Unaccustomed Earth

When ​Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early 40s, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils… Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

Guided by the poet Virgil, Dante plunges to the very depths of Hell and embarks on his arduous journey towards God. Together they descend through the nine circles of the underworld and encounter the tormented souls of the damned – from heretics and pagans to gluttons, criminals and seducers – who tell of their sad fates and predict events still to come in Dante’s life. In this first part of his Divine Comedy, Dante fused satire and humour with intellect and soaring passion to create an immortal Christian allegory of mankind’s search for self-knowledge and spiritual enlightenment.

Sunday Times #1 Bestseller New York Times #1 Bestseller The spellbinding new Robert Langdon novel from the author of The Da Vinci Code. ‘Fans will not be disappointed’ The Times Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever”. The evening’s host is his friend and former student, Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old tech magnate whose dazzling inventions and audacious predictions have made him a controversial figure around the world. This evening is to be no exception: he claims he will reveal an astonishing scientific breakthrough to challenge the fundamentals of human existence. But Langdon and several hundred other guests are left reeling when the meticulously orchestrated evening is blown apart before Kirsch’s precious discovery can be revealed. With his life under threat, Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape, along with the museum’s director, Ambra Vidal. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret. In order to evade a tormented enemy who is one step ahead of them at every turn, Langdon and Vidal must navigate labyrinthine passageways of hidden history and ancient religion. On a trail marked only by enigmatic symbols and elusive modern art, Langdon and Vidal uncover the clues that will bring them face-to-face with a world-shaking truth that has remained buried – until now. ‘Dan Brown is the master of the intellectual cliffhanger’ Wall Street Journal ‘As engaging a hero as you could wish for’ Mail on Sunday ‘For anyone who wants more brain-food than thrillers normally provide’ Sunday Times

This Is R.K. Narayan S Classic Chronicle Of The Adventures Of A Boy Named Swami, And His Friends Rajam And Mani, In A Sleepy And Picturesque South Indian Town Called Malgudi. Swami S Days Are Full Of Action-When He Is Not Creating A Ruckus In The Classroom Or Preparing In His Inimitable Way For Exams, He S Trying To Acquire A Hoop From The Coachman S Son To Run Down The Malgudi Streets, Playing Tricks On His Grandmother, Or Stoning The School Windows, Inspired By A Swadeshi Demonstration. But The Greatest Feat Of Swami And His Friends Lies In Putting Together A Cricket Team For The Mcc (The Malgudi Cricket Club) And Challenging The Neighbouring Young Men S Union To A Match. Just Before The Match, However, Things Go Horribly, Horribly Wrong, And Swami Has No Option But To Run Away From Home, Wanting Never To Return To Malgudi Again . . . Malgudi Schooldays Is A Brilliantly Evocative And Delightfully Funny Account Of The Growing-Up Years From One Of The Greatest English Language Writers Of Our Time. Includes A Slightly Abridged Version Of The Novel Swami And Friends Along With Two Other Swami Stories, Available Together For The First Time Features Fifteen Black-And-White Illustrations By R.K. Laxman Attractive Design The First In A Series Of Indian Literature Classics On The Puffin List