Secondhand Classics Bargain Book Box DSH1086

Secondhand Classics Bargain Book Box 

This eclectic collection of eighteen books blends literary masterpieces with sharp social satire and iconic Australian voices. It features a strong selection of 20th-century British classics from Graham Greene and Margaret Drabble, a delightful trio of social comedies by E.F. Benson, and contemporary heavyweights like Kazuo Ishiguro and Christos Tsiolkas. From the sun-baked outback of Henry Lawson to the rainy streets of Brighton, this box offers a journey through diverse landscapes and complex human lives.

1. Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer A sweeping and satirical saga of post-war Britain. When a progressive country vicar dies and leaves his fortune to a corrupt Conservative politician instead of his own family, it triggers a mystery that unravels the changing social fabric of the nation.

2. As We Are by E.F. Benson A poignant and insightful novel from the author of Mapp and Lucia. It explores the clash between the rigid, aristocratic traditions of the Victorian age and the disillusioned, fast-paced world that emerged after the First World War.

3. Mrs Ames by E.F. Benson A biting social comedy set in the provincial town of Riseborough. Mrs. Ames is the undisputed queen of local society until her husband begins a flirtation with a younger woman, sparking a hilarious battle for supremacy and dignity.

4. Secret Lives by E.F. Benson Durham Square is a respectable address, but behind the curtains, secrets abound. The most shocking of all belongs to a resident who is secretly the author of wildly popular, trashy romance novels—a fact that would ruin her reputation if exposed.

5. A Summer Bird-Cage by Margaret Drabble Drabble’s brilliant debut novel. Fresh out of Oxford, Sarah is drifting through life in London while watching her beautiful, ambitious sister Louise trap herself in a loveless marriage to a wealthy novelist. A sharp look at sibling rivalry and the limited choices for women in the 1960s.

6. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro The Booker Prize-winning masterpiece. Stevens, an elderly butler, embarks on a motoring trip through the West Country. As he travels, he reflects on his decades of service at Darlington Hall, slowly coming to realize that his unwavering loyalty was given to a man who found himself on the wrong side of history.

7. Capital by Maureen Duffy A unique and layered novel about London. It interweaves the story of Meepers, an eccentric, homeless historian obsessed with the city's past, and a university porter, creating a rich portrait of the capital through the ages.

8. England Made Me by Graham Greene Set in 1930s Stockholm, this is a tale of conflicting loyalties. Anthony Farrant, a charming drifter with a fake old-school tie, takes a job as a bodyguard for a corrupt financier. He soon finds himself caught in a web of incestuous relationships and high-stakes fraud.

9. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene A noir classic of sin and damnation. Pinkie Brown is a teenage gangster in a cheap seaside resort, driven by a terrifying mix of religious loathing and vicious ambition. To cover up a murder, he marries the witness, a naive waitress named Rose, sealing both their fates.

10. A Room Swept White by Sophie Hannah A gripping psychological thriller. A TV producer investigates the cases of three women convicted of murdering their babies, only to be cleared by new science. But as she digs deeper, she begins to wonder if the miscarriages of justice were actually correct all along.

11. A Salute to the Great McCarthy by Barry Oakley An Australian cult classic. McCarthy is a country boy with a talent for Aussie Rules football who gets signed by a big city team. It’s a raucous, high-energy satire on the madness of sports celebrity and the corporate machine that devours talent.

12. The Sabre Squadron by Simon Raven Part of the Alms for Oblivion series. A young academic, Daniel Mond, travels to Germany to research a thesis, only to get entangled with a squadron of British soldiers and a dark secret from the war that people are willing to kill to keep buried.

13. 84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff The ultimate book lover’s memoir. This heartwarming collection of letters charts the twenty-year correspondence between a witty New York writer and a reserved British bookseller. It’s a celebration of literature, friendship, and the bond between readers.

14. The Witch of Exmoor by Margaret Drabble Frieda Haxby is a famous writer and a monstrous matriarch who has retreated to a dilapidated mansion on the coast. When she threatens to disinherit her three adult children, the family descends into panic, paranoia, and darkly comic infighting.

15. The Bush Undertaker and Other Stories by Henry Lawson A collection from one of Australia's greatest storytellers. Lawson’s sketches of drovers, swagmen, and bush wives capture the harsh, dry reality of life in the outback with a unique blend of stoic humour and tragedy.

16. Trooper to the Southern Cross by Angela Thirkell A fictionalized account of the author's own journey to Australia on a troopship after WWI. It’s a sharp, often caustic, satire on the Australian character, the boredom of sea travel, and the "digger" culture of the time.

17. City to City by Laurie Clancy A picaresque Australian novel set in the 1960s. It follows a young university student as he hitchhikes across the country, encountering a bizarre cast of characters and grappling with the changing sexual and political landscape of the era.

18. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas The explosive bestseller that dissects modern Australian suburbia. At a backyard barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own. This single act sends shockwaves through the group of friends and family, exposing the cracks in their relationships, values, and identities.