In this companion to Urs Widmer’s novel My Mother’s Lover, the narrator is again the son who pieces together the fragments of his parents’ stories. Since the age of twelve, Karl, the father, has observed the family tradition of recording his life in a single notebook, but when his book is lost soon after his death, his son resolves to rewrite it.Here, we get to know Karl’s friends—a collection of anti-fascist painters and architects known as Group 33. We learn of the early...

A magnificent example of Widmer’s characteristic humor, literary genius, and unparalleled imagination.In the wildly entertaining novel The Blue Soda Siphon, the narrator unexpectedly finds himself back in the world of his childhood: Switzerland in the 1940s. He returns to his childhood home to find his parents frantic because their son is missing. Then, in another switch, the young boy that he was back then turns up in the present of the early 1990s, durin...

The day is Friday, May 22, 2032. On this day, the day after his ninety-fourth birthday, a man is sitting in a beautiful garden. It is a paradise where he often played during his childhood, and it is here that he is recording the story of his adventures with Mr. Adamson. In the course of this compelling novel from Swiss author Urs Widmer, this man narrates his unusual story to his granddaughter, Anni. While he recounts his life, he is also waiting—waiting for the arrival of this very Mr. Ad...

Kuno, a male nurse in a Swiss retirement home, has a new inmate: his father. In the confines of their new home, the pair does something surprising—they finally begin to talk. Kuno had always regarded his father as a boring man without a history or a destiny, until they are thrust together and he learns that his father risked his life in the war. Stunned, Kuno embarks on a journey into his own psyche, taking him to the depths of the Congo. Here, longings awaken and dreams come true—rays of ...

It’s Switzerland in the 1920s when the two lovers first meet. She is young, beautiful, and rich. In contrast, he can barely support himself and is interested only in music. By the end of their lives, he is a famous conductor and the richest man in the country, but she is penniless. And most important of all, no one knows of her love for him; it is a secret he took to his grave. Here begins Urs Widmer’s novel My Mother’s Lover.Based on a real-life affair, My Mother...

"[An] accomplished debut. . . . The novel is narrated entirely in the second person, a stylistic choice that produces moments of intense intimacy.—The New Yorker"Geary enters the literary arena with a bang: this debut about an unconventional love affair between a teenage boy and an older woman is unassuming but gorgeously rendered."—Publishers Weekly,starred and boxed reviewMontpelier Parade is just across town, but to Sonny it might as we...

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Cockroaches, Olav Johansen is a walking contradiction: a cold-blooded killer with a heart of gold. This was not a problem—until he fell for his boss’s wife….“Nesbø’s much-heralded gifts are on display.” —The New York Times Book ReviewOlav is a fixer for a high-profile crime kingpin in 1970s Oslo. He easily takes care of anyone who causes trouble for his boss. But he...

When his cover is blown, former Berlin bull and unwilling SS officer Bernie Gunther must re-enter a cat-and-mouse game that continues to shadow his life a decade after Germany’s defeat in World War 2...The French Riviera, 1956: Bernie’s old and dangerous adversary Erich Mielke, deputy head of the East German Stasi, has turned up in Nice—and he’s not on holiday. Mielke is calling in a debt and wants Bernie to travel to London to poison a female agent they’v...

Book 2 in the fantastic four book series about taking risks and flying high, from the children's book legend Paul Jennings and brilliant cartoonist Andrew Weldon.'You're grounded, Ricky,' said Mum. 'Yes,' said Dad. 'In more ways than one.'Ricky is an ordinary boy, who can fly. He can really fly! But only when no one is looking. His dream is to one day be FAMOUS. But after accidentally opening the car window at the car wash, he's grounded. No movies...

THE FIRST NOVEL IN PHILIP KERR’S ACCLAIMED HISTORICAL MYSTERY SERIESWhen private investigator Bernie Gunther agrees to track down some stolen jewels, his search takes him down the dangerous streets of pre-World War 2 Berlin and into the path of the most influential players in Nazi Germany…Wisecracking cop turned private investigator Bernie Gunther specializes in missing persons, and as the Third Reich’s power has grown, Bernie has become a ...

The cat sat comfortably on the wall.Are you sitting comfortably?Then I will continue.As you know cats like to sit. Sometimes they like to sit and think, and sometimes they just like to sit. But on this occasion the cat was sitting and thinking,'What a lovely day'.But little did the cat know that it was all going to go horribly wrong.

An evocative and moving mix of memoir and fiction from an award-winning novelist. As war is waged in the Middle East, a woman in New Zealand has her nose in a book. Kate is immersed in other battles, engrossed in eyewitness accounts of an earlier war in ancient Persia. She has grown up, left her Otago home and returned, and in all these years books have shaped her life and made sense of the world - offering mystery and solace, entertainment and enlightenment. From The...