Modern Fiction (post 1945)

An animal's-eye view of humans at our brutal worst and our creative best, Only the Animals asks us to believe again in the redemptive power of reading and writing fiction....

A novel about discovering who you are, where you're going, and what matters to you most. Have you ever looked at your life and wondered, 'Is this it?' Linda knows...

Each of the overlapping stories in Tim Winton's The Turning centres on a transformation; together they form the bestselling Australian collection of the last three decades. Tim Winton's characters are...

Based on real people and events, All That I Am is a masterful and exhilarating exploration of bravery and betrayal, of the risks and sacrifices some people make for their...

David Malouf's first novel recreates the war-conscious forties, the pubs and brothels of the fifties, and the years away treading water overseas. 'Despite Johnno's assertion that Brisbane was absolutely the...

- Brilliant, daring, and demonstrating a jaw-dropping versatility of voice and point of view, The Boat is an extraordinary work of fiction that takes us to the heart of what...

Tim Winton's Breath, winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award, is a story about the wildness of youth and learning to live with its passing. Tim Winton's Breath, winner of...

From his prison cell, Jasper Dean tells the unlikely story of his scheming father Martin, his crazy Uncle Terry and how the three of them upset - mostly unintentionally -...

A remarkable collection of dark, funny and haunting short stories from the inimitable author of 'The Lottery' An anxious devil, a malicious old woman and a mid-century Jack the Ripper;...

Part of a series of new editions of D.H. Lawrence's most famous novels, stories and poems These three novellas display D. H. Lawrence's brilliant and insightful evocation of human relationships...

Published alongisde other Conrad's works, on the 150th anniversary of his death Heart of Darkness has been considered for most of this century as a literary classic, and also as...

First time in Black Classics for this famous Victorian retelling of the stories of Shakespeare's plays - sells 8-10,000/year in its PPC edition As children, Charles and Mary Lamb took...

Part of a series of new editions of Conrad's most famous novels in Black Classics This compact novel, completed in 1900, as with so many of the great novels of...

Published alongside other Conrad's works, on the 150th anniversary of his birth In the only novel Conrad set in London, The Secret Agent communicates a profoundly ironic view of human...

Part of a series of new editions of DH Lawrence's most famous novels, stories and poems Constance Chatterley feels trapped in her sexless marriage to the invalid Sir Clifford. Unable...

New edition When attractive, impulsive English widow Lidia takes a holiday in Italy, she causes a scandal by marrying Gino, a dashing and highly unsuitable Italian twelve years her junior....

Rediscover H.G. Wells - what does he mean to you? Mr Polly is an ordinary middle-aged man who is tired of his wife's nagging and his dreary job as the...

The extraordinarily powerful story of an Untouchable in India's caste system, with a new introduction by Ramachandra Guha, author of Gandhi Before India Bakha is a proud and attractive young...

An unsettling story of a teenage girl's self-destruction from the author of The Lottery Natalie Waite, daughter of a mediocre writer and a neurotic housewife, is increasingly unsure of her...

Fans of Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House will enjoy this disquieting tale of people awaiting the end of the world in a large, isolated house Mrs Halloran has inherited...

A critically acclaimed tale of abuse and betrayal in America's deep South Carolina in the 1950s, and Bone - christened Ruth Anna Boatwright - lives a happy life, in and...

A breathtaking international bestselling novel about family secrets, and Javier Marias's masterpiece In the middle of a family lunch Teresa, just married, goes to the bathroom, unbuttons her blouse and...

Kerouac's stunningly vivid and gritty second novel, new to Penguin Modern Classics In 1960 Jack Kerouac was near breaking point. Driven mad by constant press attention in the wake of...

Le Carre shows espionage at its best and worst in this novel, new to Penguin Modern Classics When the Department - faded since the war and busy only with bureaucratic...

Le Carre's ingenious mysery, featuring his most famous recurring character, George Smiley Stella Rode has twice disturbed the ancient cloisters of Carne School- firstly by being the wrong sort, with...

The final novel featuring Smiley, Le Carre's most enduring character, and a gripping feat of narrative brilliance The Cold War is over and Ned has been demoted to the training...

A tale of wasted love, and beauty, by Japan's literary master Shimamura is tired of the bustling city. He takes the train through the snow to the mountains of the...

G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece, edited and with an introduction by Matthew Beaumont Can you trust yourself when you don't know who you are? In a park in London, secret...

Bawdy and moving, hilarious and reflective - these stories offer the very best of Boccaccio's Decameron in a brilliant, playful new translation This hugely enjoyable volume collects the best stories...

The definitive 25th-anniversary edition of Burroughs's legendary second novel Originally written in 1952 but not published till 1985, Queer is an enigma - both an unflinching autobiographical self-portrait and a...

New to Penguin Modern Classics Numbers in the Dark is a collection of short stories covering the length of Italo Calvino's extraordinary writing career, from when he was a teenager...

'He's a writer who, once you read him, makes you want to read everything he's done' Martin Amis, Sunday Times Prosperous, good-looking and empty inside, 28-year-old advertising executive David Bell...

"Nothing but the darkness, and all around them destruction, and before them nothing but the fire--a bastard people, far from God, singing and crying in the wilderness!" First published in...

"Bellow is one of the giants of the twentieth-century novel. Read Seize the Day and see why" San Francisco Examiner Fading charmer Tommy Wilhelm has reached his day of reckoning...

Jorge Luis Borges was a literary spellbinder whose tales of magic, mystery and murder are shot through with deep philosophical paradoxes. This collection brings together many of his stories, including...

Hilarious, intelligent and moving, Pnin is the tale of a generation irrevocably severed from its past Professor Timofey Pnin, previously of Tsarist Russia, is now precariously positioned at the heart...

An extraordinary novel of passion and discovery from Anais Nin, the master of erotic fiction Beautiful, bored and bourgeoise, Sabina leads a double life inspired by her relentless desire for...

'Brilliant ... a panorama of a remarkable talent ... McCullers's finest stories' The New York Times A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers's...

The Bright Young Things of 1920s Mayfair, with their paradoxical mix of innocence and sophistication, exercise their inventive minds and vile bodies in every kind of capricious escapade, whether it...

The ordinary folk of New Orleans seem to think he is unhinged as well. Ignatius ignores them as he heaves his vast bulk through the city's fleshpots in a noble...

When the downtrodden animals of Manor Farm overthrow their master Mr Jones and take over the farm themselves, they imagine it is the beginning of a life of freedom and...

NADJA is a Surrealist romance, and has come to be known as a book which defined that movement's attitude towards life. With its blend of intimate confession and sense of...

The biggest-selling writer of popular women's fiction tells a stunning tale of losing the life you had and finding a better one Stella Sweeney is an ordinary woman living an...

A heartbreaking stunner of a novel from the UK's biggest-selling writer of women's fiction "I employ this thing called The Shovel List." "A shovel...?" "No. A Shovel List. It's more...

A fresh new look for this classic fiction favourite Survivor, genius, perfumer, killer- this is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He is abandoned on the filthy streets of Paris as a child, but...

A searing exploration of the transatlantic slave trade from the Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other Imagine if the transatlantic slave trade was reversed. Imagine Africans the masters and...

She is Britain's most successful and loved female writer. And this is her biggest paperback yet. June the first, a bright summer's evening, a Monday . . . And into...

On Beauty by Zadie Smith, author of the prize-winning White Teeth, is a funny, powerful and moving story about love and family. Set in New England mainly and London partly,...