A brilliant historical novel whose subtitle 'A Romance' is deliciously deceptive. Sontag follows Sir William Hamilton (rechristened as 'The Cavalier' for the entire book), whose expat exploi... read more
A delightful extended riff on books and reading from a man with various pseudonyms (Jennie Walker, Jack Robinson...). Its subtitle is 'A book about books, mostly. And bonfires, cliches, dyst... read more
Rutter - a literature graduate who notes the etymological link between 'text' and 'textile' - travelled the British Isles researching the social history of wool and knitting. This charming a... read more
A history and call-to-action by a dynamic new thinker and campaigner, re-centring the importance of grassroots, structural change. Vital reading for the present (and any) cultural moment.
"It may be that all borderlands hum with the frequencies of the unconscious; after all, borders are where the fabric is thin". This one is that wild, once barbed strip between Turkey, Bulgar... read more
The characters in this affecting and magnificent tale of C19th village life are superbly imagined through exquisite, often very funny dialogue. The characters in this magnificent tale of vil... read more
A brilliant tale of lexicographers whose lives are influenced in surprising ways by mountweazels. (Mountweazel, noun: a fake entry deliberately inserted into a dictionary or work of referenc... read more
A selection from all stages of the late Polish poet's life and writing career. In clear, often humorous writing, his Eastern European sensibility connects with themes of human experience bot... read more
Parallel possible worlds spool from a German rocket strike in London in 1944: five children are killed but, in a feat of authorial engineering, are given futures nevertheless. A dazzling cel... read more
Cambridge, 1912: a twilight bicycle crash entwines Fred, a young Fellow in the all-male college of St Angelicus, with Daisy, harpooned by a good heart and a poor background. Reason collide... read more
A sparkling, intelligent novel, first published in 1964 and just re-issued by Faber & Faber. It is set over the course of a decadent fancy dress party on a snowy New Year's Eve, with all the... read more
In the early 20th century an easily overlooked square in Bloomsbury was the home, at one time or another, of the modernist poet H.D., Dorothy L Sayers, the classicist Jane Harrison, the hist... read more