This poignant novel, beautifully translated by Simon Beattie, was, in Lampe's words, 'born into a regime where it could not breathe'; he hoped that one day it might rise again. It has no one main character, but evokes the sensations and impressions of a sultry September evening on the waterfront of Bremen, with its charm and tenderness, squalor and lust. It contains a stream of images with many characters: children, old and young people, men and women, townsfolk, performers, students and s...

New paperback of the acclaimed, sharply immediate diary written from the heart of Occupied Paris by a classic German writerThe writer Felix Hartlaub died in obscurity at just 31, vanishing from Berlin in 1945. He left behind a small oeuvre of private writings from the Second World War: fragments and observations of life from the midst of catastrophe that, with their evocative power and precision, would make a permanent place for him in German letters.Posted...

Henry Miller's famously banned book is "a matter-of-fact celebration of chucking one's dreary life and following your heart to Paris" (Richard Price).Now hailed as an American classic, Tropic of Cancer, Henry Miller's masterpiece, was banned as obscene in this country for twenty-seven years after its first publication in Paris in 1934. Only a historic court ruling that changed American censorship standards, ushering in a new era of freedom and frankness in...

'One of the greatest anti-heroes ever written' LEE CHILDBrutal ex-convicts or the Nazi elite - in Bernie Gunther's world it's hard to tell who are the real gangsters.Ex-Berlin cop and private detective Bernie Gunther has seen his share of bad guys. But when the worst guys of all are the ones running the show, it's much harder to stay out of their reach.Hired by a wealthy industrialist to investigate the murder of his daughter and he...

The bestselling, much-loved classic account of an English couple escaping to enjoy the fruits of French rural summer living - an irresistible feast of humour and heart.‘One of the most successful travel books of all time… Mayle created a new travel genre’ Guardian‘Engaging, funny and richly appreciative’ New York Times Book ReviewPeter Mayle and his wife did what most of us only imagine doing when they made their long-cherished dre...

Gustav Perle grows up lonely and watchful in post-war Switzerland, aching for a closeness his own mother cannot give him.In a small Swiss town still marked by the moral compromises of the Second World War, Gustav finds the companionship he longs for in Anton Zwiebel, a brilliant, fragile boy whose music expresses what neither of them can say aloud. Their bond, forged in childhood in the late 1940s, deepens into an intense attachment that neither fully understands.

A gripping page-turner set in occupied France from international multi-million copy seller Joanne Harris. With the sensuous writing we come to expect from her, this book has a darker core. Perfect for fans of Victoria Hislop, Fiona Valpy, Maggie O'Farrell and Rachel Joyce, this fascinating and vivid journey through human cruelty and kindness is a gripping and compelling read.'Her strongest writing yet: as tangy and sometimes bitter as ...

THE ACCLAIMED INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER'One of the most extraordinary and compelling novels written about World War II. Ever' Alan FurstInspired by a true story, Hans Fallada's Alone in Berlin is a gripping wartime thriller following one ordinary man's determination to defy the tyranny of Nazi ruleBerlin, 1940, and the city is filled with fear. At the house on 55 Jablonski Strasse, its various occupants try ...

A classic novel of post-war Europe, haunting and timelessly beautiful'The greatest writer of our time' Peter CareyIn 1939, five-year-old Jacques Austerlitz is sent to England on a Kindertransport and placed with foster parents. This childless couple promptly erase from the boy all knowledge of his identity and he grows up ignorant of his past. Later in life, after a career as an architectural historian, Austerlitz - having avoided all clues...

1930s Berlin is a realm of glamour and sleaze, excess and repression.Having moved to the city to work on his novel, Christopher finds himself immersed in a world of contradiction. He becomes enamoured with the local denizens and the colourful lives they lead, meeting an English upper-class waif, the delightfully decadent Sally Bowles; a couple – Peter and Otto – who are struggling with their sexual identities; and a distinguished and doomed Jewish family, the Landa...

Black Dogs is a dark and brooding masterpiece from Booker-prize winning Sunday Times bestselling author Ian McEwan.In 1946, June and Bernard set off on their honeymoon. Fired by their ideals and passion for one another, they had planned an idyllic holiday, but in France they witness an event that alters the course of their lives entirely.Forty years on, their son-in-law is trying to uncover the cause of their estrangement and is led back to this mo...

Self-confessed loafer Time Moore, seduced by the speed and glamour of the biggest annual sporting even in the world, sets out to cycle the course of the Tour de France. All 3,630km of it. Racing old men on butchers' bikes and chased by cows, Moore soon resorts to standard race tactics - cheating and drugs - in a hilarious and moving tale of true adventure.