62 results for "Literary Fiction"

Blast from the Past

Ben Elton
Ready to follow Nick Hornsby and Helen Fielding as the next big thing from Cool Britannia to hit America is Ben Elton. Already known to a wide public television audience as the funnyman behind Blackadder, The Young Ones, and The Thin Blue Line, Elton, author of Popcorn , lights up the literary sky with Blast from the Past . Part noir thriller, part hilarious send-up of the politics of extremism, Blast from the Past is the new novel from English comedy phenomenon (stand-up, playwright, television writer, and author) Ben Elton--a name soon to be known in all circles once Joel Schumacher's film of his book Popcorn reaches the silver screen. In the early 80s, when Polly was a seventeen-year-old ideological peace protestor and Jack was a U.S. Army captain stationed at England's Greenham Common, the two had a secret and very unlikely affair. No two people could have had more to argue about, save that they couldn't live without each other, yet one day Jack came to the conclusion that he loved soldiering more than Polly and sacrificed their love to be a career army man. Now, sixteen years later, Polly is a lonely thirty-something social services employee and Jack is a four-star general who has returned to Britain to find her, his only true love. With only one night to resolve their differences, and a knife-wielding stalker lurking in the shadows, for everyone concerned this will be a night like no other. From the Hardcover edition.
Delta 2000-10 304 pages

Guardian of the Dawn

Richard Zimler
From The Highly Acclaimed Author Of The Last Kabbalist Of Lisbon And Hunting Midnight Comes A Sweeping Tale Of Devotion, Persecution And Vengeance In Colonial India By The Time The 16Th Century Was Drawing To A Close In The Portuguese Colony Of Goa, The Catholic Inquisition Was Making Excellent Progress In Its Mission To Keep All Sorcerers Whether Native Hindus Or Immigrant Jews From Practising Their Traditional Beliefs. Those Who Refused To Denounce Others And Give Up Their Ways Were Either Strangled By Executioners Or Burnt Alive In Public Autos-Da-Fé. By Living Just Outside Colonial Territory, The Zarco Family Manages To Stick Firm To Its Portuguese Jewish Roots. Tiago And His Sister Sofia Enjoy A Peaceful Childhood Learning To Illustrate Manuscripts With Their Father, And Secretly Dipping Into The Heady Chaos Of The Hindu Festivals Celebrated By Their Beloved Cook Nupi. As The Children Reach Adulthood, The Family Is Torn Apart When First The Father And Then The Son Are Imprisoned By The Inquisition. But Who Could Have Betrayed Them? Impeccably Researched, Guardian Of The Dawn Is Both A Riveting Historical Mystery And, In Its Profound Exploration Of The Nature Of Evil, A Powerful Reinterpretation Of Othello. This Is Richard Zimler At His Imaginative, Energetic, And Insightful Best. Praise For The Last Kabbalist Of Lisbon Zimler [Is] A Present-Day Scholar And Writer Of Remarkable Erudition And Compelling Imagination, An American Umberto Eco. Francis King, Spectator Drenched In Atmosphere And Period Detail. Wall Street Journal A Riveting Literary Murder Mystery, His Novel Is Also A Harrowing Picture Of The Persecution Of 16Th-Century Jews, And In Passing, The Atmospheric Introduction To The Hermetic Jewish Tradition Of The Kabbalah. Independent On Sunday A Fascinating Novel With Spellbinding Subject Matter. Elle Praise For Hunting Midnight Enthralling&Hunting Midnight Is A Shamelessly Sprawling Historical Novel, Spanning Continents, Napoleonic Wars, A Secret Jewish Family, Kalahari Magic, And Slavery In South Carolina. Sydney Morning Herald Zimler Is Always An Exhilaratingly Free Writer, Free Of Ordinary Taboos&Hunting Midnight Shows Zimler At The Height Of His Powers. London Magazine This Is An Epic Melodrama, Spanning Three Continents And More Than Twenty-Five Years, Building Up To A Genuinely Moving Climax. Literary Review This Is A Rousing Roaring Roller Coaster Of A Read. Climb Aboard And Have Zimler Rattle You Off Into The Sort Of Expansive Imaginative Realm That Readers Dream Of And Lesser Writers Steer Clear Of&Bracing, Spine-Tingling Stuff. Australian Reading Hunting Midnight Was Like Discovering A Rare Gem. Richard Zimler Is A Brilliant Author With A Touch Of Genius. Rendezvous Magazine (Usa)
Penguin Books India 2008 386 pages

The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz

Russell Hoban
Jachin-Boaz is a maker and seller of maps. In his shop are maps that will lead you to whatever it is you most desire: love, inspiration, wealth. But his greatest achievement is a master-map showing the location of everything that has ever been found in the world, which he intends to give to his son, Boaz-Jachin. There is only one thing missing from the map: lions - for there are no more lions left. Or are there? When Jachin-Boaz sets out on a quest to find a lion for his son, Boaz-Jachin will follow in search of his father, and both will discover something wholly unexpected ... Russell Hoban's first novel for adults, The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz (1973) was widely acclaimed by critics and earned comparisons to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Both a humorous and light-hearted fantasy and an insightful meditation on the sometimes difficult relationships between fathers and sons, it is a perfect introduction to the work of this brilliant writer. 'A piece of invention as original as any of Tolkien's or C.S. Lewis's.' - New Statesman 'Magic at work ... Funny as well as beautiful.' - Irish Times 'Mr. Hoban is unclassifiable, thank goodness. His narrative is so minutely and compellingly realistic that after a time you cease to notice that he has stood reality on its head.' - Sunday Times 'Of outstanding quality ... unusually vivid imagination ... immensely striking use of words.' - Auberon Waugh, The Spectator
Valancourt Books 2015-05-12 150 pages

Your Mouth Is Lovely

Nancy Richler
Your Mouth Is Lovely is a grand and glorious novel, greeted with ecstatic reviews in Canada and on the international scene. The story of a family caught between the rich yet rigid traditions of the past and the unfamiliar and often frightening ways of a society poised on the precipice of change, Your Mouth Is Lovely centers around Miriam, a young Jewish woman caught in the 1905 Russian Revolution. The kind of book that simply won't be put down, this is literary fiction at its very best.
Harper Collins Canada Ltd. 2002-08-29 368 pages

Live a little

Jacobson, Howard
'A . . . tender love story . . . This book is alive. It pulses with warmth and intelligence' The Times A wickedly observed novel about falling in love at the end of your life, by the Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Finkler Question. At the age of ninety-something, Beryl Dusinbery is forgetting everything - including her own children. She spends her days stitching morbid samplers and tormenting her two carers with tangled tales of her husbands and affairs. Shimi Carmelli can do up his own buttons, walks without a frame and speaks without spitting. Among the widows of North London, he's whispered about as the last of the eligible bachelors. He forgets nothing -especially not the shame of a childhood incident that has long hung over him. There's very little left remaining for either of them. . . But perhaps just enough to heal some of the hurt inflicted along the way, and find new meaning in what's left. * SHORTLISTED FOR THE WINGATE LITERARY PRIZE 2020*
Vintage Books 2020-08-06 288 pages

My Idea of Fun: Reissued

Self, Will
When the young Ian Wharton first meets Mr Broadhurst, he is completely unaware of the influence he will come to exert over his life as 'The Fat Controller' - a constant companion and confidant and also the obese, erudite manifestation of Ian's mental illness. As Ian's idea of fun becomes increasingly extreme, the reader is taken to a place where morality is eroded by the dull grind of modernity and everything becomes admissable.
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 2011-09-19 384 pages

When We Were Bad

Mendelson, Charlotte
Critics in Britain are already raving about Charlotte Mendelson’s excoriatingly funny yet deeply humane novel about a glamorous London family that happens to be falling apart. The Rubins are the perfect family. They’re wonderfully happy and very glamorous. The mother, Claudia, is the ultimate Jewish a powerful rabbi known for her charm, brains, and determination. Now this dynastic Jewish family is getting ready to marry off the perfect eldest son. History, community, and even gastronomy unite the guests lucky enough to attend this joyous occasion. But when the groom -- one minute before exchanging vows -- bolts with the wrong woman, the myths that have defined this family take on darker overtones. Mendelson’s astonishing eye for detail, as well as her just-right balance of plot and character, makes the unfolding of this story an uncommon treat. In a marvelously compressed style that also bursts with life, she reveals how all four adult Rubin children, and their parents, struggle with huge secrets, sexual frustration and sexual experimentation, and many betrayals. Charlotte Mendelson opens a window on a realm rarely explored in British the complicated world of English Jewry. But to watch this seemingly blessed family drastically, disastrously fall apart before regaining balance is to understand that their struggles -- like all of ours -- are universal ones.
Harper Perennial 2008 336 pages

Mourning Glory

Warren Adler
Grace Sorentino has never known the good life: from childhood hardships, to a marriage that began with lofty dreams and ended with all hopes shattered. Dealt bad hand after bad hand. Grace and Jackie, her rebellious teenage daughter, are now stuck in Florida, on the verge of poverty. Grace is underpaid and under appreciated cosmetician at Saks Fifth Avenue, and Jackie-when she is not spending her time with questionable boys-balances school and two jobs. Just when Grace things couldn't get any worse, Grace is fired after accidentally insulting a snobby customer. However, it is a blessing in disguise. As she walks out the door, her boss offers her an invaluable piece of advice: don't look for a new job, but a vulnerable old rich widower who has just lost his wife; comfort him, and once his guard is down, seduce him. The keys to success and fortune are not a name tag and uniform, but a new last name and a ring on your finger. Marriage should be the number-one priority. At first Grace is appalled by the idea, but as rent, car payments, and credit card bills pile up, her despair turns to desperation. She begins looking through the obituaries for her last chance at a good life-after all, isn't that something everyone deserves?
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform 2016-06-17 326 pages

I Am My Beloveds

Jonathan Papernick
Ben Seidel wasn't sure how serious they were when he and his wife, Shira, discussed having an open marriage. But when Shira announces that she is going on a date with Liz, any ambiguity evaporates. Suddenly, every day is new terrain for Ben, navigating between keeping things together with Shira and exploring new partners. And when one of those new partners begins to matter to him more than he ever anticipated, he discovers that the complexities of this new life are only just beginning. Bracingly honest, refreshingly sexy, and deeply empathetic, I Am My Beloveds is the work of a superior storyteller, making real a lifestyle that might be as close as your own bedroom door.
Story Plant 2024-01-30 336 pages

The Featherbed A Novel

John Miller
When Anna and Sadie discover the diaries of their mother, Rebecca, in the days following her death, they learn that her life was far more complex than either of them knew: a garment worker in early-1900s New York; the reluctant wife in an arranged marriage to an ailing and abusive husband; the improbable friend of a pregnant prostitute.But the diaries reveal more than just surprising details about Rebecca's life: they also point to a family secret - and questions about Sadie's true parentage.The Featherbed is a gripping family saga that moves between the tenements of New York's Lower East Side and the stately homes of Toronto's Annex. Strong in plot, character, setting, and style, it is a fully-realised debut from an assured writer.
ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited 2016-12-28 452 pages