Daddy's Gone A-Hunting, a 1958 novel by Penelope Mortimer, is about the expectations of women, about a house-bound mother reluctantly (desperately) at home all day, in contrast to her daughter who has escaped, to university and then, we can assume, to a job.'The book came out at a time,' writes Valerie Grove in the Preface, 'when the impact of the new wave of feminism, which would change everything under the banner of women's liberation, had not yet arrive...

This darkly humorous novel of a woman’s inner musings on motherhood, betrayal, dreams—and the unpredictable emotions that surround them—is “so moving, so funny, so desperate, so alive . . . one to be greatly enjoyed” (The New York Times).The “strange, fresh” feminist classic that inspired the 1964 film starring Anne Bancroft (Nick Hornby, author of Funny Girl).The Pumpkin Eater is a surreal black comedy about the ...

A peakthrough novel of suburban loneliness and subversion—“her style, spare and singular, cuts through the decades like a scalpel” (Rachel Cooke, The Observer)A bourgeois housewife, Ruth Whiting, is “paralysed by triviality,” measuring out her days in coffee mornings, glasses of sherry, and pidge parties—routines that barely disturb the solitude of her existence. Her husband spends his weeknights in town; their daughter, eighteen-year-old Angela, is at Oxf...

From the New York Times bestselling author of Homecomingcomes a haunting tale of long-buried secrets and the twists of fate that can alter lives forever.This enthralling romantic thriller pays homage to the classics of gothic fiction, spinning a rich and intricate web of mystery, suspense, and lost love.It starts with a letter, lost for half a century and unexpectedly delivered to Edie’s mother on a Sunday afternoon. The letter leads Edie ...

A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK • Six stories from the beloved "Queen of Crime"—swift, cunning murder mysteries from throughout her extraordinary career."A sophisticated collection. . . . Stylishly told and worthy of being read aloud by the fire.” —The New York Times Book Review**“An unexpected delight. . . . This small collection is indeed a gift. . . . James’ skills at complicating the genre are never more apparent than h...

The New York Times Bestseller! The story of an outcast boy, his eccentric dad, and the scary underground world they discover through secret TUNNELS. 14-year-old Will Burrows has little in common with his strange, dysfunctional family. In fact, the only bond he shares with his eccentric father is a passion for archaeological excavation. So when Dad mysteriously vanishes, Will is compelled to dig up the truth behind his disappearance. He unearths the unbelievable: a secret subterranean socie...

When Angela Marchmont’s motor-car runs off the road in the fog-bound Romney Marsh, she stumbles upon the body of a young woman hidden in a ditch, her face so badly disfigured that identification seems impossible. Who was she? Why was she left in that lonely spot? And why did someone go to such lengths to ensure she would never be recognised? Angela’s search for answers leads her from the eccentric household at Gipsy’s Mile to the great estate of Blakeney Park, and from ther...

On a reluctant visit to her painfully respectable brother and his wife, Angela Marchmont finds herself once again caught up in murder when a local farmer is shot dead, apparently at the hands of his sworn enemy.But the case is not as simple as it seems, for other motives and suspects soon come to light. With reporters hot on the scent and her friend Inspector Jameson battling a conflict of interest, Angela must use all her ingenuity to unravel the case and bring the murdere...

An enchanting true story about a cat who came to stay by the bestselling author of the Fairacre series.'Never again,' they said, when their beloved cat was run down on the busy road near the cottage where they lived.But they hadn't reckoned on Tiggy. A stray cat fiercely protective of her kittens, Tiggy was soon befriended by Miss Read - although it took some time before Tiggy allowed her kittens to go anywhere near the house.Written with the charm ...

Love—common and uncommon, vengeful and transformational—is the theme of this superb collection from the bestselling author of Notes from an Exhibition.From subtle tales of domestic unease to a story featuring a caravan that transports three generations of a family away from their small-town lives, author Patrick Gale proves in his second story collection that he is a master at mining the loneliness, yearning, and eternal optimism of the human spirit.

To the Edge of the World is an adventure in travel -- full of extraordinary personalities, more than a century of explosive political, economic, and cultural events, and almost inconceivable feats of engineering. Christian Wolmar passionately recounts the improbable origins of the Trans-Siberian railroad, the vital artery for Russian expansion that spans almost 6,000 miles and seven time zones from Moscow to Vladivostok. The world's longest train route took a decade to build -- in...