Modern Fiction

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unique tales inspired by traditional literary forms appeared frequently in socialist-leaning British periodicals, such as the Clarion, Labour Leader, and Social Democrat. Based on familiar genres, these stories were meant to entertain readers of all ages - and some challenged the conventional values promoted in children’s literature for the middle class. Acclaimed critic and author Michael Rosen brings together more than 40 of the best and most enduring examples of these stories in one beautiful volume.

Maid in Waiting is the beginning novel in the last trilogy of John Galsworthy's Forsyte Chronicles. In this 7th installment, the story continues of the lives and times, loves and losses, fortunes and deaths of the fictional but entirely representative family of propertied Victorians, the Forsytes.

Prince Cor of Seingalt is about to announce his engagement. The court, the country, and the world are waiting to meet his fiancee. The trouble is, he hasn't got one. He needs a fake, and fast. Rhian Rothe is trapped. With her dreams of stage stardom in tatters, she needs a new opportunity - enough to agree to play Cinderella to an arrogant prince. But this is no fairytale, and Rhian's not the one who needs to be rescued. If Prince Less-Than-Charming wants her help, he'd better start acting like it.

Small-town business owner Jason Brewster has big dreams: world travel, adventure, and, most of all, a passionate romance worthy of a fairy tale. But he doesn’t believe fantasies can come true until Adam moves in next door. He’s handsome, cultured, European, and, best of all, interested in Jason. It’s like something out of the stories Jason loves. But Adam - whose real name is Amadeo Montefalcone - has a secret. He's royalty, prince of the small country of Monterosia.

The name’s Crowley, but the fae know me as Fuamnach’s Hound. She’s the Tuath Dé sorceress who abducted me as a child, making me her slave in Underhill. For decades, I languished under her thumb, suffering torturous abuse while she molded me into her own personal magical assassin and saboteur. After years of slavery, I finally broke free, earning her ire and the attention of her death squads. Now, I'm searching for my human family and the doppelgänger who stole my identity. I intend to gain back what was lost by killing the faery who is living the life I was meant to have.

President William Darcy has it all: wealth, intelligence, and the most powerful job in the country. Despite what his friends say, he is not lonely in the White House. He’s not. And he has vowed not to date while he’s in office. Nor is he interested in Elizabeth Bennet. She might be pretty and funny and smart, but her family is nouveau riche and unbearable. Unfortunately, he encounters her everywhere in Washington, DC - making her harder and harder to ignore.

When a woman with perfect memory sets out to solve a riddle, the threads she tugs on could bring a whole city crashing down. The God-King who made her is at risk, and his other servants will do anything to stop her. To become the God-King's Amanuensis, Manet had to master all seven perfections, developing her body and mind to the peak of human performance. She remembers everything that has happened to her, in absolute clarity, a gift that will surely drive her mad.

Morli is a prince on a mission - but he’d rather be baking. Baxter is a lonely production artist stuck in a pandemic lockdown. They are literally universes apart. But with a little help from a magic shop, a raven, and a dead great-aunt who was possibly a witch, Morli and Baxter are joined together on a cross-worlds adventure. Battling killer brambles in order to rescue an enchanted princess seems simple compared to their real challenges: Discovering their strengths and creating a future together.

In the frozen wastes north of Russia, a lone seaward vessel seeks the elusive Northwest Passage. Suddenly they sight a dog sled with a gargantuan figure in the shape of a man, driving the dogs northward to sure oblivion. The following day, they find another sled. This sled is filled with a European near death, and when asked what he is chasing, he simply replies, "to seek one who fled from me."

Unveil the secrets of the Chinese language and culture as you embark on a captivating journey with Sun Tzu's renowned masterpiece, The Art of War for Language Learners. Immerse yourself in this comprehensive audiobook, which offers a contemporary approach to learning Chinese and presents timeless wisdom from China's most celebrated classic.

Hell Unearthed charts Dante’s journey, guided by his hero, Virgil, through the underworld. In this modern version of Inferno, the cast of sinners Dante meets includes gangsters, dictators, pop stars, sports stars, princes and princesses. These characters’ stories will be familiar to many and they sit alongside sinners drawn from classical mythology as well as the heroes and villains from Dante’s contemporary medieval Tuscany. Characters are positioned in Hell according to the gravity of their sin and are tormented by weapons.

Mimei Ogawa, a prolific author of short stories nearly 100 years ago, is considered to be one of the founding figures of modern Japanese children’s literature. He has also been called the Hans Christian Andersen of Japan because of how his works were influenced by Andersen. This collection contains a fresh, modern translation of one of Mimei Ogawa’s most famous works, "The Mermaid and the Red Candles", as well as several other stories that have never been translated and published in English before.

After unexpectedly coming home to find a “Dear John” letter from his girlfriend, Daniel feels the calling for a fresh start—packing all his belongings in the car and taking a road trip out west hoping to rediscover what is essential to life. When his car breaks down in the mountains of Wyoming, he walks for several miles in search of assistance. After stopping at the first home he passes, he meets an old hunting guide and dog trainer named Kurt, who generously welcomes him in and offers to let him stay until the mechanic shop reopens after the weekend.

It's August in the Barsetshire village of Worsted, and Richard Tebben, just down from Oxford, is contemplating the gloomy prospect of a long summer in the parental home. But the numerous and impossibly glamorous Dean family - exquisite Rachel, her capable husband and six of their nine brilliant children - have come for the holidays, and their hostess, Mrs. Palmer, plans to rope everyone into performing in her disastrous annual play.

Colin and Click are headed back from the Hellpocalypse timeline when things go sideways, and they end up somewhere they were never supposed to be. Soon Colin is recruited by none other than The Fat Man himself and tasked with saving Christmas in a small Texas town that's plagued by allies of Krampus. Is Santa really just a jolly old fat man? How much trouble can a few gankerl be? Do lederhosen make Colin's butt look fat? Can Colin save Christmas? Get answers to these questions and more in this wacky Christmas fantasy fiction installment in the Junkyard Druid Novellas series.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Georgiana Darcy should have been expelled after The Incident with Wickham Foster last year—at least if you ask any of her Pemberley Academy classmates. She may have escaped expulsion because of her family name, but she didn’t escape the disappointment of her big brother Fitz, the scorn of the entire school, or, it turns out, Wickham’s influence.

A baby is born in privilege, blooming under the warmth of his parents' love. Jealousy sprouts and brings with it malevolent intentions. A king and queen cursed with an empty kingdom. A child abandoned in revenge. A misfit, the boy should turn hard and cold among the thorns he grows in. Despite lifelong attempts to destroy him, this child does not wither. Underneath his insecurity, he maintains a heart with the tenderest center. A heart that plays the most beautiful music.

Petra and Henry’s marriage has gone flat. However, after a chance meeting with a new lover, Alain, Petra discovers a fresh side to her sexuality. With his encouragement she explores her feelings of dominance and begins to subject husband Henry to a regime of discipline and control.

Tal Neilson is slowly losing his mind. He’s convinced his dead father Geri has been murdered, but no one believes him. Geri’s voice in his head is screaming for revenge. Is the voice real or a product of Tal’s addiction? Can Tal ignore his widowed mother’s attraction to Geri’s business partner?

Long ago and far away (and somewhere south of France) lies the kingdom of Esquaveta. There, Princess Tullia is in nearly as much peril as her struggling kingdom. Esquaveta desperately needs to forge an alliance, and to that end, Tullia's father has arranged a marriage between her and an odious prince. However, one month before the "wedding of the century," Tullia falls in love with a lowly apprentice scribe. The king turns to Anatole, his much-maligned magician. Seventeen years earlier, when Anatole first came to the castle, he was regarded as something of a prodigy.