Books published by Pushkin Press

Ten turning points in history, vividly sketched by the great Stefan Zweig.

A highly contagious book virus, a literary society and a Snow Queen-like disappearing author 'She came to realise that under one reality there's always another. And another one under that.' Only very special people are chosen by children's author Laura White to join 'The Society', an elite group of writers in the small town of Rabbit Back. Now a tenth member has been selected: Ella, literature teacher and possessor of beautifully curving lips. But soon Ella discovers that the Society is not what it seems. What is its mysterious ritual, 'The Game'? What explains the strange disappearance that occurs at Laura's winter party, in a whirlwind of snow? Why are the words inside books starting to rearrange themselves? Was there once another tenth member, before her? Slowly, disturbing secrets that had been buried come to light... In this chilling, darkly funny novel, the uncanny brushes up against the everyday in the most beguiling and unexpected of ways.

1304 The Church and the French Crown are locked in a power struggle. In the Normandy countryside, monks on a secret mission are brutally murdered and a poisoner is at large at Clairets Abbey. Young noblewoman Agnes de Souarcy fights to retain her independence but must face the Inquisition, unaware that she is the focus of an ancient quest.

Parisian archivist Helene knows very little about her mother, Nathalie, who died when she was four. In the hope of learning more, she places a newspaper advert calling for information on Nathalie and two unknown men pictured with her at a tennis tournament in 1971. Against the odds, she receives a response from Stephane, a Swiss biologist: his father is one of the people in the photo. More letters, and more photos, pass between them, in an attempt to unearth the truth their parents kept from them. But as they piece together events from the past, will they discover more than they can actually deal with? Winner of twenty-five literary awards, this dark yet moving drama deftly explores the themes of blame and forgiveness, identity and love.

A darkly hilarious tale of a model family's disintegration. Professor Siem Sigerius - maths genius, jazz lover, judo champion, Renaissance man. When Aaron meets his girlfriend Joni's family for the first time, her multitalented father could hardly be a more intimidating figure, but somehow the underachieving photographer manages to bluff his way to a friendship with the paterfamilias. With his feet under the table at the beautiful Sigerius farmhouse, Aaron feels part of the family. A perfect family. Until, that is, things start to go wrong in a very big way. A cataclysmic explosion in a firework factory, the advent of internet pornography, the reappearance of a forgotten murderer and a jet-black wig-all play a role in the spectacular fragmentation of the Sigerius clan... and of Aaron's fragile psyche. "e;Great European art: the Dutchman Peter Buwalda explodes the bourgeois family saga. The narrative pyrotechnics alone are a tour de force."e; Die Zeit "e;Peter Buwalda's impressive family saga is a genuine page-turner, with a forceful, precise style. The author races with unstoppable speed towards the finish, without getting entangled in the numerous gripping narrative strands, without even steering out of the curve."e; Libris-Prize Jury Report, 2011 "e;Buwalda's debut novel [is] daring in its linguistic power and freedom, and impressive, even frightening, in its psychological sharpness and precision ... great and outrageous."e; Frankfurter Rundschau

Close to the Machine, Ellen Ullman's cult classic memoir of the world of computers in the 1980s and early 1990s is an insight into a world we rarely see up-close but which permeates all of our lives ever more deeply. Includes a new introduction by Jaron Lanier, author of You are Not a Gadget (Penguin).

In 1913 a young second lieutenant discovers the terrible danger of pity. He had no idea the girl was lame when he asked her to dance -- his compensatory afternoon calls relieve his guilt but give her a dangerous glimmer of hope.Stefan Zweig's only novel is a devastating depiction of the torment of the betrayalof both honour and love, realised against the background of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

A novel of philosophy and love, politics and waltzes, history and the here-and-now, Andres Neuman's Traveller of the Century is a journey into the soul of Europe, penned by one of the most exciting South-American writers of our time.A traveller stops off for the night in the mysterious city of Wandernburg. He intends to leave the following day, but the city begins to ensnare him with its strange, shifting geography. When Hans befriends an old organ grinder, and falls in love with Sophie, the daughter of a local merchant, he finds it impossible to leave. Through a series of memorable encounters with starkly different characters, Neuman takes the reader on a hypothetical journey back into post-Napoleonic Europe, subtly evoking its parallels with our modern era. At the heart of the novel lies the love story between Sophie and Hans. They are both translators, and between dictionaries and bed, bed and dictionaries,they gradually build up their own fragile common language. Through their relationship Neuman explores the idea that all love is an act of translation, and that all translation is an act of love.'A beautiful, accomplished novel: as ambitious as it is generous, as moving as it is smart' Juan Gabriel Vasquez, GuardianAndres Neuman (b.1977) was born in Buenos Aires and later moved to Granada, Spain. Selected as one of Granta magazine's Best Young Spanish-Language Novelists, Neuman was included in the Hay Festival's Bogota 39 list. He has published numerous novels, short stories, essays and poetry collections. He received the Hiperion Prize for Poetry for El tobogan, and Traveller of the Century won the Alfaguara Prize and the National Critics Prize in 2009.

A side-splittingly funny coming-of-age novel set in the Japan of the sixties, Ryu Murakami's novel is an unusually funny and autobiographical book from an author known for his darkly violent and cynical side. Being young in the 1960s is the same in Japan as everywhere. This is a personal but profound insight into a much wider upheaval in society.

Separated for nine years by the First World War Ludwig has finally returned home to meet the woman he so passionately loved, and who had promised to wait for him. But circumstances have changed ... Confronted with an uncertain future, and still haunted by the past, together they will discover whether their love has survived hardships, betrayals, and the lapse of time. Zweig's long-lost final novella-recently discovered in manuscript form-is a poignant examination of the angst of nostalgia and the fragility of love.

"First published in French as La Pelouse in 1952"--Title page verso.