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A sunny, quiet, perfectly ordinary school day in autumn turns suddenly dark when sixteen-year-old Rebecca Patton runs down and kills a pedestrian during a driving lesson. It all happens so quickly, so inexplicably, like an accident. The victim — a woman carrying a red handbag — had been stepping off the curb at the corner of Grove and Third. Then she was lying in the street, in critical condition.

When police detective Katie Logan arrives at the station house, she finds a distraught but cooperative Rebecca. Her driving instructor, Andrew Newell, is totally disoriented, however. He appears to be drunk. Or on drugs. Certainly, his apparent incompetence warrants his arrest in what has now become a case of negligent homicide.

The situation in this adroitly told tale by a master at the top of his form grows far more sinister, though, when Logan learns that the victim’s handbag has been recovered. It identifies the dead woman as Andrew Newell’s wife.

By the early 1970s, President John F. Kennedy has survived several assassination attempts and-martyred, heroic-is now in his third term. Twenty-two-year-old Eugene Allen returns home from his tour of duty in Vietnam and begins to write a war novel-a book echoing and -about veterans who have their battlefield experiences "enfolded," wiped from their memories through drugs and therapy. In Eugene's fictive universe, veterans too damaged to be enfolded stalk the American heartland, reenacting atrocities on civilians and evading the Psych Corps, a federal agency dedicated to upholding the mental hygiene of the nation by any means necessary.

This alternative America, in which a veteran tries to reimagine a damaged world, is the subject of , the long-awaited first novel by David Means. The critic James Wood has written that Means's language "offers an exquisitely precise and sensuous register of an often crazy American reality." Means brings this talent to bear on the national trauma of the Vietnam era in a work that is outlandish, ruefully funny, and shockingly violent. Written in conversation with some of the greatest war narratives from the to the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter," is a unique and visionary novel.

David Markson was a writer like no other. In his novels, which have been called “hypnotic,” “stunning,” and “exhilarating” and earned him praise from the likes of Kurt Vonnegut and David Foster Wallace, Ann Beattie and Zadie Smith. Markson created his own personal genre. With crackling wit distilled into incantatory streams of thought on art, life, and death, Markson’s work has delighted and astonished readers for decades.

Now for the first time, three of Markson’s masterpieces are compiled into one page-turning volume: , and . In , readers meet an author, called only “Writer,” who is weary unto death of making up stories, and yet is determined to seduce the reader into turning pages and getting somewhere. introduces us to “Author,” who sets out to transform shoeboxes crammed with note cards into a novel. In The Last Novel, we find an elderly author (referred to only as “Novelist”) who announces that, since this will be his final effort, he possesses “carte blanche to do anything he damn well pleases.”

United by their focus on the trials, calamities, absurdities and even tragedies of the creative life, these novels demonstrate David Markson’s extraordinary intellectual richness — leaving readers, time after time, with the most indisputably original of reading experiences.

„Karalių kova“ – tai George’o R. R. Martino fantastinės epopėjos „Ledo ir ugnies giesmė“ antroji knyga; Joje tęsiama autoriaus vaizduotėje gimusio pasaulio — Septynių karalysčių — istorija. Ilgamečių karalių Targarienų giminę nuvertęs ir Geležinį sostą užgrobęs karalius Robertas Barateonas miręs. Valdžios troškimas begalinis: sosto link nuožmiai stumiasi penki karaliai, paskui save palikdami kraujo, siaubingų paslapčių ir klastingų intrigų šleifą. Septynias karalystes niokoja nuo Roberto maišto laikų neregėtas karas, įtraukęs visas kilmingąsias šeimas; O toli Rytuose paskutinioji Targarienų giminės palikuonė Daneiris iššaukė šimtus metų pasaulyje neregėtą stebuklą — tris drakonus.<

„Varnų puota“ —tai ketvirtoji Georgeo R. R. Martino istorinės fantastinės epopėjos „Ledo ir ugnies giesmė“ knyga.

Joje kuriama šiurpi karo nuniokoto krašto atmosfera, o veiksmas daugiausia sukasi apie Karaliaus Uostą. Ten karaliumi paskirtas devynmetis berniukas Tome- nas, o visą valdžią užgrobusi jo motina —karalienė regentė Sersėja. Įtikėjusi kitados jai burtininkės išsakyta pranašyste, jog valdžią iš jos paverš kita karalienė, jauna ir graži, Sersėja nusprendžia pražudyti Tomeno žmoną, karalienę Mardžerę iš Tairelių giminės.

Ir pačiame Vesterose, kur maitlesiais varnais karas pavertė daugybę žmonių, rezgami nauji sąmokslai, sudaromos naujos pavojingos sąjungos ir visi keršija visiems, ypač negailestinga keistoji Akmenširdė —pilkoji moteris, vadovaujanti bastūnams. Tačiau šioje varnų puotoje svečių daug, tik nežinia, kam iš jų pasiseks išlikti gyvam.

Eine der wichtigsten Gegenwartsautorinnen.

«Solche Geschichten gibt's, zu Hauf. Ingenieur gewesen, Job verloren, Frau verloren, auf der Straße gelandet«: Kein außergewöhnliches Schicksal vielleicht auf den ersten Blick, doch Terézia Moras Romanheld Darius Kopp droht daran zu zerbrechen. Denn Flora, seine Frau, die Liebe seines Lebens, ist nicht einfach nur gestorben, sie hat sich das Leben genommen, und seitdem weiß Darius Kopp nicht mehr, wie er weiter existieren soll. Schließlich setzt er sich in seinen Wagen, reist erst nach Ungarn, wo Flora aufgewachsen ist, und dann einfach immer weiter. Unterwegs liest er in ihrem Tagebuch, das er nach ihrem Tod gefunden hat, und erfährt, wie ungeheuer gefährdet Floras Leben immer war — und dass er von alldem nicht das Geringste mitbekommen hatte.

Arbeit und Schlaf, Arbeit, Arbeitsweg und Schlaf. So sah das erfolgreiche Leben von Darius Kopp aus. Bis er eines Tages den Job verlor. Und bis sich bald darauf seine Frau das Leben nahm und ihm zum zweiten Mal in kürzester Zeit der Teppich unter den Füßen weggezogen wurde. Seitdem lebt er apathisch dahin, tötet die Zeit mit stumpfem Fernsehen und Fertigpizzen. Sein Freund Juri versucht Darius zwar wieder zurück in sein altes Leben als IT-Experte zurückzubefördern, doch dieser beschließt, eigene Wege zu gehen. Er wollte doch das geheime Tagebuch seiner Frau lesen, und er muss auch noch ihre Urne beisetzen. Aber wo? In ihrem ungarischen Heimatdorf oder in Budapest oder an den Hängen des Ararat? Und so begibt sich Darius Kopp auf eine lange Reise — auf der Suche nach der Wahrheit über seine Frau. Über sich selbst. Und über diese dunkle und ungeheuere Welt.

Hellsmouth, an indomitable thoroughbred with the blood of Triple Crown winners in her veins, runs for the glory of the Forge family, one of Kentucky’s oldest and most powerful dynasties. Henry Forge has partnered with his daughter, Henrietta, in an endeavor of raw obsession: to breed the next superhorse, the next Secretariat. But when Allmon Shaughnessy, an ambitious young black man, comes to work on their farm after a stint in prison, the violence of the Forges’ history and the exigencies of appetite are brought starkly into view. Entangled by fear, prejudice, and lust, the three tether their personal dreams of glory to the speed and grace of Hellsmouth.

A spiraling tale of wealth and poverty, racism and rage, is an unflinching portrait of lives cast in shadow by the enduring legacy of slavery. A vital new voice, C. E. Morgan has given life to a tale as mythic and fraught as the South itself — a moral epic for our time.

Goldilocks... The Other Woman

Goldilocks-stealing into someone else’s house, with no particular interest in the chairs or the porridge, but with more than a passing fascination with Poppa Bear’s bed.

On the steamy west coast of Florida, in the quiet of their home, a woman and her two little girls have been brutally murdered. None of the alibis add up. The one person who couldn’t possibly have a motive for the crime is the only one confessing to it, and he insists on Matthew Hope for his defense. Now Matt finds himself tangled in the unravelling threads of three heartless killings in which every half-sister, stepson, and first wife could have had a hand.

Somebody’s lying.

Maybe everybody.

Ein vielstimmiger Gesang der Nacht: Prostituierte, Engel und Geschäftsmänner kämpfen um Geld und Macht und ihre Träume. Eine junge Frau steht am Fenster, schaut in den Abendhimmel, im Januar laufen die Geschäfte nicht, die Gedanken tanzen ihn ihrem Kopf.»Der Pferdemann«, der alte Jockey, sucht seine Tochter.»Der Bielefelder «rollt mit neuen Geschäftskonzepten den Markt auf, investiert in Clubs und Eroscenter.»AK 47«liegt angeschossen auf dem Asphalt. Schonungslos und zärtlich schreibt Clemens Meyer in seinem großen Roman von den Menschen, den Nachtgestalten, von ihrem Aufstieg und Fall, vom Schmutz der Straße und dem Fluss des Geldes. Mit großer Kraft und Emotion erzählt er die Geschichte einer Stadt, die zum Epochen-Roman unserer Zeit wird.<

"You want to know what the Sand Snakes, Prince Doran, Areo Hotah, Ellaria Sand, Darkstar, and the rest will be up to in WINDS OF WINTER? Quite a lot, actually. The sample will give you a taste. For the rest, you will need to wait".<

So begins "Mycenae," a story in , Fiona McFarlane's first story collection. Her stories skip across continents, eras, and genres to chart the borderlands of emotional life. In "Mycenae," she describes a middle-aged couple's disastrous vacation with old friends. In "Good News for Modern Man," a scientist lives on a small island with only a colossal squid and the ghost of Charles Darwin for company. And in the title story, an Australian farmer turns to Old Testament methods to relieve a fatal drought. Each story explores what Flannery O'Connor called "mystery and manners." The collection dissects the feelings-longing, contempt, love, fear-that animate our existence and hints at a reality beyond the smallness of our lives.

Spanning the waning years of vaudeville and the golden age of Hollywood, chronicles a flawed, passionate friendship over thirty years, weaving a powerful story of family and love, grief and loss. In it, McCracken introduces her most singular and affecting hero: Mose Sharp — son, brother, husband, father, friend… and straight man to the fat guy in baggy pants who utterly transforms his life.

To the paying public, Mose Sharp was the arch, colorless half of the comedy team Carter and Sharp. To his partner, he was charmed and charming, a confirmed bachelor who never failed at love and romance. To his father and sisters, Mose was a prodigal son. And in his own heart and soul, he would always be a boy who once had a chance to save a girl’s life — a girl who would be his first, and greatest, loss.

Born into a Jewish family in small-town Iowa, the only boy among six sisters, Mose Sharp couldn’t leave home soon enough. By sixteen Mose had already joined the vaudeville circuit. But he knew one thing from the start: “I needed a partner,” he recalls. “I had always needed a partner.”

Then, an ebullient, self-destructive comedian named Rocky Carter came crashing into his life — and a thirty-year partnership was born. But as the comedy team of Carter and Sharp thrived from the vaudeville backwaters to Broadway to Hollywood, a funny thing happened amid the laughter: It wasMose who had all the best lines offstage.

Rocky would go through money, women, and wives in his restless search for love; Mose would settle down to a family life marked by fragile joy and wrenching tragedy. And soon, cracks were appearing in their complex relationship… until one unforgivable act leads to another and a partnership begins to unravel.

In a novel as daring as it is compassionate, Elizabeth McCracken introduces an indelibly drawn cast of characters — from Mose’s Iowa family to the vagabond friends, lovers, and competitors who share his dizzying journey — as she deftly explores the fragile structures that underlie love affairs and friendships, partnerships and families.

An elegiac and uniquely American novel, is storytelling at its finest — and powerful proof that Elizabeth McCracken is one of the most dynamic and wholly original voices of her generation.

“Tip” Marugg’s has been widely praised as an intensely personal, often dreamlike literary masterpiece that balances Caribbean mysticism with the magical realism of Latin American fiction while reflecting the Calvinist sensibilities of the region’s Dutch colonial past.

The story begins on a tropical Antilles night. A man drinks and awaits the coming dawn with his dogs, thinking he might well commit suicide in “the roar of morning.” While contemplating his possible end, the events of his life on Curaçao and on mainland Venezuela come rushing back to him. Some memories are recent, others distant; all are tormented by the politics of a colonialist “gone native.” He recalls sickness and sexual awakening as well as personal encounters with the extraordinary and unexplained. As the day breaks, he has an apocalyptic vision of a great fire engulfing the entire South American continent. The countdown to Armageddon has begun, in a brilliantly dissolute narrative akin to Malcolm Lowry’s and the writings of Charles Bukowski.

„Kardų audra“ — tai trečioji George’o R. R. Martino istorinės fantastinės epopėjos „Ledo ir ugnies giesmė“ knyga; Joje tęsiama autoriaus vaizduotės sukurto pasaulio — Septynių Karalysčių — istorija. Dėl Geležinio sosto ir valdžios prasideda pražūtingas Penkių Karalių karas, kuriame nugalėtojų nėra, o praradimai tiesiog siaubingi. Vesterosas nusiaubtas ir nuniokotas, žmonės išžudyti, net galingasis Vinterfelas sudegintas. Kiekvieno knygos veikėjo likimas pribloškia netikėtumais; Tik niekas negalvoja apie ateinančią žiemą, apie iš Šiaurės slenkančias Tamsos galias, kurios grasina praryti susiskaldžiusį kraštą ir jo gyventojus; Ir ką čia beras užauginusi savo drakonus Daneiris Targarien?<

This Orange Inheritance Edition of is published in association with the Orange Prize for Fiction. Books shape our lives and transform the way we see ourselves and each other. The best books are timeless and continue to be relevant generation after generation. Vintage Classics asked the winners of the Orange Prize for Fiction which books they would pass onto the next generation and why. Ann Patchett chose .

In rural Illinois, two tenant farmers share much, finally too much, until jealously leads to murder and suicide. A tenuous friendship between lonely teenagers — the narrator, whose mother has died young, and Cletus Smith, the troubled witness to his parent’s misery — is shattered. After the murder and upheavals that follow, the boys never speak again. Fifty years on, the narrator attempts a reconstruction of those devastating events and the atonement of a lifetime’s regret.

"The novel comes from a place so deep inside the human soul that I cannot imagine a time its wisdom would not feel fresh and applicable."-Ann Patchett

Blending domestic thriller and psychological horror, this compelling page-turner follows a mother fleeing her estranged husband.

Lydia Millet’s chilling new novel is the first-person account of a young mother, Anna, escaping her cold and unfaithful husband, a businessman who’s just launched his first campaign for political office. When Ned chases Anna and their six-year-old daughter from Alaska to Maine, the two go into hiding in a run-down motel on the coast. But the longer they stay, the less the guests in the dingy motel look like typical tourists — and the less Ned resembles a typical candidate. As his pursuit of Anna and their child moves from threatening to criminal, Ned begins to alter his wife’s world in ways she never could have imagined.

A double-edged and satisfying story with a strong female protagonist, a thrilling plot, and a creeping sense of the apocalyptic, builds to a shattering ending with profound implications for its characters — and for all of us.

All the heroes of this collection—Ulysses and his minions trapped in the Trojan horse; the man who cannot escape his house; Gregor the cockroach, who wakes one day to discover he has become a human teenager—are faced with a world that is always changing, where time and space move in circles, where language has become meaningless.<

As a young man, Juan de Vere takes a job that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Eduardo Muriel is a famous film director — urbane, discreet, irreproachable — an irresistible idol to a young man. Muriel's wife Beatriz is a soft, ripe woman who slips through her husband's home like an unwanted ghost, finding solace in other beds. And on the periphery of all their lives stands Dr Jorge Van Vechten, a shadowy family friend implicated in unsavoury rumours that Muriel cannot bear to pursue himself — rumours he asks Juan to investigate instead. But as Juan draws closer to the truth, he uncovers more questions, ones his employer has not asked and would rather not answer. Why does Muriel hate Beatriz? How did Beatriz meet Van Vechten? And what happened during the war?

As Juan learns more about his employers, he begins to understand the conflicting pulls of desire, power and guilt that govern their lives — and his own. Marias presents a study of the infinitely permeable boundaries between private and public selves, between observer and participant, between the deceptions we suffer from others and those we enact upon ourselves.