and also the potential death of them. Well-born Mary and Margot are raised on a vineyard estate above Adelaide in the...

A major hardcover compendium of poetry and fiction by the legendary Black American poet of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes. One of the most important writers to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes may be best known as a poet, but he was also a brilliant storyteller, blending elements of blues and jazz, speech and song, into a triumphant...

The spellbinding debut novel that launched the career of one of the greatest Italian writers of the twentieth century. Elisa—orphaned as a child, raised by a 'fallen woman', fed by fairy tales—has lived in an outlandish imaginary world for years. When her guardian dies, she feels compelled to confront her family's tortured and dramatic past, weaving the tale of her...

A deadly blaze. A desperate girl. Three days to crack the case. Everyone knows the story. Jamie George was the golden child. Her sister, Morgan, was nothing but trouble. When their house mysteriously burned down, Jamie barely survived. Morgan wasn’t so lucky. Three years later, teen podcaster Zoe Gale receives an urgent message. Jamie needs help. She’s received a threat...

A magical, charming, classic story of a little girl, a secret dragon, and the myths and legends of Cornwall, reissued in A Puffin Book for a new generation of readers to discover. Rediscover this magical story of a little girl and the dragon she finds in a cave in Cornwall, in this classic new edition. She heard a noise very...

The next new adventure in this blockbuster series!??

Do you dare to be scared? Luna Wilkinson wants to stand out - but not like this. Something that lurks in the dark and shadowy woods behind her house just bit her. Rude. And also, extremely unhygienic. Now she's the victim of an ancient curse that forces her to blurt out every swear word in the dictionary (as well as...

The second volume in an award-winning and bestselling portal fantasy graphic novel rooted in Nordic folklore. Perfect for fans of Frostheart and Amulet. Continue the journey north in this award-winning and bestselling portal fantasy graphic novel rooted in Nordic folklore. Separated from Espen and the trolls, Sonja must forge a path through the wondrous landscape of Jotundalen with the troubled...

From one of Denmark's most revered authors, a startlingly original novel about a migrant's fate, told across several generations of women. This is the story of a young woman who is spirited away to St. Petersburg from Copenhagen by a lovestruck admirer. When she dies after the Russian Revolution, her ashes are carried back to Denmark, igniting a chain reaction...

What just happened? The classic book you will need to dissect - the story of a writer whose research into a forgotten female author breaks down into a deeply creepy and weird tale of female erasure and resurrection. Deeply unnerving and utterly original - the book you will need to talk about. A writer decides to write her next book...

My Life with the Walter Boys meets The Notebook in this small town baseball romance perfect for fans of Kasie West and Carley Fortune. My Life with the Walter Boys meets The Notebook in this small town baseball romance perfect for fans of Kasie West and Carley Fortune. High school junior Eliza Crowley is known as the Princess of Fairfield,...

Celebrate the 50th anniversary of this beloved Little Critter classic as he tries his best to help his mom, only to find that sometimes, love means getting a little help yourself. This silly and sweet picture book about the mayhem that results from trying to help mom is a perfect gift any time of year! Mercer Mayer's Little Critter is...

The story of a brave, seafaring cat who, in the company of Matthew Flinders, circumnavigated the globe in the years 1799–1804. To the memory of Trim, the best and most illustrious of his race, the most affectionate of friends, faithful of servants, and best of creatures. He made a tour of the globe and a voyage to Australia, which he...

Bilbo comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves is an illustration made for The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien in 1937. In it, you can see Bilbo sitting on top of a barrel as it floats down the forest river. He and the Dwarves (who are hidden inside the barrels) have just escaped from the Elvenking. This was Tolkien's favourite watercolour...

Experience 13 harrowing tales of the mysterious and the macabre! Gather 'round for ominous tales of the paranormal that'll have you looking over your shoulder to make sure you're actually alone. This curated collection of hair-raising scary stories from across the world will thrill and ensnare. Read them with the lights off—if you dare. Eerie artwork - This artfully illustrated...

Back from the shouting floor and ceiling came the chorus of images that stormed and clamoured for expression. Jones lay still and listened; he let them come. There was nothing else to do. Algernon Blackwood was one of the most influential writers of twentieth-century weird and supernatural fiction. He once told a correspondent that every story he wrote was based...

Motionless now and in absolute silence, she awaited her doom, the moments growing to hours, to years, to ages; and still those devilish eyes maintained their watch. Ambrose Bierce was one of America's leading writers of the nineteenth century, seen by contemporaries as a successor to Edgar Allan Poe with an authentic grasp of horror based on his experiences fighting...

"All I can tell you is that I think it was pig's meat." "You mean you're not sure?" "One can never be sure." A brush with the mushroom devil whets the appetite. The meat at the werewolf's table is a dish to relish. Dessert with London's cannibal club may be the cherry on top. From fairy tales and folklore focused...

It matters not who you are born to but where you are made. It is 1597 and Kit Skevy and Mariner Elgin have just robbed the wrong grave. 'Vividly told, with powerfully drawn characters, this tale of obsession and betrayal set in the dark world of Tudor alchemy will cast its spell over historical fiction fans.' Heat It is 1597...

Horror movies come in all shapes and sizes. From jump-scares to gruesome and grizzly storylines, supernatural hauntings to axe-wielding murderers... there’s something for everyone! The Pocket Horror Movies provides a comprehensive guide to the top 50 horror movies of all time. Some are gory, some are subtle, but all of them will leave an impression on you, whether you like...

'A story? No. No stories, never again...' The short story has a rich tradition in French literature. This feast of an anthology celebrates its most famous practitioners, as well as newly translated writers ready for rediscovery. Here are fables, puzzles, fairy tales, war stories and family histories, testing and expanding the boundaries of the form. They are stories about the...

A mysterious news signal reports cosmic doom from an otherworldly location. X-ray evidence suggests the impossible truth that a sculptor is becoming one with his creation. A gramophone channels the venomous words of a churlish spirit and its cruel vengeance. The ground-breaking new technologies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries delivered their users into a world of unfathomable miracles and...

All about us on the stairs was some of the most exquisite statuary I have ever seen... save for a few pieces carved in the form of some hideous beast, the like of which I have never seen on earth... The sunken continent of Atlantis has dwelt in the collective imagination of writers and artists for centuries; a bejewelled paradox...

The pipe music shrilled suddenly around her, seeming to come from the bushes at her very feet, and at the same moment the great beast slewed round and bore directly down upon her. In 1894, Arthur Machen's landmark novella The Great God Pan was published, sparking a resurgence of literary fascination with the figure of the pagan goat god. Tales...

Sheridan Le Fanu was lauded by contemporaries such as M. R. James for his innovations in the ghost story and mystery genres, and his mastery of conjuring atmosphere and driving stories to thrilling narrative crescendos. And yet, aside from some regularly anthologised short stories and novellas, much of the writer's fiction remains unknown despite its quality. Aiming to firmly position...

The second in a series of republished classic literature, The Ghost Stories of M. R. James collects the tales that best illustrate his quiet mastery of the ghost story form. Running through each of these stories is a slowly escalating sense of unease and dread, which ultimately shifts into the wildly uncanny. James' characters exist in a world of ancient...