'The Monk was so highly popular that it seemed to create an epoch in our literature', wrote Sir Walter Scott. Set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid, The Monk is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest. The great struggle between maintaining monastic vows and fulfilling personal ambitions leads its main character, the monk Ambrosio, to temptation and the breaking of his vows, then to sexual obsession and rape, and finally to murder in order to con...

Matthew's World is a quiet, layered story about three brothers — Matthew, Paul, and George — each distinct in character and temperament. Matthew is a dreamer who draws maps of worlds that don't exist. Paul is fierce and protective, a shield against everything sharp and loud. George laughs at sunbeams and chalk and the way leaves fall.Through glimpses of school, home, a father who appears and disappears, a mother carrying something she cannot name, and a grandmother whose love asks ...

**A NATIONAL BESTSELLER"A significant contribution to discussions of the art of fiction and a necessary challenge to received views about whose stories are told, how they are told and for whom they are intended" (The New York Times Book Review)**The traditional writing workshop was established with white male writers in mind; what we call craft is informed by their cultural values. In this bold and original examination of elements of writing—including plot, charact...

'He was deaf to the murmurs of conscience, and resolved to satisfy his desires at any price.' The Monk (1796) is a sensational story of temptation and depravity, a masterpiece of Gothic fiction and the first horror novel in English literature. The respected monk Ambrosio, the Abbot of a Capuchin monastery in Madrid, is overwhelmed with desire for a young girl; once having abandoned his monastic vows he begins a terrible descent into immorality and violence. His ap...

An extraordinary, accomplished, compelling, deeply discerning, and lovingly articulated debut by a promising writer on the realities of navigating today's cultural, political, ideological landscape with multiple marginalized identities.In this timely collection of essays, Maximillian Matthews interrogates Blackness, queerness, and systems of oppression. Serving as a combination of a memoir and cultural commentary, Matthews reflects on how institutions fail Black queer, trans, and n...

The funny, uplifting novel from the Sunday Times and multi-million-copy bestsellerFern has the voice of an angel but as an underpaid barmaid and pub singer, she's going nowhere fast. Then she enters the TV talent show Fame Game and this could be her big break. But then, things are never that simple.Evan David's exquisite tones have enthralled opera buffs throughout the world. Everyone around him panders to his every need but what he real...

The key to personal choice, and even happiness, is to gain control of our attention—our mental lives.Matthew Crawford is the author of Shop Class as Soulcraft, which challenged our notions about what we do and how it affects our sense of self (and our happiness). This new book addresses the crisis of attention: where we focus -- or cannot focus--equally affects our sense of self. As our mental lives become more fragmented, what is at stake often seems to be nothing less than the qu...

,A bracing account of liberalism&rsquo,s most radical critics, introducing one of the most controversial movements of the twentieth centuryIn this eye-opening book, Matthew Rose introduces us to one of the most controversial intellectual movements of the twentieth century, the &ldquo,radical right,&rdquo, and discusses its adherents&rsquo, different attempts to imagine political societies after the death or decline of liberalism. Questioning democracy&rsquo,s most ...

When the world feels unstable, distracted, and overwhelmed, focus becomes one of the most valuable skills a person can possess.Focus When the World Fractures is a practical guide to maintaining clarity, direction, and productivity during uncertain times. Whether you are facing personal challenges, information overload, financial stress, social disruption, or simply the constant demands of modern life, this book provides actionable strategies to help you stay aligne...

Step inside the world's most haunted schools, where history, memory, and the unexplained collide. The World's Haunted Schools takes readers on a chilling journey through real institutions across continents, each with its own spectral legacy.From shadowy figures gliding silently through empty corridors to whispers of lessons in classrooms long abandoned, this book presents firsthand accounts from students, teachers, and staff who have encountered the unexplainable. Every chapter foc...

Ahmad ibn Tulun (835–884) governed Egypt on behalf of the Abbasid dynasty for sixteen years. An aggressive and innovative actor, he pursued an ambitious political agenda, including the introduction of dynastic rule over Egypt, that put him at odds with his imperial masters. Throughout, however, he retained close ties to the Abbasid house and at no point did he assert outright independence. In this volume, Matthew Gordon considers Ibn Tulun’s many achievements in office as well as the crise...

This book examines New Zealand's constitution, through the lens of constitutional realism. It looks at the practices, habits, conventions and norms of constitutional life. It focuses on the structures, processes and culture that govern the exercise of public power – a perspective that is necessary to explore and account for a lived, rather thantextual, constitution.New Zealand's constitution is unique. One of three remaining unwritten democratic constitutions in the world, it...