Bella y oscura es el relato alegórico de lo que poseemos sin haber conquistado: la sabiduría de la infancia. Es la evocación de un tiempo pasado, solitario, fermento necesario de la libertad esperada. Es la belleza que la fantasía extrae de la crueldad y de los inocentes olvidados de la niñez.

"DAZZLING… MAGICAL… AN EXTRAORDINARY WORK!" -New York Times"BRILLIANT… RESONATES FROM PAST TO PRESENT." – San Francisco Chronicle"A MAGNIFICENT HEROINE… A GLORIOUS BOOK!" – Baltimore Sun"BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN… POWERFUL…TONI MORRISON HAS BECOME ONE OF AMERICA 'S FINEST NOVELISTS." -Cleveland Plain Dealer"THERE IS SOMETHING GREAT IN BELOVED: A PLAY OF HUMAN VOICES, CONSCIOUSLY EXALTED, PERVERSELY STRESSED, YET HOLDING TRUE. IT GETS YOU." – The New Yorker"A STUNNING BOOK… A LASTING ACHIEVEMENT!" -Christian Science Monitor"Magical… rich, provocative, extremely satisfying!" – Milwaukee Journal"Superb… a profound and shattering story that carries the weight of history… exquisitely told." -Cosmopolitan"Compelling… Morrison shakes that brilliant kaleidoscope of hers again, and the story of pain, endurance, poetry, and power she is born to tell comes out right." -Village Voice"In her most probing novel, Toni Morrison has demonstrated once again the stunning powers that place her in the first ranks of our living novelists." – St. Louis Post-Dispatch"Shattering emotional power and impact!" -New York Daily News"A book worth many rereadings." – Glamour"Astonishing… a triumph!"-New Woman"A work of genuine force… beautifully written." -Washington Post"Written with a force rarely seen in contemporary fiction… One feels deep admiration." -USA Today"Toni Morrison is not just an important contemporary novelist but a major figure of our national literature."-New York Review of Books"Heart-wrenching… mesmerizing!" – Atlanta Journal-Constitution"Powerful is too tame a word to describe Toni Morrison's searing new novel." -Library Journal"Shatteringly eloquent."-Booklist"A rich, mythical novel… a triumph!"- St. Petersburg Times"Powerful… voluptuous!" – New York Magazine

La ambigüedad de la traición es el motor de una intriga policíaca que constituye el tema aparente de Beltenebros. Sin embargo, lo que en realidad encubre es el desorientado transitar de los personajes por una fascinante galería de espejos en la que se reflejan el amor y el odio, el pasado y el presente, la realidad y la ficción, en un trepidante clarouscuro de corte premeditadamente cinematográfico que mantiene al lector bajo su hipnosis hasta el último renglón del libro.Convocado por una organización comunista subversiva, Darman, antiguo capitán del ejército republicano exiliado en Inglaterra, regresa a Madrid para ejecutar a un supuesto traidor a quien no ha visto nunca. En los lóbregos escenarios de la clandestinidad, emprende con desgana un periplo trepidante en pos de su víctima del que una misericordiosa cabaretera, viva imagen de una mujer a la que amó, tratará de desviarlo.En Beltenebros, el arte de narrador de Muñoz Molina, su vigorosa maestría técnica y su estilo preciso y envolvente alcanzan un grado extremo de plenitud y de tensión expresiva cuyo logro admite escasos parangones en la narrativa española contemporánea.

When Dad Lewis is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he and his wife must work together, along with their daughter, to make his final days as comfortable as possible, despite the bitter absence of their estranged son. Next door, a young girl moves in with her grandmother and contends with the memories that Dad’s condition stirs up of her own mother’s death. A newly arrived preacher attempts to mend his strained relationships with his wife and son, and soon faces the disdain of his congregation when he offers more than they are used to getting on Sunday mornings. And throughout, an elderly widow and her middle-aged daughter do all they can to ease the pain of their friends and neighbors.

A nihilistic wit reminiscent of Samuel Beckett.?Independent on SundayThe cast-offs of modern urban society are driven out onto the edges of the city and left to make a life there for themselves. They are not, however, in any natural wilderness, but in a world of refuse and useless junk?a place which denies any form of sustainable life. Here, the unemployed, the homeless, the old and the bereft struggle to build shelters out of old tin cans, scavenge for food and fight against insuperable odds.And yet somehow they survive: it seems that society thrives on the garbage hills because it has always been built on one. In this dark fairy tale full of scenes taken from what has increasingly become a way of life for many inhabitants on this planet, Latife Tekin has written a grim parable of human destiny.A major best seller in her native Turkey, Latife Tekin maintains a politically active presence and has written a number of literary works.Saliha Paker translates Turkish poetry and is a member of the Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies at the University of Birmingham. Ruth Christie is a translator of Turkish poetry and prose."A provocative and enjoyable work."?Times Literary Supplement"A small masterpiece of beauty."?Women's Review of Books

Set in a devastated Berlin one month after the close of the Second World War, Berlin has been acclaimed as “ambitious. filled with brilliantly drawn characters, mesmerizingly readable, and disturbingly convincing” by the Sunday Telegraph. An electrifying thriller in the tradition of Joseph Kanon and Alan Furst, Berlin is a page-turner and an intimate portrait of Germany before, during, and after the war. It is 1945 in the American sector of occupied Berlin, and a German boy has discovered the body of a beautiful young woman in a subway station. Blonde and blue-eyed, she has been sexually assaulted and strangled with a chain. When the bodies of other young women begin to pile up it becomes clear that this is no isolated act of violence, and German and American investigators will have to cooperate if they are to stop the slaughter. Author Pierre Frei has searched the wreckage of Berlin and emerged with a gripping whodunit in which the stories of the victims themselves provide an absorbing commentary. There is a powerful pulse buried deep in the rubble.

Nina Borg – Raudonojo Kryžiaus slaugė. Ji dirba su pabėgėliais Danijoje – oficialiai, o kartais ir neoficialiai. Ji pratusi prie ekstremalių situacijų ir staigių iškvietimų. Didžiąją savo gyvenimo dalį leidžia pasaulyje, kurį kiti danai retai tepastebi, nors jis visai čia pat. Šantažas, prekyba žmonėmis, išnaudojimas ir ankstyva mirtis – to pasaulio kasdienybė; tame pasaulyje nuolat dingsta vaikai, bet niekas dėl to nesisieloja. Tačiau Nina į visa tai pro pirštus žiūrėti negali. Lagamine radusi berniuką, ji stengiasi išsiaiškinti, kas jis toks, kaip čia atsidūrė. Apsisprendžia nieku gyvu neleisti, kad šis mažylis dingtų kaip dingo daugybė kitų. Pasirodo, toks apsisprendimas gali kainuoti jai gyvybę...„Lagamine gulejo berniukas. Nuogas sviesiaplaukis berniukas - mazas ir laibas, vargu ar vyresnis negu treju. Apstulbusi ji atsoko ir trenkesi i siurkstu plastikini konteineri. Vaiko keliai remesi i krutine - mazylis buvo sulankstytas kaip kokie marskiniai, kitaip tikrai nebutu tilpes. Gulejo uzsimerkes, dienos sviesos lempu nutvieksta oda blyskiai svytejo. Staiga suvirpejo jo lupos, ir ji suvoke: berniukas gyvas." Ninos Borg biciule papraso paslaugos - is stoties bagazo skyriaus paimti ten padeta kazin koki daikta. Spinteleje Nina randa lagamina, o jame - maza nuoga berniuka. Kol moteris svarsto, ka daryti su vaiku, jos biciule ziauriai nuzudoma. Akivaizdu, kad su sia mirtim kazkaip susijes mazylis, kuris, kai pagaliau atsigauna, prabyla Ninai nesuprantama kalba. Netrukus paaiskeja, kad vaikas kalba lietuviskai, o i Danija nelegaliai atgabentas is Vilniaus.Nina nusprendzia gelbeti berniuka - ir isipainioja i itin painia ir pavojinga istorija...

Fiction. BEST BEHAVIOR, the new novel by Noah Cicero, is his boldest work yet. As the subject matter becomes increasingly autobiographical, the landscape more bleak, its impact is blunt, brutal, but somehow still hilarious. This is the literature of pain: of living in a world where nothing is right-a temple to capitalism with no room for any kind of human spirit-and, despite everything, trying to find some way to deal with it; then eventually failing. BEST BEHAVIOR might be the truest story ever told. BEST BEHAVIOR is slice-of-life, and that's as it should be. Where the classics have beginnings, middles, and ends that are relevant to the mainstream consciousness of the times, BEST BEHAVIOR is a couple of days in the life, making it a more honest and useful cultural artifact-Rebecca Haze.

The nation’s favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its tenth year.

Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover – or, more accurately, by its title. This new series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor’s brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking for the best of the bunch to reprint all in one volume.

Featuring: Richard Lawrence Bennett, Luke Brown, David Constantine, Tim Etchells, Nicola Freeman, Amanthi Harris, Andrew Hook, Sonia Hope, Hanif Kureishi, Helen Mort, Jeff Noon, Irenosen Okojie, KJ Orr, Bridget Penney, Diana Powell, David Rose, Sarah Schofield, Adrian Slatcher, NJ Stallard, Robert Stone, Stephen Thompson and Zakia Uddin.

“The right story, at the right time, if you happen to be open to it … can perhaps move you so far outside of yourself that you will not consider going back.”

“Like meeting a stranger, much of the pleasure of a story is its unknown power,” writes Best Canadian Stories 2020 guest editor Paige Cooper. “The right story, at the right time, if you happen to be open to it … can perhaps move you so far outside of yourself that you will not consider going back.”

From Festival du Voyageur to the shores of Lake Erie, Tbilisi to Toronto, the Amisk River to a hotel-turned-hospital in the midst of a mysterious pandemic, this wide-ranging anthology brings together the real and the speculative, small towns and big cities, grief and humour, introducing readers to stories that startle us into new understanding—of ourselves and each other, the worlds we inhabit and the ones they help us to imagine.

2013 may be the best year yet for Best European Fiction. The inimitable John Banville joins the list of distinguished preface writers for Aleksandar Hemon’s series, and A. S. Byatt represents England among a luminous cast of European contributors. Fans of the series will find everything they’ve grown to love, while new readers will discover what they’ve been missing!

Cuando parece que la tranquilidad ha vuelto a reinar en el country La Maravillosa, Pedro Chazarreta aparece degollado, sentado en su sillón favorito, con una botella de whisky vacía a un costado y un cuchillo ensangrentado en la mano. Todo hace suponer que se trata de un suicidio. Pero pronto aparecen las dudas. ¿Acaso algún justiciero habrá querido vengar la muerte de la mujer del empresario, asesinada tres años antes en esa misma casa? ¿Será ésta la última muerte?El Tribuno, uno de los diarios más importantes del país, deja de lado por unos días su enfrentamiento con el gobierno para cubrir a fondo la noticia. Al escenario del crimen, envía a Nurit Iscar, una escritora retirada, y a un periodista joven e inexperto. Y aunque el antiguo jefe de la sección Policiales, Jaime Brena, ha sido desplazado por sacar los pies del plato, decide involucrarse en el caso y ayudar a su reemplazante y a Nurit, a quien admira en secreto.

Francie held the secret the Red Spies wanted. Would she destroy the man she loved or sacrifice the safety of her country?

From an emerging master of short fiction and one of Canada's most distinctive voices, a collection of stories as heartbreaking as those of Lorrie Moore and as hilariously off-kilter as something out of McSweeney's.In Better Living through Plastic Explosives, Zsuzsi Gartner delivers a powerful second dose of the lacerating satire that marked her acclaimed debut, All the Anxious Girls on Earth, but with even greater depth and darker humour. Whether she casts her eye on evolution and modern manhood when an upscale cul-de-sac is thrown into chaos after a redneck moves into the neighbourhood, international adoption, war photography, real estate, the movie industry, motivational speakers, or terrorism, Gartner filets the righteous and the ridiculous with dexterity in equal, glorious measure. These stories ruthlessly expose our most secret desires, and allow us to snort with laughter at the grotesque world we'd live in if we all got what we wanted.

Djian's five novels have won acclaim in Europe, and the present one was a bestseller later adapted into an offbeat film. It's not likely, however, that this tedious and melodramatic on-the-road novel of the most formless kind will have much impact here. The story revolves around the love affair between a drifter with an unpublished novel to his credit and a beautiful girl with itchy feet who, for no discernible reason (Djian doesn't seem to believe in reasons), goes from such eccentricities as pouring paint over a car and torching a house to self-destructive madness. Her passion-driven lover follows her from place to place (none identified), flattered by her faith in his literary talents and ready to try his hand at practically anything to keep the affair afloatplumbing, housepainting, pizza-making, selling pianos and, finally, armed robbery. The lovers fail to inspire credibility, or even interest, the events smack more of fantasy than reality and every so often the generally sloppy prose sinks to the level of "A smile spread over her face like an atomic bomb." Here is one disciple Kerouac would have disclaimed.

Ustad Ramzi was once the greatest wrestler in Pakistan, famed for his enormous strength and unmatched technique. Young apprentices flocked to his akhara to learn his craft, fans adored him, and rival wrestling clans feared his resolve that would never admit defeat. The courtesan, Gohar Jan, was just as renowned. Celebrated throughout the country for her beauty, and the power and melodiousness of her singing, her kotha was thronged by nobles, rich men, and infatuated admirers.Musharraf Ali Farooqi’s new novel opens with a glimpse of these extraordinary characters in the twilight of their lives. Their once formidable skills are no longer so: new challengers have arisen; their followers have melted away; and the adoring crowds are long gone. An immense catastrophe has laid waste to the country, and its new inheritors and rulers have no time for the old ways. Stripped of their former resources and traditionally captivating powers, Ustad Ramzi and Gohar Jan must face their greatest challenge yet.

“Oz lifts the veil on kibbutz existence without palaver. His pinpoint descriptions are pared to perfection. . His people twitch with life.” — ScotsmanIn Between Friends, Amos Oz returns to the kibbutz of the late 1950s, the time and place where his writing began. These eight interconnected stories, set in the fictitious Kibbutz Yekhat, draw masterly profiles of idealistic men and women enduring personal hardships in the shadow of one of the greatest collective dreams of the twentieth century.A devoted father who fails to challenge his daughter’s lover, an old friend, a man his own age; an elderly gardener who carries on his shoulders the sorrows of the world; a woman writing poignant letters to her husband’s mistress — amid this motley group of people, a man named Martin attempts to teach everyone Esperanto.Each of these stories is a luminous human and literary study; together they offer an eloquent portrait of an idea and of a charged and fascinating epoch. Amos Oz at home. And at his best.

On India's south-western coast, between Goa and Calicut, lies Kittur – a small, nondescript every town. Aravind Adiga acts as our guide to the town, mapping overlapping lives of Kittur's residents. Here, an illiterate Muslim boy working at the train station finds himself tempted by an Islamic terrorist; a bookseller is arrested for selling a copy of "The Satanic Verses"; a rich, spoiled, half-caste student decides to explode a bomb in school; a sexologist has to find a cure for a young boy who may have AIDS. What emerges is the moral biography of an Indian town and a group portrait of ordinary Indians in a time of extraordinary transformation, over the seven-year period between the assassinations of Prime Minister Gandhi and her son Rajiv. Keenly observed and finely detailed, "Between the Assassinations" is a triumph of voice and imagination.

New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult and her teenage daughter present their first-ever novel for teens, filled with romance, adventure, and humor.What happens when happily ever after.isn't?Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book – one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He's a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He's sure there's more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.***“REAL FAIRY TALES are not for the fainthearted. Children get eaten by witches and chased by wolves; women fall into comas and are tortured by evil relatives. Somehow all that pain and suffering is worthwhile, though, when it leads to the ending: happily ever after. Suddenly it no longer matters if you got a B- on your midterm in French or you’re the only girl in the school who doesn’t have a date for the spring formal. Happily ever after trumps everything.But what if ever after could change?”JODIPICOULT.COMWHAT HAPPENS WHENHAPPILY EVER AFTER…ISN’T?Delilah hates school as much as she loves books. In fact, there’s one book in particular she can’t get enough of. If anyone knew how many times she has read and reread the sweet little fairy tale she found in the library, especially the popular kids, she’d be sent to social Siberia…forever.To Delilah, though, this fairy tale is more than just words on the page. Sure, there’s a handsome (well, okay, hot) prince, and a castle, and an evil villain, but it feels as if there’s something deeper going on. And one day Delilah finds out there is. Turns out, this Prince Charming is real, and a certain fifteen-year-old loner has caught his eye. But they’re from two different worlds, and how can it ever possibly work?Together with her daughter, Samantha van Leer, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult has written a classic fairy tale with a uniquely modern twist. Readers will be swept away by this story of a girl who crosses the border between reality and fantasy in a perilous search for her own happy ending.

Shortlisted for the 2021 Booker PrizeLonglisted for the 2021 National Book Award for FictionA heartrending new novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning and #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Overstory.Named one of the Most Anticipated Books of 2021 by Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, Chicago Tribune, BuzzFeed, BookPage, Goodreads, Literary Hub, The Millions, New Statesman, and Times of LondonThe astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He’s also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. As his son grows more troubled, Theo hopes to keep him off psychoactive drugs. He learns of an experimental neurofeedback treatment to bolster Robin’s emotional control, one that involves training the boy on the recorded patterns of his mother’s brain…With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing vision of life beyond, and its account of a father and son’s ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Richard Powers’s most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperiled planet?