'A masterpiece... one of the best prose writers in our time' Michael OndaatjeRobert Grainier is a day labourer in the American West, felling the trees that feed the railways. It is the start of the twentieth century, and the world is changing at a rapid pace.

Life is fragile in the wilds of the frontier; disease and forest fires are rife. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainier journeys, struggling to make sense of the bewildering changes transforming the nation. Rich and muscular, sweep...

'I am a sick person. I am a spiteful person. An unattractive person, too .

. .'In the depths of a cellar in St. Petersburg, a retired civil servant spews forth a passionate and furious note on the ills of society.

The underground man's manifesto reveals his erratic, self-contradictory and even sadistic nature. Yet Dostoyevsky's disturbing character causes an uncomfortable flicker of recognition, and we see in him our own human condition.

With an Introduction and Notes by Merry M. Pawlowski, Professor and Chair, Department of English, California State University,Bakersfield. Virginia Woolf's singular technique in Mrs Dalloway heralds a break with the traditional novel form and reflects a genuine humanity and a concern with the experiences that both enrich and stultify existence.

Society hostess, Clarissa Dalloway is giving a party. Her thoughts and sensations on that one day, and the interior monologues of others whose lives a...

And what can Richard Gere, a beautiful librarian, a struggling priest and a foul-mouthed and troubled young man teach Bartholomew about finding love and happiness?Whatever it is, Bartholomew is in for a lot more than he bargained for . . .'The Good Luck of Right Now is original, compelling, and uplifting . . . His writing is shot through with wit and humanity' Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace returns in a case that will test every emotion in his being. This is the nineteenth novel in the bestselling thriller series.

Introducing the Collins Modern Classics, a series featuring some of the most significant books of recent times, books that shed light on the human experience - classics which will endure for generations to come. How easy it was to lie to strangers, to create with strangers the versions of our lives we imagined. Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria.

Self-assured Ifemelu heads for America. But quiet, thoughtful Obinze finds post-9/11 America closed to...

Okonowo is the greatest warrior alive. His fame has spread like a bushfire in West Africa and he is one of the most powerful men of his clan.But he also has a fiery temper. Determined not to be like his father, he refuses to show weakness to anyone - even if the only way he can master his feelings is with his fists.

"One of the most provocative, intelligent and original novelists working in Britain today." Irvine Welsh. My dad taught us to be prepared for whatever was coming. He said we should know the facts about how long we could survive without food, water or fresh air, and to remember that we couldn't live at all without hope.

It was better, he said, to be ahead of the game. Better to be ten years too early than one minute too late. That's why he did what he did, on that morning ...

Inspired by her f...

A BBC Top 100 Novels that Shaped Our WorldEffia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader's wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow.

Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to the cotton-picking plantations of Mississippi; from the missionary schools of Ghana to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations, Yaa Gyasi has written a miraculous novel - the intimate, gr...

A magical novel of love, exploration and home, spanning the East African coast, China, Turkey and the seas in between, from one of Kenya's leading writers. The Dragonfly Sea follows the unforgettable Ayaana's journey to adulthood after her small-island childhood is interrupted. Targeted first by religious fundamentalists and second by Chinese emissaries, Ayaana is sent on a container ship to study in China, where she is forced to grow up fast.

With its epic scope and lush lyricism, Owuor evok...