In this unforgettable book, Arthur Waley brings together a number of his articles, poems and translations. Included in this collection are pieces on the eighth-century Chinese poet Ts'�n Sh�n and the great Chinese prose writer, Han Y�, as well as some of Waley's original poems and stories. But the most compelling is 'The Secret History of the Mongols', consisting of long extracts from a thirteenth-century Chinese saga. Written in vivid, elegant prose, it recounts fantastic tales of epic battles; of betrayal and love; of tyrants and prisoners. Suffused with symbolism and folklore, it is a masterpiece of storytelling which will appeal to the scholar and the ordinary reader alike.

The new wizard tries to solve all the town's problems, but carelessness with his own magic tears creates a tragedy instead.

This book wonderfully combines the generational family stories of Amy Tan with the magical realism and folklore of Isabel Allende. Rosa's start in life is far from auspicious; born only a few days after her father's brutal murder, her first childhood experiences take place against a sound-track of shells and guns. She remembers finding her new home in West Jerusalem so recently vacated by its former Arab owners that there is still a meal on the table. Rosa grows up to be a voluptuous beauty with a voracious appetite for all sensual pleasures. Though a childhood prophecy leads her to believe that she will have four husbands, nothing prepares her for the extroadinary and remarkable diverse life she is to lead.

A beautifully written, sensual and evocative book, in the tradition of Amy Tan and Isabelle Allende, rich in magic realism and folklore. 'To understand the end you have to look for the beginning'. As a little girl in Jaffa, Israel, Tamara has an insatiable desire for stories, constantly asking questions of those around her, and demanding explanations. However, no-one ever seems to give Tamara the whole story, so instead she must piece together the various narratives herself in what will become a lifelong attempt to unravel the hidden secrets of her tangled family history, and so bring some meaning to her own life. Raised by her fiercely independent maternal grandmother, Simcha, who jealously guards her from others, in particular her paternal grandmother, Rashella, Tamara's love of stories develops into a voracious appetite for life itself. An impulsive, passionate seeker of knowledge in all its forms, nothing prepares her for the thrilling intensity and the danger of falling deeply, madly in love for the first time