Item category 1: Classics

So the day promised fair, and the sea lay like a quilt with the waves tucked under, and the trees wavering like leafless water, cut to fit from a transparent block of blue air and frost. 'Owls do cry' tells the story of the Withers family: Francie, who is twelve and about to start work at the woo...

In a profound and unsettling novel set in the Balkan peninsula, Ismail Kadare depicts an insidious and highly effective empire. At the heart of the Sultan's vast but fragile empire stands the mysterious Palace of Dreams: the most secret, powerful, macabre ministry ever invented. Its task is to sc...

Satan is out for revenge. His rebellion has failed, he has been cast out from heaven and is doomed to spend eternity in hell. Somehow he must find a way to prove his power and wound his enemies. He fixes upon God’s beloved new creations, Adam and Eve, as the vehicles of his vengeance. In this dra...

In THE PEA PICKERS, a novel based on Eve Langley's own experiences, Steve and Blue are two girls who, dressed as men, are taken on as itinerant workers for the farmers of Gippsland. They pack apples and pick peas. But their disguise is partial - and their quest is for love. For Blue the novel end...

Set in 18th century France. Survivor, genius, perfumer, killer: this is Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. He is abandoned on the filthy streets as a child, but grows up to discover he has an extraordinary gift: a sense of smell more powerful than any other human's. Soon, he is creating the most sublime f...

In these haunting reflections, Primo Levi, a chemist by training takes the elements of the periodic table as his inspiration. He ranges from young love to political savagery; 'Iron' honours the mountain-climbing resistance hero who put iron in Levi's student soul, while 'Cerium' recalls the impro...

In a wildly eventful life, David Copperfield moves from the cruelty of his stepfather's care to the heights of success as a beloved and respected novelist. On his journey through Victorian society, he endures bitter treatment as a labourer, wins the approval of his formidable aunt, finds himself ...