Fiction > European Fiction

From the author of the New York Times bestseller, "The Elegance of the Hedgehog." In the heart of Paris, in the posh building made famous in "The Elegance of the Hedgehog," Pierre Athens, the greatest food critic in the world, is dying. Revered by some and reviled by many, Monsieur Arthens has been lording it over the world's most esteemed chefs for years, passing judgment on their creations, deciding their fates with a stroke of his pen, destroying and building reputations on a whim. But now, during these his final hours, his mind... read more

'Welcome back to the gothic and mysterious Barcelona of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, where this time things take a devilish turn and the shadows get deeper and darker. Some of our friends from The Shadow of the Wind return, and new and important allies and villains await us inside the labyrinth.' Carlos Ruiz ZafÃÂÃÃÂ... read more

It is 1945 and Barcelona is enduring the long aftermath of civil war when Daniel Sempere's bookseller father decides his son is old enough to visit the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Book. There Daniel must 'adopt' a single book, promising to care for it and keep it alive always. His choice falls on 'The Shadow of the Wind'. First published in Spanish 2001; this translation 2004.

Cristiano is sixteen. Home life is far from perfect, and when his drink-sozzled father and two reprobate friends come up with a plan to rob a bank, Cristiano sees the chance of a better life. But as a tremendous storm brews that night, the perfect crime will have shocking consequences for all involved. And Cristiano must put childhood behind him once and for all. The utterly absorbing novel has pace, plot twists and glorious characters. An epic drama of innocence and delusion, The Crossroads is Ammaniti's most engaging novel yet.

It is 1953, and the last great transcontinental air race from London to Christchurch is about to begin, but even before the KLM plane has left the runway, it has already become famous as the bride flight. Of its 60 emigrating passengers, many are brides-to-be flying out to join their fiances on the other side of the world. Among them are Ada, Marjorie and Esther, each of them with their own reasons for wanting to leave behind the hardships of post-war life at home, and their own pasts. During the trip they meet Frank, a charismatic... read more

In the aftermath of the first war in Iraq, Theo Griepenkerl is visiting the looted museum of Mosul when a bomb explodes outside the building. As Theo seeks shelter, he stumbles across the discovery of a lifetime: nine papyrus scrolls that have lain hidden for 2,000 years. Theo believes that he has found the fifth gospel, and its significance is extraordinary. It offers a shocking new account of the last days of Christ, calling into question the conventional narrative of events. As Theo sets out to share his discovery with the world... read more

In swampy Ischiano Scalo the adults are all losers and the children dream of escape. Meek little Pietro is constantly struggling with the torments of school bullies and indifferent parents. His only comforts lie in his friendship with Gloria and his favourite teacher, Flora.

First published in Italian 1999; this translation 2006.

A powerful political novel based on the sudden, mysterious death of the man who had been handpicked to succeed the hated Albanian dictator Enver Hoxha, by an author the Wall Street Journal called 'one of the most compelling novelists now writing in any language'. Did he commit suicide or was he murdered? That is the burning question. For the man who died by his own hand, or another's, was in real life Mehmet Shehu, the presumed heir to the ailing dictator. So sure was the world that he was next in line, he was known as The S... read more

One relentless summer, six children explore the scorced wheatfields that surround their tiny community in the Italian countryside, while the adults shelter indoors. But when the gang chances on a tumbledown farmhouse, nine-year-old Michele Amitrano makes a discovery so momentous he dare not tell anyone about it. I'm Not Scared is a devastatingly authentic portrayal of childhood, and Michele must summon all of his imaginative resources to deal with his terrible secret. This is an enthralling and terrifying story about friendship a... read more

Rene is the concierge of a grand Parisian apartment building. She maintains a carefully constructed persona as someone uncultivated but reliable, in keeping with what she feels a concierge should be. But beneath this facade lies the real Rene: passionate about culture and the arts, and more knowledgeable in many ways than her employers with their outwardly successful but emotionally void lives. Down in her lodge, apart from weekly visits by her one friend Manuela, Rene lives with only her cat for company. Meanwhile, several floors ... read more

"A flat-out masterpiece: exhilarating and unforgettable."--Kirkus Reviews Twins who were orphaned at six and sent to live with different relatives on opposite sides of WW II are reunited by chance seventy years later at a Belgian health resort. This international bestseller, a powerful novel, is both a European allegory and a poignant story of family ties.

'Little by little, Elsa leaked out of her enclosure, strayed out into every corner of the house ...In my bed at night, she switched places with me, she enjoying the softness of my bed, and I finding myself cramped up in her airless niche.'This extraordinary novel is seen through the eyes of Johannes. An avid member of the Hitler Youth in the 1940s, he discovers his parents are hiding a Jewish girl called Elsa behind a false wall in their large house in Vienna. His initial horror turns to interest, then love and obsession. After the... read more

A powerful novel about family and society in post-war Germany. In Rome, four members of a German family are reunited by chance. A young composer, Siegfried; his estranged father, Freidrich, who held office under the Nazis and is once more making his way in public life, this time as a democratically elected buromaster; Siegfried's uncle, Judejahn, an unrepentant former SS general; and Jude jahn's renegade son, Adolf, who is preparing himself for a Catholic priesthood. The four men recount their separate experiences in music, burea... read more

Adam is a writer, struggling to come to terms with the death of his painter father, Robert, and his difficult marriage to Catherine. Before he married Catherine, he had been the lover of her sister, Vinny. The classic menage a trois seems about to repeat itself, when Adam discovers his wife's father was less innocent than he had thought. Set mainly in contemporary London, partly in France, the action also harks back to the 1970's. The narrative evokes the style of the nineteenth century novelists and their themes: desire, guilt, pl... read more

"Quite simply a masterpiece. The novel nurtures a wordless violence and a pastoral simplicity, tragic as the Mediterranean sun beating down upon this stony ground" Frederic Vitooux, Nouvel Observateur

This book is a retelling of the Gospel following the life of Christ from his conception to his crucifixion. A naive Jesus is the son not of God, but of Joseph. In the desert it is not Satan, but God that Christ tussles with, an autocrat with whom he has an unbalanced and unsettled relationship.

"There is a distinguished mind at work beneath the totally acceptable dullness of clerking. The mind is that of Pessoa. We must be given the chance to learn more about him."--Anthony Burgess, "Observer" Seated at his desk in the Lisbon's Rua dos Douradores, Bernardo Soares, an assistant book-keeper, writes his diary--a self-deprecating reflection on the sheer distance between the loftiness of his feelings and the humdrum reality of his everyday life. "This is a prize-winning translation of a classic of existential literature--a... read more

Under the Skin introduces Isserley, a woman obsessed with picking up male hitchhikers - so long as they're well-muscled and alone. But why?

A handful of disparate lives converge at a remote seaside inn: a lovelorn professor, a renowned painter, an inscrutable seductress - and a beautiful young girl, fatally ill, brought to the sea by a desperate father's last hope. An intricate web of destinies and associations begins to reveal itself, but it is not until the arrival of a mysterious sailor called Adams that the truth in all its dreamlike beauty and cruelty becomes clear.Adams may furnish the key to the girl's salvation, but only the fulfilment of his obsessive secret p... read more

This is a prize-winning international classic, first published in English by 'Serpent's Tail' in 1993. Sitting at his desk, Bernardo Soares imagined himself free forever of Rua dos Douradores, of his boss Vasques, of Moreira the book-keeper, of all the other employees, the errand boy, the post boy, even the cat. But if he left them all tomorrow and discarded the suit of clothes he wears, what else would he do? Because he would have to do something. And what suit would he wear? Because he would have to wear another suit. A self-depr... read more