Classic General Fiction

A Study in Scarlet Discover the first classic Sherlock Holmes novel in this stunning edition, featuring an introduction from Mark Billingham. This edition also features the short story 'A Scandal in Bohemia'. When Dr Watson ends up renting rooms in Baker Street with the eccentric Sherlock Holmes, he finds that he has let himself in for a great deal more...

A moving, ironic, and often heartbreaking exploration of post-war America by the author of Revolutionary Road. Bobby is eighteen and lost on the battlefields of Europe, stumbling his way through World War II. He has not turned out to be the heroic soldier he imagined, and his experience of battle principally involves fear and confusion. Back home, his mother Alice...

A powerful 1931 portrayal of a German town on the brink of chaos, from bestselling author Hans Fallada. It is summer, 1929, and in a small German town a storm is brewing. The shabby reporter Tredup leads a precarious existence working for the Pomeranian Chronicle—until he takes some photographs that offer the chance to make a fortune. In Kruger's bar,...

Maugham's set of stories about his wartime spy John Ashenden, who prefigured James Bond with his exploits with exotic enemies and exotic women. When war broke out in 1914, Somerset Maugham was dispatched by the British Secret Service to Switzerland under the guise of completing a play. Multilingual, knowledgeable about many European countries and a celebrated writer, Maugham had the...

O'Hara is the only American writer to whom America presents itself as a social scene in the way it once presented itself to Henry James, or France to Proust. — The New York Times When the beautiful, imperious and moneyed Grace Caldwell Tate wants something, she goes after it, men included. Her affair scandalises Pennsylvania's elite, and she must face...

For all its excellence as a social panorama and a sketch of a marriage, it is as a picture of a man destroyed by drink and pride that Appointment in Samarra lives frighteningly in the mind – John Updike Julian English prides himself a member of his hometown's social elite, but from the moment he throws a cocktail in the...

A highly autobiographical tale of the growth of a young man's mind, and his striving for independence. With introductions by Dr Dieter Fuchs and Joseph O'Connor Against the backdrop of nineteenth century Dublin, a boy becomes a man—his mind testing its powers, obsessions taking hold and loosening again. The bonds of family, tradition, nation, and religion transform from supports into...

In February 2108, the New Zealand Rediscovery Expedition reaches California at last. It is over a century since the world was devastated by nuclear war, but the blight of radioactivity and disease still gnaws away at the survivors. The expedition expects to find physical destruction but they are quite unprepared for the moral degradation they meet. They find that the...

An Unofficial Rose offers a complex Shakespearean comedy of intertwined relationships, as nine closely linked characters search for love. After his wife's death, Hugh contemplates returning to his former mistress. His son, Randall, longs to abandon his shapeless marriage for a perfect partner. Randall's young daughter, Miranda, is adored by her Australian cousin Penn, but has attachments elsewhere. Her mother...

When Theodore Gumbril hits upon the notion of designing a type of pneumatic trouser ('a comfort to all travellers, indispensable to first-nighters, the concert-goers' friends') to ease the discomfort of the sedentary life, he decides the time has come to leave his position as a housemaster in a boys' public school and seek his fortune in the metropolis. But post-First-World-War...

Answered Prayers, Truman Capote's unfinished final novel, is an unsparing tell-all of New York high society that sent a seismic shock through the public and Capote's own social circle. Catapulted from a childhood spent in a Missouri orphanage to the dizzying peaks of New York high society, the destitute and debauched writer P. B. Jones spends his days moving between...

Bennett's remarkable sermon against parental tyranny set in the industrial world of early twentieth century England. Against the beautifully evoked backdrop of the Potteries district, the Five Towns—a gossipy community with its prayer meetings, hard physical work, small-minded bigotry and quick condemnation of others—Anna is dominated by her tight-fisted, tyrannical father. She inherits a fortune— with brilliant sympathy, charm and...

A young woman used to life under the strict rule of her tyrannical father finds herself on the brink of a new existence. Miserly and mysterious, the richest man in the Five Towns lives simply, ruling his household with an iron fist and a cruel temper. His daughter, Anna, is accustomed to the life of strict, thrifty order imposed by...

An Accidental Man by Iris Murdoch is lauded by Raymond Mortimer as written by "the most remarkable" novelist to emerge since the war. This is the story of the comic, relentless struggle for survival of Austin Gibson Grey, the accidental man. Austin thrives through the destruction of others. In Austin's case, the others include his successful elder brother, Matthew, and...

Perhaps the most interesting writer of his generation... A strange and disconcerting genius — Edwin Muir No other voice has borne truer witness to the dark of our times — George Steiner After an embarrassing sexual misadventure with a servant girl, sixteen-year-old Karl Rossman is banished to America by his parents. Expected to redeem himself in the land of opportunity,...

An extraordinary work of fiction, from one of the world's most exceptional writers, in our new Fowles livery. An extraordinary work of fiction, from one of the world's most exceptional writers. The year is 1736, and five travellers are journeying across Exmoor on horseback, their purpose unknown. One evening they stop at a village inn for some rest and, soon...

A dazzling sequence of novels about the English misbehaving at home and abroad. 'Brisk, bawdy and reckless' - Evening Standard 'A freak writer, he defies classification. In wilder moments he suggests a loose, lunatic collaboration of Trollope, Ouida and Waugh' - Observer The Alms for Oblivion sequence is an extraordinary series of murders, suicides, affairs, fighting, fires and at least...

All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West is a charming, extraordinary early 20th-century novel about family relationships and the unexpected freedoms of old age. Life begins at 88 for Lady Slane, a widow who escapes her overbearing family. When her husband, the great statesman Lord Slane, dies, everyone assumes his dutiful wife will slowly fade away, becoming the paying guest of...

The complete collection of Virginia Woolf's shorter fiction, including her most famous stories such as Kew Gardens and A Haunted House. 'The window panes reflected apples, reflected roses; all the leaves were green in the glass.' Nowhere are Virginia Woolf's daring experimentations with style and form more evident than in her short stories, which shimmer and flash with their author's...

Is it possible to die a happy death? This is the central question of Camus's astonishing early novel, published posthumously and greeted as a major literary event. It tells the story of a young Algerian, Mersault, who defies society's rules by committing a murder and escaping punishment, then experimenting with different ways of life and finally dying a happy man....

The lesser-known but brilliant novel by the hugely under-appreciated Anne Bronte. Discover the lesser-known but brilliant novel by the hugely under-appreciated Anne Bronte. When Agnes's father loses the family savings, young Agnes determines to make her own living - as a governess. Working for the Bloomfields, her enthusiasm is soon dampened by isolation and the cruelty of the children in...

A millionaire seeks eternal life, whilst corrupting and neglecting the things that make life worthwhile. A shocking cautionary tale from the author of Brave New World. Jo Stoyte is afraid of death. But Stoyte is also a millionaire, and so he pours his riches into scientific research, desperate to find the secret of immortality. This ruthless quest will enmesh everyone...

A brilliant, yet brutal, portrait of a woman struggling to retrieve both life and love. For six months, Julia has lived alone in a drab Parisian hotel on an allowance from her ex-lover, Mr Mackenzie. When his cheques stop, Julia decides to leave France and return to London. The tale of her ten-day visit contains some of Jean Rhys's most...

Iris Murdoch's comic tale of moral dilemmas - now republished as part of the Vintage Classics Murdoch Series - six gorgeous editions of her best, funniest, and most subversive novels published to mark her centenary. 'I feel there are demons around.' Everyone is thinking about Julius King. For comfortable, long-married Hilda and Rupert, he is a mystery. For Morgan, Hilda's...

Murder mystery based on the infamous life and death of Christopher Marlowe. 'One of the most productive, imaginative and risk-taking of writers... It is a clever, sexually explicit, fast-moving, full-blooded yarn' Irish Times A Dead Man in Deptford re-imagines the riotous life and suspicious death of Christopher Marlowe. Poet, lover and spy, Marlowe must negotiate the pressures placed upon him...

An acclaimed collection of enchanting, comic and clever tales from the Italian master. This collection of playful, deadly fables is populated with waifs and strays, a gluttonous thief and a mischievous gardener. The grimly comic story The Argentine Ant moved Gore Vidal to declare, "if this is not a masterpiece of twentieth-century prose writing, I cannot think of anything better"....

Adam Bede is George Eliot's first novel, a tale of rural tragedy and redemption. It may seem like an old tale: the beautiful village girl, her faithful admirer, a country squire's seduction. But when seen through the eyes of any of its players, the old tale becomes one of fresh heartbreak, innocent hopes, best intentions gone awry, and better selves...

Brilliant stories which show the growth of a novelist's mind, and the raw material which fed the wild surrealism of Bulgakov's later fiction. Translated by Michael Glenny With the ink still wet on his diploma, the twenty-five-year-old Dr Mikhail Bulgakov was flung into the depths of rural Russia which, in 1916-17, was still largely unaffected by such novelties as the...

'Marley's face. It was not in impenetrable shadow as the other objects in the yard were, but had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar.' – Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol Read the ultimate Christmas story of hope and redemption behind the recent BBC TV adaptation. Ebenezer Scrooge despises Christmas. He has no time...

At the age of forty-one, Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) underwent a profound spiritual crisis, from which he emerged believing that he had encountered death itself. These seven compelling stories explore, in very different ways, his subsequent preoccupation with mortality. The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a devastating account of a man fighting his inevitable end, and asks the existential question —...

The first unabridged English translation of the electrifying novel of secrets and delusions, from 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,...

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION FROM MAGGIE O'FARRELL Vera was painting the pony's hooves gold in the dining room; Janet said this was bad for him; poison would seep into his bloodstream. At the bottom of a great stone staircase, dressed in her mother's black lace evening dress, twisted in murderous death, lies Janet. So end the sixteen years of Janet's...

PRE-ORDER THE INSTITUTE, THE NEW HIGH-CONCEPT PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER BY KATHERINE BRADLEY, OUT SPRING 2026. ‘Frightening and timely, Bradley’s The Sisterhood is the book everyone should read this year. If you thought it ended with Orwell, think again . . .' CHRISTINA DALCHER Vox meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this feminist reimagining of 1984 In Oceania, whoever you are, Big Brother...

Others may vie for the top position … but Eddings reigns supreme - Publishers Weekly David Eddings’ Tamuli Trilogy has been reissued with a brand new livery. Queen Ehlana has been taken prisoner and held in the Hidden City as the time for battle approaches. The face of the enemy has been unmasked as Cyrgon, the sinister god of the...

The Fall of Númenor by J.R.R. Tolkien brings together his writings on the Second Age of Middle-earth, collected in one volume for the first time. J.R.R. Tolkien famously described the Second Age of Middle-earth as a ‘dark age, and not very much of its history is (or need be) told’. For many years, readers would only find tantalising glimpses within...

DISCOVER THE DU MAURIER DARK ROMANCE COLLECTION 'A great gothic writer' — KATE MOSSE 'A writer of fearless originality' — GUARDIAN 'The indisputable queen of the sophisticated literary thriller and historical romance' — LAURA SHEPPERSON 'She is in a league of her own... majestic, terrifying and beautiful' — CAMILLA GRUDOVA 'Feared and hated by friend and foe. The King's General...

DISCOVER THE DU MAURIER DARK ROMANCE COLLECTION Du Maurier is mistress of the sleight of hand in fiction . . . brilliantly, marvellously chilling - MAGGIE O'FARRELL Moody and unnerving – GILLIAN FLYNN Sinuous and undeniably feral – JULIE MYERSON * Every day, haunted still by doubt, I ask myself a question which I cannot answer. Was Rachel innocent or...

DISCOVER THE DU MAURIER DARK ROMANCE COLLECTION 'A brilliantly executed thriller' VOGUE 'Daphne du Maurier has no equal' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'The master of slow-burning menace' STACEY HALLS 'Her influence on fiction is incalculable, her imagination unsurpassable' ANDREW MICHAEL HURLEY She was a woman, and for no reason in heaven or earth she loved him. He had kissed her, and she...

A new selection of lyrically haunting short stories from a Japanese literary icon. A writer is seized by apocalyptic visions; a voyeuristic marquis commits a brutal act; and a trio of beatniks dance to modern jazz in the ruins of an abandoned church. Here, stark autobiography contrasts with pure horror, and the tenderness of first love cedes to obsession, heartbreak...

A thrilling crime classic, from the bestselling author of Tokyo Express. Tokyo, 1960. As the first rays of morning light hit the rails at Kamata Station, a man's body is found on the tracks. With only two leads - a distinctive accent and a single word, 'kameda' - senior inspector Imanishi Eitaro is called in to solve the puzzle. Setting...

Carry On, Jeeves is a classic collection of Jeeves and Wooster stories from P.G. Wodehouse, the great comic writer of the 20th century. Featured in The Sunday Times Great Audiobooks list 'What a very, very lucky person you are. Spread out before you are the finest and funniest words from the finest and funniest writer the past century ever knew'...

Glamorous expat life in Paris is brought to life in this new translation, part of the Maigret series. Try to imagine a guest, a wealthy woman, staying at the Majestic with her husband, her son, a nurse and a governess... In a suite that costs more than a thousand francs a day... At six in the morning, she's strangled, not...

The first English translation of this stirring novel of idealist loyalty and sibling love, by one of East Germany's most important writers. 1960. The border between East and West Germany has closed. For Elisabeth, a young painter, the GDR is her generation's chance to build an egalitarian socialist future. For her brother Uli, it is a place of stricture and...

Large print hardback edition of the first volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic adventure, The Lord of the Rings. Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power – the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring – the ring that rules them all...

VINTAGE CLASSICS FRENCH SERIES - stunning flapped paperback editions showcasing the bestselling, most acclaimed French writers of the twentieth century. The Second World War classic of life under Nazi occupation. Némirovsky was sent to Auschwitz in 1942. In 1941, Irène sat down to write a book that would convey the magnitude of what she was living through by evoking the...

50th anniversary hardback edition of the bestselling cult US classic - with extra material 50th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION As a young man and a prisoner of war, Kurt Vonnegut witnessed the 1945 US fire-bombing of Dresden in Germany, which reduced the once proudly beautiful city to rubble and claimed the lives of thousands of its citizens. For many years, Kurt...

A beautifully designed series that pays homage to the essential books of the most important and revolutionary Black arts movements in modern history. VINTAGE CLASSICS' HARLEM RENAISSANCE SERIES Celebrating the finest works of the Harlem Renaissance, one of the most important Black arts movements in modern history. 'White peoples maybe mistreats you an' hates you, but when you hates 'em...

Dark and whimsical tales from one of Japan's most beloved early twentieth-century writers. Japanese fairy tales - enchanting, enigmatic stories of animals, human beings, and the great natural world. Dark and innocent, sublime and whimsical, Miyazawa's stories have the ageless feel of the best fairy tales. There are animal allegories such as 'The Ungrateful Rat' where a rude rodent insults...

Meet ten of literature's most iconic heroines, jacketed in bold portraits by female photographers from around the world. Madame Bovary tells the story of Emma, who is trapped in a disappointing marriage with a dull country doctor, and dreams of a life more like the sentimental novels she reads. In an attempt to escape the drab reality of her provincial...

Meet ten of literature's most iconic heroines, jacketed in bold portraits by female photographers from around the world. He must know by now, I should think, that I can give as good as I get! This is the story of Gigi, educated as a future courtesan in Paris. Her days are filled with cigars, lobster, lace, and superstitions. Bored and...

Soon to be a major TV series on Channel 4 and Hulu, starring George Clooney and Hugh Laurie. As seen on BBC Two's Between the Covers Discover Joseph Heller's hilarious and tragic satire on military madness, and the tale of one man's efforts to survive it. It's the closing months of World War II and Yossarian has never been closer...

Buddenbrooks, Mann's semi-autobiographical and sweeping family epic, is the book that won him the Nobel Prize for Literature. Discover Mann's Nobel Prize-winning semi-autobiographical and sweeping family epic. The Buddenbrook clan is everything you'd expect of a nineteenth-century German merchant family—wealthy, esteemed, established. Four generations later, a tide of twentieth-century modernism has gradually disintegrated the bourgeois values on which the Buddenbrooks...

Everyone belongs to everyone else. Read the dystopian classic that predicted the future and inspired the upcoming Sky Atlantic TV series. Welcome to New London. Everybody is happy here. Our perfect society achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family, and history itself. Now everyone belongs. You can be happy too. All you need to do...

Rediscover Alice on the 150th anniversary of the book's first publication, with this definitive adult edition. Celebrate 150 years of Alice Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass features one of the most beloved characters of English writing. Alice, a bright and inquisitive child, follows a white rabbit down a rabbit-hole one boring summer afternoon. At the bottom,...

To celebrate The Hobbit’s 75th anniversary of publication, a pocket-sized hardback of J.R.R. Tolkien’s timeless classic, perfect for little Hobbits everywhere. Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home; then one day the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves arrive unexpectedly and enlist his services – as a...

Painstakingly restored from Tolkien’s manuscripts and presented for the first time as a standalone work, the epic tale of The Fall of Gondolin will reunite fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings with Elves and Men, Balrogs, Dragons and Orcs, and the rich landscape and creatures unique to Tolkien’s Middle-earth. In the tale of The Fall of...

On Heroes and Tombs is Sabato's masterpiece of obsessive love and murder set in 1950s Buenos Aires, now available in Penguin Modern Classics. This dark, philosophical novel is centred around a violent crime committed by Alejandra, the daughter of a prominent Argentinian family. Alejandra's act entangles the lives of three men: her father, Fernanda Vidal, who believes he is hunted...

Maigret's Pickpocket is an intriguing tale where Inspector Maigret himself falls victim to a curious incident involving a pickpocket. The story begins when a pickpocket steals Maigret's wallet, only to return it the next day with the unusual condition that Maigret visits the thief's apartment. Intrigued, Maigret complies, leading him to the unexpected discovery of the thief's dead wife. This...

A classic 1960s novel of J.G. Ballard-ian strangeness, from one of Britain's most haunting and unforgettable voices. The world is threatened by encroaching ice, creeping down day by day from the polar ice caps. The imminent catastrophe has thrown the world's governments into chaos, and no one knows whether the disaster has an environmental or nuclear cause, or how soon...

A searing exploration of a woman's hidden destructive impulses from one of the great writers of the twentieth century. 'There was no longer that ambivalent inconsistency between her words and thoughts, no more fever, no more artificial heat, no more vagueness. Instead was the truth in all its rawness, in black and white, in stark, cruel lines.' Adrift and alone,...

A Spy In The House Of Love explores the life of Sabina, a beautiful, bored, and bourgeois woman who leads a double life driven by her relentless desire for brief encounters with near-strangers. Propelled into infidelity by a desperate longing for sexual fulfilment, she weaves a sensual web of deceit across New York. However, when the secrecy of her affairs...

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary ...revealing great shining fangs more than three inches long. Some of the most macabre and wonderful of all Chinese stories, including The Golden Goblet, Scorched Moth the Daoist and The Black Beast. Introducing Little Black Classics - 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the...

Little Black Classics - 80 books at 80 pence each to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary It was as if the sea, breaking down the wall protecting all the homes of the town, had sent a wave over her head One of Conrad's most powerful, gripping stories Introducing Little Black Classics - 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics...

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary The Yellow Wall-Paper "The colour is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing." Written with barely controlled fury after she was confined to her room for "nerves" and forbidden to write, Gilman's pioneering feminist horror story scandalised nineteenth-century readers with its portrayal...

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary 'There sat the dog with eyes as big as mill wheels' Though criticised for their anarchic immorality when first published, Hans Christian Andersen's tales made him an international star, taken to the hearts of children and adults for their beauty, sorrow and strangeness.

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary. Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was a groan of mortal terror ... the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul. Stories about murder, mystery and madness, portraying the author's feverish imagination at its creative height. Introducing Little Black Classics...

46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946 'PALE TERROR GOES BEFORE HIM, DEATH AND DEVASTATION FOLLOW!'

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary. The Steel Flea by Nikolay Leskov is a fascinating tale filled with vibrant characters and incredible feats. The story takes the reader on a journey full of whimsy and ingenuity, showcasing Leskov's unique storytelling abilities. 'The Steel Flea' features intriguing elements, such as the scene where an order...

The Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-tongue is part of the Little Black Classics series, a collection crafted to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary. "In two I'll slice the hair-seat / of Helga's kiss-gulper." This captivating saga weaves the tale of a love triangle amidst Icelandic society, showcasing themes of rivalry, love, and vengeance. The vivid poetry and dramatic elements bring to life...

The Reckoning by Edith Wharton is part of Little Black Classics, a new series celebrating Penguin's 80th anniversary. 'If marriage was the slow life-long acquittal of a debt contracted in ignorance, then marriage was a crime against human nature...'

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary The Old Man of the Moon by Shen Fu invites readers into a world of emotion and mystery with the poignant question: 'Our passion was so great. Will the Old Man understand and help us once again?' This sentiment captures the essence of the narrative, appealing to those...

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary. The Nose by Nikolay Gogol tells the peculiar and surreal tale of a man who loses his nose. Incredibly, it begins leading a life of its own, even assuming the identity of a higher-ranking official. 'Strangely enough, I mistook it for a gentleman at first. Fortunately, I had...

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary. I could see that she was still terribly afraid, but I didn't soften anything; instead, seeing that she was afraid I deliberately intensified it. Based on a St Petersburg news report, Dostoyevsky's searing tale of a man who drives his wife to suicide.

The Life of a Stupid Man is part of the Little Black Classics series, launched to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary. "What is the life of a human being - a drop of dew, a flash of lightning? This is so sad, so sad." This collection features autobiographical stories from Ryunosuke Akutagawa, one of Japan's masters of modernist storytelling. These pieces...

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary. The Gate of the Hundred Sorrows opens with, “Mind you, it was a pukka, respectable opium-house, and not one of those stifling, sweltering chandoo-khanas that you can find all over the City.” Kipling first became famous for his pungent, harsh and shocking stories of northwest India, where he...

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary The Figure in the Carpet 'Did she know and if she knew would she speak?'

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary 'She has many rare and charming qualities, but Sobriety is not one of them.'

The Atheist's Mass is part of the Little Black Classics series, launched to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary. "This is as much a mystery as the Immaculate Conception, which of itself must make a doctor an unbeliever." The enigmatic tale unfolds in true Balzacian style, exploring the dichotomy between faith and scepticism, belief and science, through the eyes of a doctor...

Little Black Classics - the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts explores the macabre world of murder as an art form. The author enthralls readers with his satirical and darkly humorous discourse. 'People begin to see that something more goes to the composition of a fine murder than two blockheads...

Little Black Classics – the new series to celebrate Penguin's 80th anniversary Mrs Rosie and the Priest 'When the men were off somewhere, he would come visiting their wives more solicitously than any priest they'd had before...' Mrs Rosie and the Priest is part of the delightful collection of short stories showcasing Giovanni Boccaccio's wit and insight into human nature....