Popular Penguins

Fifteen-year-old New Yorker Daisy thinks she knows all about love. Her mother died giving birth to her, and now her dad has sent her away for the summer, to live in the English countryside with cousins she's never even met. There she'll discover what real love is — something violent, mysterious and wonderful. There her world will be turned upside...

In the years following the First World War, a new generation emerges, wistful and vulnerable beneath the glitter. The Bright Young Things of twenties Mayfair, with their paradoxical mix of innocence and sophistication, exercise their hedonistic whims and vile bodies in every kind of capricious escapade. In a quest for treasure, a favourite party occupation, a vivid assortment of characters...

The air of Eastwick breeds witches — women whose powerful longings can stir up thunderstorms and fracture domestic peace. Jane, Alexandra, and Sukie, divorced and dangerous, have formed a coven. Into the void of Eastwick breezes Darryl Van Horne, a charismatic magus of a man who entrances the trio. This is Updike at his most mischievous. The Witches of Eastwick...

Anthony and Gloria are the essence of Jazz Age glamour. A brilliant and magnetic couple, they fling themselves at life with an energy that is thrilling. New York is a playground where they dance and drink for days on end. Their marriage is a passionate theatrical performance; they are young, rich, alive and lovely and they intend to inherit the...

Regeneration by Pat Barker is not only a vivid evocation of the agony of the First World War. It is a multi-layered exploration of all wars, challenging assumptions about the relationship between doctors and patients, between the classes, between men and women, and between men and men. A fine anthem for doomed youth. - Time Out

In America at the turn of the twentieth century, when society abounds with movers and shakers such as Houdini, J.P. Morgan, Henry Ford, and Emma Goldman, and the sultry rhythms of ragtime permeate the city, ex-chorus girl Evelyn Nesbitt inspires a mad millionaire to murder architect Stanford White. In this stunning kaleidoscopic chronicle of an age, Doctorow juxtaposes patriotism with...

Orlando, deciding not to grow old, pursues his quest for passion, adventure, fulfilment and protracted youth. Chasing a dream through the centuries, he bounds from Elizabethan England and imperial Turkey to the modern world. Will he find happiness with the exotic Russian Princess Sasha? Or is the dashing explorer Shelmerdine the ideal man? And what form will Orlando take on...

Marlow, a ferry-boat captain on foreign assignment in the Congo, searches for the legendary and feared Mr. Kurtz, unprepared for what he will find. On his journey, he encounters the darkness of the wilderness; the darkness of colonisation, and ultimately, the darkness within every man. Heart of Darkness is a powerful indictment of the evils of imperialism.

In her opulent novel, Eva Luna, Isabel Allende uses exquisite prose to describe the survival of a young Latin American woman whose powers as a storyteller bring her friendship and love during a time of political unrest in South America. Born in the back room of the mansion where her mother is a servant, the enchanting Eva Luna defies oppression...

Flame-haired Grady McNeil is beautiful, rich, and defiant. Her privileged society life leaves her wanting, and excitement comes in the form of the highly unsuitable Clyde, a Brooklyn-born, Jewish parking attendant. When Grady's mother and father leave her alone one summer in their New York penthouse, her secret affair intensifies, and she is forced to make decisions that will alter...

Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell explores the struggle against dull, middle-class respectability and the worship of money through the character of Gordon Comstock. Gordon Comstock loathes these societal norms and gives up a 'good job' in advertising to work part-time in a bookshop, hoping it will give him more time to write. However, he instead slides into self-induced...

Eight years ago, Anne rejected the man she loved because her friends and family persuaded her that he wasn't rich or important enough. In all that time, she's never found anyone to match Captain Wentworth. With her snobbish father and spoiled sister always ready to embarrass her in polite society, Anne wonders if she'll ever find the courage to follow...

I Can Jump Puddles is Alan Marshall's story of his childhood—a happy world in which, despite his crippling poliomyelitis, he plays, climbs, fights, swims, rides and laughs. His world was the Australian countryside early last century: rough-riders, bushmen, farmers and tellers of tall stories—a world held precious by the young Alan.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Popular Penguins tells the story of Dorothy, who thinks she is lost forever when a tornado whirls her and her dog, Toto, into a magical world. To return home, she must find the wonderful wizard in the Emerald City of Oz. Along the way, she meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion....

Depicting decadence and moral corruption in pre-revolutionary France, Dangerous Liaisons is one of the most scandalous and controversial novels in European literature. Two aristocrats embark on a sophisticated game of seduction and manipulation to bring amusement to their jaded existences. While the Marquise de Merteuil challenges the Vicomte de Valmont to seduce an innocent convent girl, the Vicomte is also...