Fiction - Страница 84

AD256 - the spectre of treachery hangs ominously over the Roman world. The sparks of Christian fervour have spread through the empire like wildfire, and the imperium is alive with the machinations of dangerous and powerful men. All the while, Sassanid forces press forward relentlessly along the east..

'On days of combat, the crew would mix gunpowder with their liquor'. Borges became famous as a writer of short stories that contained new realities: elaborately conceived, ingenious and gamesome precis of impossible worlds or imaginary books. In these five stories there is danger on the high seas, a..

Ella Rubinstein has a husband, three teenage children, and a pleasant home. Everything that should make her confident and fulfilled. Yet there is an emptiness at the heart of Ella's life - an emptiness once filled by love. So when Ella reads a manuscript about the thirteenth-century Sufi poet Rumi a..

Bonbon Palace was once a stately apartment block in Istanbul. Now it is a sadly dilapidated home to ten wildly different individuals and their families. There's a womanizing, hard-drinking academic with a penchant for philosophy; a 'clean freak' and her lice-ridden daughter; a lapsed Jew in search o..

In this collection of wise, witty and fascinating essays, Borges discusses the existence (or non-existence) of Hell, the flaws in English literary detectives, the philosophy of contradictions, and the many translators of "1001 Nights". Varied and enthralling, these pieces examine the very nature of ..

One rainy afternoon in Istanbul, a woman walks into a doctor's surgery. 'I want an abortion', she announces. She is nineteen years old, and unmarried. What happens that afternoon is to change her life, and the lives of everyone around her. Twenty years later, Asya Kazanci lives with her extended fam..

'I didn't say anything. I didn't return his smiles. I looked at him in the wide mirror in front of where I was sitting. He grew uncomfortable and avoided my eyes. I hate those who think fat people are stupid'. An obese woman and her lover, a dwarf, are sick of being stared at wherever they go, and s..

'Listen. The Sanctuary of the Redeemers is named after a damned lie for there is no redemption that goes on there and less sanctuary.'The Sanctuary of the Redeemers: vast, desolate, hopeless. Where children endure brutal cruelty and violence in the name of the One True Faith.Lost in the Sanc..

When Kit and Adam's marriage ended, Kit felt completely lost. But now, a year on, her life is back on track. She has a new home, the perfect job - working for a famous novelist - two wonderful children and is on good terms with her ex-husband.Then Steve - attentive, charming, the perfect gentlem..

It is 1940, and bombs fall nightly on London.In the thick of the chaos is young American radio reporter Frankie Bard. She huddles close to terrified strangers in underground shelters, and later broadcasts stories about survivors in rubble-strewn streets. But for her listeners, the war is far fro..

'Fire as she bears. Rake her, lads.'Winter, 1793. Newly promoted Master and Commander Charles Hayden's orders are to deliver the frigate HMS Themis to Lord Admiral Hood, whose fleet is sheltering in the Mediterranean. Only hours out of port, however, and the Themis is engaging with the French na..

Vatican City, 29 September 1978: the world wakes to the shocking news that Pope John Paul I is dead, just a month after his accession.Thirty years later, in London, young journalist Sarah Monteiro receives a mysterious package. Enclosed is a list of names and a coded message.Moments later a ..