The award-winning author of The Past once again "crystallizes the atmosphere of ordinary life in prose somehow miraculous and natural" (Washington Post), in a collection of stories that elevate the mundane into the exceptional. The author of six critically acclaimed novels, Tessa Hadley has proven herself to be the champion of revealing the hidden depths in the deceptively simple. In these short stories it's the ordinary things that turn out to be...

Sent to the prestigious boarding school his family has attended for generations, Ben struggles to prove himself at the side of a marginalized roommate before realizing how much the school's realities differ from what he anticipated.

They may be twin sisters, but Lizzie and Penny Berry are complete opposites - Penny is blonde, thin and outrageous; Lizzie quiet, thoughtful and definitely not thin. The one trait they do share is a desire to DO something with their lives, and as far as they are concerned, the place to get noticed is London. Out of the blue they discover they have a grandmother living in Chelsea - and when she has to go into hospital, they find themselves flat-sitting...

"To dive into a Wodehouse novel is to swim in some of the most elegantly turned phrases in the English language."—Ben Schott

Follow the adventures of Bertie Wooster and his gentleman's gentleman, Jeeves, in this stunning new edition of one of the greatest comic short story collections in the English language. This classic collection of linked stories feature some of the funniest episodes in the life of Bertie Wooster,...

Follows the fortunes of Tom, a foundling brought up by the kindly squire Allworthy. Despite a good and generous heart, Tom's naive inability to resist a pretty face leads to his downfall and he is banished from the Squire's house. But when the girl he really loves, Sophia, runs away to escape from her arranged marriage to his rival, the despicable Blifil, Tom pursues her to London, embarking on a series of riotous and frequently amorous adventures...

When her sister Julia's new--and much older--husband is found dead the morning after their hasty marriage, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady's maid, Eva, must discover the killer before the Renshaws' social standing is irreparably damaged by a murder charge.

"... [A] rakish spy finds more than he bargained for in his pursuit of an earl's enchanting runaway fiancée. The mission: Find the Earl of Brundage's runaway fiancée in exchange for a fortune. Child's play for legendary British former spymaster, Christian Hawkes. The catch? Hawkes knows in his bones that Brundage is the traitor to England who landed him in a brutal French prison. Hawkes is destitute, the earl is desperate, and a bargain is struck....

"When Lord Worplesdon needs a discreet location to conclude a business merger, Bertie and Jeeves are forced to help by taking a cottage in Steeple Bumpleigh. Unfortunately, mayhem ensues when Edwin, the unhelpful Boy Scout, burns down the cottage. Confronted with Florence Craye, Bertie's pushy ex-fiancée; P. D'Arcy 'Stilton' Cheesewright, Florence's burly current fiancé; and Aunt Agatha, who 'eats broken bottles and conducts human sacrifices by...

Charmingly imperfect Catherine Morland is invited to Northanger Abbey, the home of new friends. Hearing exaggerated reports of her wealth, the head of household General Tilney encourages a marriage between his son Henry and Catherine. Before matters can be settled, Catherine must learn to distinguish between books and real life, false friends and true.

        
Etched against the background of a dying rural society, Tess of the d'Urbervilles was Thomas Hardy's "bestseller," and Tess Durbeyfield remains his most striking and tragic heroine. Of all the characters he created, she meant the most to him. Hopelessly torn between two men—Alec d'Urberville, a wealthy, dissolute young man who seduces her in a lonely wood, and Angel Clare, her provincial,...