The Photograph

How are great turning points in history experienced by individuals? As Britain pulls away from Europe great British writers come together to give voice to their innermost feelings. These writers include novelists, writers of books for children, of comic books, humourists, historians, biographers, nature writers, film writers, travel writers, writers young and old and from an extraordinary range of backgrounds. Most are famous perhaps because they have won the Booker or other literary prizes,...

Maria is always getting lost in the secret world of her imagination…A ghostly mystery and winner of the Whitbread Award, newly republished in the Essential Modern Classics range.Maria likes to be alone with her thoughts. She talks to animals and objects, and generally prefers them to people. But whilst on holiday she begins to hear things that aren’t there – a swing creaking, a dog barking – and when she sees a Victorian embroidered picture, Maria feels a strange connection with the...

Kui maastikuajaloolane Glyn Peters leiab kogemata foto, millel on jäädvustatud tema varalahkunud naine hoidmas käest kinni teisel mehel, kukub kokku tema senine arusaam minevikust, koos veedetud aastatest ja abielust. Ajaloolasena on Glyni ülesanne lugeda minevikku, nüüd on ta sunnitud professionaalseid uurimisoskusi rakendama enda isikliku ajaloo tõlgendamiseks. Kõikudes emotsionaalse peapöörituse ja sundmõtete vahepeal, asub mees uurima, kes oli tema abikaasa tegelikult. Miks alustas naine...

The Puffin Book of Stories for Six-year-olds, edited by Wendy Cooling is essential reading for all six-year-olds! Brilliant stories from some of our best-loved authors, including Geraldine McCaughrean, Philippa Pearce and Penelope Lively. With a Martian in a supermarket, a monkey in trouble, and a magic pearl tree, there's something for everyone to discover in this special collection. Perfect for six-year-olds to share or read alone.

The classic ghost story from Penelope Lively, one of the modern greats of British fiction for adults and children alike. James is fed up. His family has moved to a new cottage – with grounds that are great for excavations, and trees that are perfect for climbing – and stuff is happening. Stuff that is normally the kind of thing he does. But it's not him who's writing strange things on shopping lists and fences. It's not him who smashes bottles and pours tea in the Vicar's...

In this powerful and compelling 'view from old age', Penelope Lively, at eighty, reports back on what she finds. There are meditations on what it is like to be old as well as on how memory shapes us. There are intriguing examinations of key personal as well as historical moments she has lived through and her thoughts on her own bookishness - both as reader and writer. Lastly, she turns to six treasured possessions to speak eloquently about who she is and where she's been -...