Turgenev is an author we all should read. This is his great novel, chosen by my book group. His characters are memorable and the view of nineteenth century Russia is fascinating. But most of all I love Turgenev's style of writing. He can make you smile and break your heart in the same paragraph. There's no one quite like him.
Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons explores the ageless conflict between generations through a period in Russian history when a new generation of revolutionary intellectuals threatened the state. This Penguin Classics edition is translated from the Russian by Peter Carson, with an introduction by Rosamund Bartlett and an afterword by Tatyana Tolstaya.
Returning home after years away at university, Arkady is proud to introduce his clever friend Bazarov to his father and uncle. But their guest soon stirs up unrest on the quiet country estate - his outspoken nihilist views and his scathing criticisms of the older men expose the growing…
I don't usually enjoy historical fiction, so this was a revelation to me. I decided to read it after seeing the wonderful series on TV, so beautifully done, and it was well worth reading. The main character is complex and richly drawn, and I learned a great deal about 16th-century England, which is the appeal of historical fiction. Mantel, unlike some other authors, went very deeply into research, and her understanding of the times is fantastic. Most of all, I admire her unique style, truly original and engaging.
Winner of the Man Booker Prize
Shortlisted for the the Orange Prize
Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award
`Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good'
Daily Mail
'Our most brilliant English writer'
Guardian
England, the 1520s. Henry VIII is on the throne, but has no heir. Cardinal Wolsey is his chief advisor, charged with securing the divorce the pope refuses to grant. Into this atmosphere of distrust and need comes Thomas Cromwell, first as Wolsey's clerk, and later his successor.
Cromwell is a wholly original man: the son of a brutal blacksmith, a political genius, a briber, a charmer, a bully, a man with…
I don't usually care for thrillers, but as it happens, this novel had me eagerly turning the pages. The author is a very skilled writer and has you in the palm of his hand as he propels you from one turn of events to another. This isn't just a read for entertainment, though -- it has something to say about human nature. Yet it's never fussy or pretentious, far from it.
“Spectacular. . . . Ten shades blacker and several corpses grimmer than the novels of John Grisham. . . . Do yourself a favor. Read this book.” —Entertainment Weekly
Two brothers and their friend stumble upon the wreckage of a plane–the pilot is dead and his duffle bag contains four million dollars in cash. In order to hide, keep, and share the fortune, these ordinary men all agree to a simple plan.
LOVELAND: A MEMOIR OF ROMANCE AND FICTION is part wry memoir and part serious cultural critique, combining the author's expertise in classic romance novels with a personal account of her own experiences as a romantic woman.
