New Directions proudly introduces two novels in English by the Norwegian master, who is “without question, Norway’s bravest, most intelligent novelist” (Per Petterson)Armand is a diplomat rising through the ranks of the Norwegian foreign office, but he’s caught between his public duty to support foreign wars in the Middle East and his private disdain for Western intervention. He hides behind knowing, ironic statements, which no one grasps and which change nothing. ...

A brilliant novel by the Norwegian master Dag SolstadBjørn Hansen, a respectable town treasurer, has just turned fifty and is horrified by the thought that chance has ruled his life. Eighteen years ago he left his wife and their two-year-old son for his mistress, who persuaded him to start afresh in a small, provincial town and to devote himself to an amateur theater.In time that relationship also faded, and after four years of living alone Bjørn contemplates an ex...

“Solstad doesn’t write to please other people. Do exactly what you want, that’s my idea...the drama exists in his voice” (Lydia Davis)T Singer begins with thirty-four-year-old Singer graduating from library school and traveling by train from Oslo to the small town of Notodden, located in the mountainous Telemark region of Norway. There he plans to begin a deliberately anonymous life as a librarian. But Singer unexpectedly falls in love with the ceramicist ...

A dark and moving examination of one man’s derailed life, by the Norwegian master who is “without question, Norway’s bravest, most intelligent novelist” (Per Petterson)In this existential murder mystery, it is Christmas Eve, and fifty-five-year-old professor Pål Andersen is alone, drinking coffee and cognac in his living room. Lost in thought, he looks out the window and sees a man strangle a woman in the apartment across the street. Failing to report the crime, he...

**An Ibsen scholar falls desperately out of society—publication coinciding with Ibsen's 100th anniversary celebrationsIn front of him, twenty-nine young men and women about the age of eighteen who looked at him and returned his greeting. He asked them to take out their school edition of The Wild Duck*. He was once more struck by their hostile attitude toward him. But it couldn't be helped, he had a task to perform and was going through with it. It was from them as a group ...

"It's just a masterpiece. When I read it I thought, how is it that we don't know about this-how is it that I am the only person I know who's read this book?" Wes Anderson, on Stefan Zweig's Beware of PityContents: *A Conversation with Wes Anderson-*Wes Anderson discusses Zweig's life and work with Zweig biographer George Prochnik. *The World of Yesterday-*Selected extracts from Zweig's memoir, an unrivalled evocation of bygone Europe. *Beware of Pity-*An e...

Five of Saul Bellow’s most moving, richly textured, and exquisitely plotted short stories make up this volume, each providing a history of personality and self-awakening. The title story, “Him with His Foot in His Mouth,” follows a musicologist narrator who for years has scattered wounding witticisms “from the depths of my nature, that hoard of strange formulations.” As the story unfolds he tries to discover what led him into a “deep legal-financial hole,” while he awaits extradition from ...

Tamsyn Muir's New York Times and USA Today bestselling Locked Tomb Series continues with Nona ...the Ninth?A Finalist for the Hugo and Locus Awards!An Indie Next Pick!The Locked Tomb is a 2023 Hugo Finalist for Best Series!“You will love Nona, and Nona loves you.” —Alix E. Harrow“Unlike anything I've ever read.” —V....

In the fourth mystery in Philip Kerr's New York Times bestselling series, Bernie Gunther—a former policeman and reluctant SS offier—attempts to start over in the aftermath of World War 2 and quickly learns that the past is never far behind you...Berlin, 1949. Amid the chaos of defeat, Germany is a place of dirty deals, rampant greed, and fleeing Nazis. For Bernie Gunther, Berlin has become far too dangerous. After being forced to serve in the SS i...

‘I will never forgive you! You had a choice. You could have listened to your mother, your brother, your father, but you chose to listen to those monsters. And that choice remains with you. Forever.’ Leah and Magda are like sisters. In their block of flats in Berlin, they have only ever had each other to rely on. Each other, and Magda’s brother Markus. Nothing could have torn them apart. Until Hitler gains power… Leah could never imagine e...

A classic Agatha Christie short story, featuring Miss Marple, from the collection Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories.Fifteen years ago, Miss Marple’s niece, Mabel Denman, was accused of murdering her abusive and violent husband. Can Miss Marple clear her niece’s name and reveal the true perpetrator?

Early on summer mornings, police chief Bruno enjoys wandering the stalls of the weekly market in the village of St. Denis as they are being loaded with wares—ducks, oysters, wooden toys, used books, exotic teas and now, even miniskirts and cellphone cases. St. Denis is changing.But when Bruno’s old friend Léopold from Senegal and his young nephew Cali start selling African coffee and chocolate more cheaply than Bruno’s old friend Fauquet at his café across the square—Fauquet starts...