Brief Encounters
Meet the world’s most enduring storytellers with Brief Encounters, a collection of 52 short novels and stories to read in a single sitting, or savour over days. Whether you're tackling the great canonical novelists for the first time, or uncovering something more unexpected and unknown, each book offers a moment of discovery. Stories of love and desire, of exploration and adventure, of mystery and imagination, and of lives shaped by political tension and risk.
Venus Smiles (and Other Vermillion Sands Stories)
Out over the towering Coral D, sky artists paint the sky with clouds. A musical statue is broken down, but finds new life in unwanted places. A mysterious new resident introduces a new way of making poetry - aided by machine. Drawing together some of the most mesmerising and mind-blowing stories from J.G. Ballard's Vermillion Sands art-infused universe, this short collection is a passport into the genius of science fiction's most visionary pioneer.
Includes the stories: Cry Hope, Cry Fury!, The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral-D, Venus Smiles and Studio 5, The Stars
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
We Were Forbidden
A startling new collection of three never-before-translated stories, from the author of I Who Have Never Known Men
In the wake of some unfathomable war, a woman wanders the forest, forbidden from ever leaving its strange depths. As part of her rigid schooling, a teenage girl is barred from questioning the dogma she is taught to believe. Locked in a loveless marriage, a young woman satisfies her husband’s desires, twice-weekly, as directed – until she begins to pursue her own.
Includes the stories: The Ardennes Forest, The Outcast and The Broom Cupboard
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Woman of Genius
Marcelle is the elder sister, a woman whose ambitions focus on becoming the companion of a 'man of genius'. Marguerite is the younger sister, a girl whose sanity depends on breaking free of the oppressive expectations of society. Both end up focusing their attentions on the same disappointing man.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Young at the Time
From one of the great Chinese authors of the twentieth century, these newly translated stories illuminate the most intimate matters of the human heart
Since childhood, Ruliang has sketched the same face in the margins of his books, tracing its lines without knowing why. Years later, he meets Cynthia – and recognises it at once. As their lives draw together and drift apart, what once seemed like fate begins to feel more uncertain. In these brief, evocative stories, Eileen Chang traces the pull of memory, love and chance.
Includes the stories: Young at the Time, Blossoms Afloat, Flowers Adrift and Those Old Schoolmates They’re All Quite Classy Now
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
