The story of the inimitable Maria Callas - conflicted, disappointed, ambitious and supremely gifted - and of her love affair with Aristotle Onassis - by the author of The Fortune Hunter, My ... read more
Drawing on the author's own experiences of WW2, the novel's protagonist rebels against the pressures of family and politics in Fascist Italy. First published in 1949. By the author of Forbid... read more
This excellent author has set his new novel in Roman Britain: a tribal princess given away as part of a peace treaty flees through Wales with her Roman lover.
Fleeing starvation in the Jameston settlement, a servant girl sets out alone into the wilderness. An historical novel set in early colonial America, by the author of Matrix.
Reminiscent of S?skind's Perfume or Andrew Miller's Ingenious Pain, this is set in C18th France and involves a physical prodigy. In this case, it is his ability to eat... By the author of Th... read more
A first historical novel, set in Willesden and Jamaica. Brilliant and funny, of course, not least for its opening in Harrison Ainsworth's collapsing library.
A clever counter-factual historical novel set in C16th Mexico; the Arabs still rule Spain and have discovered what they call New Maghreb. Hunt made his name with non-fiction; this is his fir... read more
A rich historical novel of Jacobean power games - politics and palaces, parliaments and surely poison too? A first novel by the biographer of Adam Smith and Edmund Burke.
Somerset Maugham appears as one of two narrators in this atmospheric novel of love, truth, secrecy and betrayal in 1920s' colonial Penang. Eng's airy storytelling is a rare gift: he gives hi... read more
A vulnerable young man travels to Rome in 1934 with his family for his sister's wedding. The car journey is full of mishaps and squabbles, with tempers fraying over divided attitudes towards... read more