Faber and Faber The Woman in the Purple Skirt Imamura Natsuko

Dazzlingly original, Kobo Abe's The Woman in the Dunes is one of the premier Japanese novels in the twentieth century, and this Penguin Classics edition contains a new introduction by David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas • Niki Jumpei, an amateur entomologist, searches the scorching desert for beetles. As night falls he is forced to seek shelter in an eerie village, half-buried by huge sand dunes. He awakes to the terrifying realisation that the villagers have imprisoned him with a young woman at the bottom of a vast sand pit. Tricked into slavery and threatened with starvation if he does not work, Jumpei's only chance is to shovel the ever-encroaching sand - or face an agonising death. Among the greatest Japanese novels of the twentieth century, The Woman in the Dunes combines the essence of myth, suspense, and the existential novel

London, 1960. The lives of teenage twins Maisy and Duncan change forever the night their sick mother is taken to an asylum. Sent to live in the New Forest with their cold-hearted grandmother, Mrs Mitcham, they feel unloved and abandoned • And when one day Duncan doesn't come home from exploring in the forest, no one - least of all his grandmother - appears to care about his disappearance. The police, who've found the bodies of other missing boys, offer little hope of finding Duncan alive • Yet Maisy refuses to give up. Though she doesn't know the woods well, she knows someone who does. The strange old woman who lives at their heart • Dare Maisy enlist the help of the woman in the wood?

Shay Bastable is the woman in the middle. She is part of the sandwich generation – caring for her parents and her children, supporting her husband Bruce, holding them all together and caring for them as best she can • Then the arrival of a large orange skip on her mother’s estate sets in motion a cataclysmic series of events which leads to the collapse of Shay’s world. She is forced to put herself first for a change • But in order to move forward with her present, Shay needs to make sense of her past. And so she returns to the little village she grew up in, to uncover the truth about what happened to her when she was younger. And in doing so, she discovers that sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to find the only way is up

‘I see it all again: the silver moon swimming beneath the water and the golden gown billowing out about her…’ • 1765: Lady Isabella Gerard asks her maid to take her new golden gown and destroy it. Its shimmering beauty has been tainted by the actions of her husband the night before • Three months later: Lord Eustace Gerard stands beside the lake looking down at the woman in the golden gown. As the body slowly rolls over to reveal her face, it’s clear this is not his intended victim… • 1996: Fenella Brightwell steals a stunning gown from a stately home. Twenty years later and reeling from the end of an abusive marriage, she wonders if it has cursed her all this time. Now she’s determined to discover the history behind the beautiful golden dress…

For centuries hummingbirds have captured our imaginations: revered by Native Americans, coveted by European collectors and admired worldwide for their jewel-like plumage, acrobatic flight and immense character • Though their renown extends throughout the world, hummingbirds are found exclusively in the Americas. Small in stature yet fiercely tenacious, they have conquered every habitat imaginable: from boreal woodlands to deserts, mangrove swamps to volcanic slopes, and on islands both tropical and sub-polar. The Glitter in the Green takes us on an unforgettable journey in search of the most remarkable examples of this wildly variable family. There's the Bee Hummingbird in Cuba, the smallest species of bird to have ever lived; the diminutive Rufous Hummingbird, whose annual migration exceeds 3,000 miles; and the critically endangered Juan Fernandez Firecrown, marooned on the remote Pacific island that inspired Robinson Crusoe

The new thrilling instalment of John Connolly's popular Charlie Parker series. It is spring, and the semi-preserved body of a young Jewish woman is discovered buried in the Maine woods. It is clear that she gave birth shortly before her death. But there is no sign of a baby. Private detective Charlie Parker is engaged by the lawyer Moxie Castin to shadow the police investigation and find the infant, but Parker is not the only searcher. Someone else is following the trail left by the woman, someone with an interest in more than a missing child, someone prepared to leave bodies in his wake. And in a house by the woods, a toy telephone begins to ring. For a young boy is about to receive a call from a dead woman

This collection of lesser-known early short fiction - ranging from absurd humorous sketches to psychological dramas and tragic tales - demonstrates Anton Chekhov's mastery of the genre, with stories about marital infidelity, betrayal, deception and love in its various forms. Although varying m tone and purpose, what these tales have in common is a profound and subtle understanding of the human condition, in its farcical and melancholy aspects, couched in Chekhov's trademark minimalist style

This collection of lesser-known early short fiction - ranging from absurd humorous sketches to psychological dramas and tragic tales - demonstrates Anton Chekhov's mastery of the genre, with stories about marital infidelity, betrayal, deception and love in its various forms. Although varying m tone and purpose, what these tales have in common is a profound and subtle understanding of the human condition, in its farcical and melancholy aspects, couched in Chekhov's trademark minimalist style

An unforgettable thriller from an incredible new author, for fans of We Were Liars and Half Bad, reminiscent of The Virgin Suicides • Father wants sixteen-year-old Castley and her five siblings to hide from the world. Living in a falling-down house deep in the woods, he wants to bury their secrets where noone will ever find them • Father says they are destined to be together forever. In heaven. Father says the sooner they get there, the better • But Castley wants to be normal. She wants to kiss boys and wear jean shorts • Castley wants to live

For centuries, scientists had only one way to study the brain: wait for misfortune to strike - strokes, seizures, infections, lobotomies, horrendous accidents, phantom limbs, Siamese twins - and see how the victims changed afterwards. In many cases their survival was miraculous, and observers marvelled at the transformations that took place when different parts of the brain were destroyed. Parents suddenly couldn't recognise their children. Pillars of the community became pathological liars and paedophiles. Some people couldn't speak but could still sing. Others couldn't read but could write • The stories of these people laid the foundations of modern neuroscience and, century by century, key cases taught scientists what every last region of the brain did

For Sarah and Patrick, life has always been easy. Then they move to Patrick's childhood home and everything changes.Fifteen years ago, another family was murdered there. Patrick says they can make it perfect again, but their children are plagued by nightmares and Sarah swears someone is watching the house.Worse still, the longer they live in their 'dream' home, the more different her loving husband becomes

Роман А.Дж. Финн "Женщина в окне" - это книга о подвиге, о способности преодолеть себя • Анна Фокс детский психолог, год назад пережившая страшную трагедию. Теперь она стала заложницей в своем собственном доме. Анна страдает агорафобией и уже много месяцев не выходит на улицу. Родные оставила ее, хотя Анна регулярно разговаривает с ними по телефону. Свои дни она коротает за бокалом вина, просмотром старых фильмов, общением в интернет-форумах… и слежкой за соседями • Однажды в доме, расположенном через сквер, появляются новые жильцы: отец, мать, сын-подросток. Благополучная, просто идеальная семья. Но как-то раз Анна, наставив в окно объектив камеры, видит шокирующее преступление. Или ей все показалось? Никто не воспринимает ее всерьез, полиция не верит ее словам - под грузом открывающихся тайн и секретов мир Анны начинает рушиться