An ex-government scientist buys a ruined farmhouse in Cornwall, where he befriends intriguing local characters and learns new ways of living in the modern world.
1990s' Chicago: two students fall in love. Twenty years on, theirs is a suburban life of detoxes and home improvements. A warm and sardonic novel by the author of The Nix.
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
Acute, sensitive novel about a writer's psychic collapse. (The US edition has a different title - Dartmouth Park, which is far more Jane Austen than the contents.)
A dizzying tale of social collapse, generational impasse and mid-life crisis; a Bonfire of the Vanities set in London. Brilliantly observed, lean, slick, clever and gripping.
The story of a girl who grows up in China during the 1970s and 1980s, and takes part in the demonstration. An international bestseller, whose author - not surprisingly - uses a pseudonym.
Roads not taken, not thought about for twenty years, until bad news turns the protagonist's head for her Irish home. The humane and introspective sequel to Brooklyn.
A spin on Huckleberry Finn, this harrowing (and characteristically witty) account of his adventures is narrated by James, a runaway slave. It's a scary reflection on racism today.
Another huge novel from the author of City On Fire. A teenage girl and her father navigate relationships, addiction and other threats to serenity in New York.