100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock πŸ‡³πŸ‡Ώ

Fast overnight NZ delivery πŸš€ Don't forget Father's Day is this Sunday πŸ“…

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

By Carson McCullers
Series: Penguin Modern Hardbacks
0.0 (0 reviews)
Brief Description
Penguin Modern Hardbacks – a new series of iconic works from the Modern Classics list with bold, mid-century-inspired cover designs. Carson McCullers' prodigious first novel was published to instant acclaim when she was just twenty-three. Set in a small town in the middle of the deep... Read More
Format: Hardback
$3500
Pre-order
Releases 5th November 2026 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Penguin Modern Hardbacks – a new series of iconic works from the Modern Classics list with bold, mid-century-inspired cover designs.

Carson McCullers' prodigious first novel was published to instant acclaim when she was just twenty-three. Set in a small town in the middle of the deep South, it is the story of John Singer, a lonely deaf-mute, and a disparate group of people who are drawn towards his kind, sympathetic nature.

The owner of the cafΓ© where Singer eats every day, a young girl desperate to grow up, an angry socialist drunkard, a frustrated black doctor – each pours their heart out to Singer, their silent confidant, and he in turn changes their disenchanted lives in ways they could never imagine.

Moving, sensitive and deeply humane, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter explores loneliness, the human need for understanding, and the search for love.

Series: Penguin Modern Hardbacks

View all
  • Howl
    Pre-order
    Howl
    Penguin Modern Hardbacks β€” a new series of iconic works from the Modern Classics list with bold, mid-century-inspired cover designs. Drawn from fifty years of experimental, ground-breaking verse, this selection, in Ginsberg's words, 'summarizes what I deem most honest, most penetrant of my writing'. It includes the major poems Howl and 'Kaddish', but also important early work, songs, uncollected poems...
    By Allen Ginsberg
    Hardback
    $3500
    Pre-order
    Out 3 Nov 2026
  • The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
    Pre-order
    The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
    Penguin Modern Hardbacks – a new series of iconic works from the Modern Classics list with bold, mid-century-inspired cover designs. Carson McCullers' prodigious first novel was published to instant acclaim when she was just twenty-three. Set in a small town in the middle of the deep South, it is the story of John Singer, a lonely deaf-mute, and a disparate...
    By Carson McCullers
    Hardback
    $3500
    Pre-order
    Out 5 Nov 2026
  • East of Eden
    East of Eden
    Set in the rich farmland of the Salinas Valley, California, this powerful, often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two familiesβ€”the Trasks and the Hamiltonsβ€”whose generations hopelessly re-enact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here, Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery...
    By John Steinbeck
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • In Cold Blood
    In Cold Blood
    Penguin Modern Hardbacks β€” a new series of iconic works from the Modern Classics list with bold, mid-century-inspired cover designs. Controversial and compelling, In Cold Blood reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer, his wife and both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings and subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime and the...
    By Truman Capote
    Hardback
    Sold Out

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780241814864

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 30 July 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 40.0mm

Width: 132.0mm

Height: 204.0mm

Weight: 750g

Pages: 336

Collections

Carson McCullers Classic Fiction Classic General Fiction Education & Reference Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Penguin Books Penguin Classics Penguin Classics: General Fiction Pre-order Books Pre-order General Fiction Pre-orders Pre-orders by Release Date Series: Penguin Modern Hardbacks

About the Author

Carson McCullers was born in 1917. She is the critically acclaimed author of several popular novels in the 1940s and '50s, including The Member of the Wedding (1946). Her novels frequently depicted life in small towns of the southeastern United States and were marked by themes of loneliness and spiritual isolation. McCullers suffered from ill health most of her adult life, including a series of strokes that began when she was in her 20s; she died at the age of 50. The Member of the Wedding was dramatized for the stage in the 1950s and filmed in 1952 and 1997. Other films based on her books are Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967, with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando), The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968, starring Alan Arkin) and The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1991).

Also by Carson McCullers

View all
  • The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
    She has examined the heart of man with an understanding ... that no other writer can hope to surpass - Tennessee Williams Carson McCullers' prodigious first novel was published to instant acclaim when she was just twenty-three. Set in a small town in the middle of the deep South, it is the story of John Singer, a lonely deaf-mute, and...
    By Carson McCullers
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Ballad of the Sad CafΓ©
    Brilliant ... a panorama of a remarkable talent ... McCullers's finest stories β€” The New York Times A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers's best stories, including her beloved novella The Ballad of the Sad CafΓ©. A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers...
    By Carson McCullers
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Member of the Wedding
    Rarely has emotional turbulence been so delicately conveyed – The New York Times With delicacy of perception and memory, humour and pathos, Carson McCullers spreads before us the three phases of a weekend crisis in the life of a motherless twelve-year-old girl. Within the span of a few hours, the irresistible, hoydenish Frankie passionately plays out her fantasies at her...
    By Carson McCullers
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Reflections in a Golden Eye
    90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books On a military base in 1930s Georgia, Private Ellgee Williams catches sight of his captain's wife in the nude and becomes obsessed with her. But Captain Pendertonβ€”unhappily married to the unfaithful Leonoraβ€”in turn erotically fixates on Williams. Spare, muscular and sensual, with the dramatic vision of a Greek myth, Carson McCullers'...
    By Carson McCullers
    Paperback
    $1700
    Elsewhere:
    $1799
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • The Ballad of the Sad CafΓ©
    Introducing Little Clothbound Classics- irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Few writers have expressed loneliness, the need for human understanding and the search for love with such power and poetic sensibility as the American writer Carson McCullers. The Ballad of the Sad CafΓ© is her masterpieceβ€”an...
    By Carson McCullers
    Hardback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Heart is a Lonely Hunter: A Novel
    The beloved classic that turned Carson McCullers into an overnight literary sensation and one of the Modern Library's top 20 novels of the 20th century. A remarkable book... From the opening page, brilliant in its establishment of mood, character, and suspense, the book takes hold of the reader. In a Georgia Mill town during the 1930s, an enigmatic John Singer...
    By Carson McCullers
    Paperback
    $5000
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people β€” but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Buy to Win
    New Release
    Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl seriesβ€”now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition. Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Dungeon Crawler Carl
    The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    By Sarah A. Parker
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Big Little Truths
    Parenting teens is not for the faint of heart but Madeline, Jane and Celeste have been through worse. It's been a decade since the school trivia night that changed their lives forever and now they're living blissfully ordinary suburban lives. But when an anonymous grisly package arrives at the local high school, and a man in a green Volvo is...
    By Liane Moriarty
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    On Sale
    17% off
    Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    By Kristin Hannah
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Boxed Set
    Embark on a journey through Middle-earth with J.R.R. Tolkien's timeless masterpieces, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. These enthralling tales recount the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a modest hobbit whose life is turned upside down when he unwittingly becomes entwined in a perilous quest involving dragons, wizards, and the fate of the world. Alongside iconic characters such as...
    By J. R. R. Tolkien
    Box Set
    $7199
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    A Forsaken Prophecy
    In a world of high-class magic and gangster grit, a star-crossed couple must decide where their loyalties lie in the sizzling romantasy follow-up to BookTok star Stacey McEwan's New York Times bestseller A Forbidden Alchemy. In Belavere Trench, the Artisans and the Craftsmen are at war. Patrick, the last Alchemist, and Nina, the world’s only known earth Charmer, have been...
    By Stacey McEwan
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Shirl's Pick Shirl's Pick
    Whistler
    FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING, PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF The Dutch House AND Tom Lake 'One of the most beloved authors of her generation'Sunday Times When Daphne notices an older gentleman following her around the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, she doesn’t expect it to be Eddie – her former stepfather. Married to her mother for a short time when...
    By Ann Patchett
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3899
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all