Books published by Daunt Books

Constanza and her young daughter step off a train in the French Riviera in the late 1920s without the slightest notion of where they are. But their story begins with Constanza's parents: a beautiful New England heiress, a Roman prince, and the confused catastrophe of their marriage. An idyllic childhood spent in crumbling Roman palaces, sun-baked olive groves, at sumptuous parties, and being taught by the most interesting men in Rome, is changed forever by a fatal clash of culture and an impulsive decision. In this elegant novel, Sybille Bedford tells the story of three generations of women, of Europe and America, and the turbulence and excitement of the early twentieth century. This is a dramatic companion novel to A Compass Error, also published by Daunt Books. 'One of Britain's most stylish and accomplished writers.' - Telegraph 'Sybille Bedford is the most sensual of writers. No one writes as she does about the smells and colours of the Mediterranean, about the pleasure of food and wine' - Victoria Glendinning 'An excellent stylist and a splendid narrator . . . and this is a very clever work.' - New Yorker 'A study of the rich . . . an examination of love . . . and a statement of what Henry James either did not or would not know about the darker side of the portrait of the lady. Bedford's mind is radiant. Her alarming economy of style burns. - V. S. Pritchett

A collection of eighteen deliciously disturbing tales by Saki, the Edwardian master of the short story. Saki's sharp satire pierces the polite veneer of country house parties, hunting meets and evenings round the pianola. Wild beasts stampede through the drawing room, servants suffer murderous delusions and sinister children plot revenge on their elders. These witty, macabre and sometimes bizarre stories cut through the social conventions of the Edwardian upper classes. 'Saki is like a perfect martini but with absinthe stirred in . . . heady, delicious and dangerous.' - Stephen Fry 'Saki is among those few writers, inspirational when read at an early age, who definitely retain their magic when revisited decades later.' - Christopher Hitchens 'These delicious, hilarious and yet surgical satires are amongst the finest short stories in the English language.' - Alexei Sayle 'I took it up to my bedroom, opened it casually and was unable to go to sleep until I had finished it.' - Noel Coward