Azetla has served the Maurowan Army for thirteen years. There are seven left to pay. A pariah and a debt soldier, he is a commander with no rank, a soldier without citizenship, and wears a sword that it is unlawful for him to either own or use. He has learned to hold his tongue or risk losing everything. When Azetla’s battalion is sent into the desert to catch a Sahr devil—one of the famously brutal inhabitants of the region—his tenuous position is threatened. He discovers that there is far more to this mission than catching a fiend. For the Emperor of Maurow, it is a way to prove that he fears nothing, not even devils. For the Emperor’s brother, it is a stepping-stone to rebellion. For Azetla it could be deadly either way, as he is cornered into choosing a side in the coming coup. But the devil that Azetla finds in the desert is not what anyone expects or wants. As the conspiracy against the Emperor becomes entangled with the simmering ambitions of the desert tribes, Azetla must decide if he’s willing to strike a bargain with a devil in order to survive. Naturally, she is not to be trusted. But then again, neither is he.

Shirley Jackson’s beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family’s dark secret Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. This edition features a new introduction by Jonathan Lethem.

In her solo graphic novel debut, Megan Kearney weaves a fresh tale of dark academia and brutal competition. This psychological thriller is perfect for fans of Black Swan! Arriving at Saint Anselmus in the middle of the year, Rosamund Hammond is ready to practice hard and prove she deserves to be there. But something at this boarding school doesn’t feel right. It turns out that just before Rosamund enrolled, a student disappeared without telling anyone. Was it really a leave of absence—or something more sinister? Together with her new roommate, Rosamund spirals deeper and deeper into an obsession with the truth. As the school prepares for its showcase performance of Coppélia, can she commit to her hard-earned ballet dreams while solving the mystery that’s haunting her—or will she lose herself in the process?

Razor-sharp social commentary, Jane Austen for contemporary feminists unafraid to confront a dark world In her latest translated volume of collected short fiction, Rumena Bužarovska delivers more of what established her as “one of the most interesting writers working in Europe today.” Already a bestseller across her native Macedonia, I’m Not Going Anywhere is an unsentimental and hyperrealist collection in which Macedonians leave their country of origin to escape bleakness—only to find, in other locales, new kinds of desolation in theses dark, biting, and utterly absorbing stories.

Get the answers to hundreds of financial questions with How Money Works, including how to invest for the future, how to maximise your income, how financial markets work, and how governments control money. Discover essential know-how on everything from debt management to online fraud, and learn to manage your own money from payments to pensions. This intriguing guide breaks down the jargon of the financial world, with insights into personal, business, and governmental finance, and giving you the definitions to cash flow, bonds, superannuation, the open market, and hundreds more. Fully up-to-date with the latest financial developments, including quantitative easing and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, How Money Works is your indispensable guide to the world of money.

Razor-sharp social commentary, Jane Austen for contemporary feminists unafraid to confront a dark world In her latest translated volume of collected short fiction, Rumena Bužarovska delivers more of what established her as “one of the most interesting writers working in Europe today.” Already a bestseller across her native Macedonia, I’m Not Going Anywhere is an unsentimental and hyperrealist collection in which Macedonians leave their country of origin to escape bleakness—only to find, in other locales, new kinds of desolation in theses dark, biting, and utterly absorbing stories.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes Masters of Death, a story about vampires, ghosts, and death itself. There is a game that the immortals play. There is only one rule: Don’t lose. Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the mansion has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on. Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though he is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death. When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with the ghost infestation, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a few mindfulness-practicing creatures, Vi and Fox soon discover that the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as they thought.

French African prose can be given a beginning with the publication in 1921 of the novel Batouala . . . its sensitive portrayal of African life, with its evocation of the natural environment, could not but make a profound impression upon its African readers and offered a vivid example of what an African novel in French could be. -Abiola Irele

French African prose can be given a beginning with the publication in 1921 of the novel Batouala . . . its sensitive portrayal of African life, with its evocation of the natural environment, could not but make a profound impression upon its African readers and offered a vivid example of what an African novel in French could be. -Abiola Irele

The American poet John Shade is dead. His last poem, 'Pale Fire', is put into a book, together with a preface, a lengthy commentary and notes by Shade's editor, Charles Kinbote. Known on campus as the 'Great Beaver', Kinbote is haughty, inquisitive, intolerant, but is he also mad, bad - and even dangerous? As his wildly eccentric annotations slide into the personal and the fantastical, Kinbote reveals perhaps more than he should be. Nabokov's darkly witty, richly inventive masterpiece is a suspenseful whodunit, a story of one-upmanship and dubious penmanship, and a glorious literary conundrum. Part of a major new series of the works of Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita and Pale Fire, in Penguin Classics.

The true story of an individual's struggle for self-identity, self-preservation, and freedom, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl remains among the few extant slave narratives written by a woman. This autobiographical account chronicles the remarkable odyssey of Harriet Jacobs (1813–1897) whose dauntless spirit and faith carried her from a life of servitude and degradation in North Carolina to liberty and reunion with her children in the North. Written and published in 1861 after Jacobs' harrowing escape from a vile and predatory master, the memoir delivers a powerful and unflinching portrayal of the abuses and hypocrisy of the master-slave relationship. Jacobs writes frankly of the horrors she suffered as a slave, her eventual escape after several unsuccessful attempts, and her seven years in self-imposed exile, hiding in a coffin-like "garret" attached to her grandmother's porch. A rare firsthand account of a courageous woman's determination and endurance, this inspirational story also represents a valuable historical record of the continuing battle for freedom and the preservation of family.

A globe-trotting work of relentless investigative reporting, this is the first major book to expose the catastrophic reality of the multi-billion-dollar global garbage trade. Dumps and landfills around the world are overflowing. Disputes about what to do with the millions of tons of garbage generated every day have given rise to waste wars waged almost everywhere you look. Some are border skirmishes. Others hustle trash across thousands of miles and multiple oceans. But no matter the scale, one thing is true about almost all of them: few people have any idea they’re happening. Journalist Alexander Clapp spent two years roaming five continents to report deep inside the world of Javanese recycling gangsters, cruise ship dismantlers in the Aegean, Tanzanian plastic pickers, whistle-blowing environmentalists throughout the jungles of Guatemala, and a community of Ghanaian boys who burn Western cellphones and televisions for cents an hour, to tell readers what he has figured out: While some trash gets tossed onto roadsides or buried underground, much of it actually lives a secret hot potato second life, getting shipped, sold, re-sold, or smuggled from one country to another, often with devastating consequences for the poorest nations of the world. Waste Wars is a jaw-dropping exposé of how and why, for the last forty years, our garbage — the stuff we deem so worthless we think nothing of throwing it away — has spawned a massive, globe-spanning, multi-billion-dollar economy, one that offloads our consumption footprints onto distant continents, pristine landscapes, and unsuspecting populations. If the handling of our trash reveals deeper truths about our Western society, what does the globalized business of garbage say about our world today? And what does it say about us?

Marguerite Duras's writing adventure is, in a way, a reflection of her intellectual and political development. This novel called "The English Mint" can be considered as one of the products of the "Existentialist" period, which is the second period of Duras's writing adventure. The work contains the most distinctive literary and intellectual characteristics of this period with its subject and fiction. A murder occurs in Viorne, near Paris. The body of the murdered person is dismembered, the pieces are thrown into the wagons of passing trains, thus scattered throughout France. All parts of the body, except the severed head, were found and brought together in Paris, and it turned out that the body belonged to a woman. Meanwhile, in Viorne, Claire Lannes appears and says that she committed the murder, surprising everyone. The reader, who reads the novel written in the form of mutual conversations, seems to actively contribute to its formation. The basic theme of the novel is lack of communication; Marguerite Duras has handled the unhealthy relationship of the person with the deaf and insensitive society in which they live, and with people who are well compatible with the social order, and the disbelief in humanity and society, in a flawless fiction, with her usual mastery.

Marguerite Duras's writing adventure is, in a way, a reflection of her intellectual and political development. This novel called "The English Mint" can be considered as one of the products of the "Existentialist" period, which is the second period of Duras's writing adventure. The work contains the most distinctive literary and intellectual characteristics of this period with its subject and fiction. A murder occurs in Viorne, near Paris. The body of the murdered person is dismembered, the pieces are thrown into the wagons of passing trains, thus scattered throughout France. All parts of the body, except the severed head, were found and brought together in Paris, and it turned out that the body belonged to a woman. Meanwhile, in Viorne, Claire Lannes appears and says that she committed the murder, surprising everyone. The reader, who reads the novel written in the form of mutual conversations, seems to actively contribute to its formation. The basic theme of the novel is lack of communication; Marguerite Duras has handled the unhealthy relationship of the person with the deaf and insensitive society in which they live, and with people who are well compatible with the social order, and the disbelief in humanity and society, in a flawless fiction, with her usual mastery.

In this stirring historical romance by award-winning author Jamie Ogle, a young woman imprisoned in a Roman gladiator school becomes a legendary warrior. But when not even her fame is enough, she must fight to save herself and those she loves.Rome, AD 403. As a loyal daughter of the Visigoth tribe, Adelgard followed her father to war, hoping to win back her family’s approval. But after a clash with the Roman army, Adel is captured and sold to a gladiator school. Now she is the most famous gladiatrix in Rome, determined to keep the fickle love of the crowd and never again rely on anyone but herself for her own security. But beneath the fame lies a darkness and pain that holds her captive.Felix despises Rome’s fascination with violence. But after returning from medical training to discover his father missing and his family desperate, he had little choice but to accept a position at the gladiator school managed by his uncle. He finds a kindred spirit in Adel and does what he can to preserve the humanity of the rebel fighters, but when he receives orders that further compromise his beliefs, he arrives at a crossroads.Then Telemachus, a Christian leader, approaches Felix with an urgent if the Visigoth captives are not released, their army will invade Rome. Despite the risk, the emperor is bent on proving his power through a stunning, deadly day of gladiatorial games. As Telemachus seeks to save the Visigoth fighters, Felix and Adel join forces in a desperate rebellion that may define not only their own lives but also the course of history.A captivating Christian romance novel perfect for fans of Francine Rivers, Lynn Austin, and Angela HuntGreat for book clubs who enjoy ancient historical fiction by Tessa Afshar, Stephanie Dray, and Kate QuinnWeaves together themes of sacrifice, courage, surrender, and faithIncludes discussion questions