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$20.14The Story
Secondhand Literary Fiction Bargain Box — 18 Books
A wonderfully varied collection that moves from Booker-shortlisted Indian literary fiction to Will Self at his most formally audacious, from fin-de-siècle Vienna to post-war Canada, from a Granta anthology of the best young American novelists to a novel written by James Franco — which is either the strangest or the most fitting thing in a box this eclectic. Two Tobias Hill novels, two appearances by Australian legend Thea Astley across recent boxes, Jeet Thayil following up Narcopolis, and Ciara Geraghty doing for menopause what she did for midlife crisis. Plenty here for the adventurous reader.
1. Half in Love — Justin Cartwright Short fiction from the Whitbread Award-winning South African-British novelist — Cartwright writes about love, loss, and the gap between who we are and who we imagine ourselves to be with a precision that makes even short pieces feel complete. An underrated writer at his most concentrated.
2. Low — Jeet Thayil From the author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Narcopolis — Thayil writes about Bombay's shadow world with a poet's ear and a novelist's eye for the moment everything goes wrong. Low carries the same hallucinatory intensity as his debut and confirms him as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Indian literature.
3. The Loves and Journeys of Revolving Jones — Leslie Thomas Leslie Thomas gave us The Virgin Soldiers and a career's worth of picaresque, warm-hearted comedy. This novel does what Thomas always did best — follows an irresistible character through a series of adventures that are funny, human, and surprisingly moving by the end.
4. The Fig Eater — Jody Shields Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century, a mysterious death, and an investigation that runs alongside — and counter to — Freud's famous Dora case. D.M. Thomas called it "suspenseful, atmospheric and highly intelligent." It's all three, plus genuinely beautiful to read.
5. Rabbit Hole — Kate Brody A woman falls into an online community obsessed with her mother's disappearance and begins to lose her grip on where the investigation ends and obsession begins. A "mindbending debut" that uses the particular dread of internet rabbit holes to brilliant psychological effect.
6. Granta: Best of Young American Novelists 2 The famous Granta special issue — "Now even younger!" — that introduced or confirmed the next generation of American literary voices. These anthologies have an extraordinary track record of identifying writers who go on to define their era. Essential reading for anyone who wants to know where the novel went next.
7. The Hidden — Tobias Hill An archaeological dig on a Greek island, a team of researchers, and something underneath the surface that isn't just ancient history. Hill writes literary fiction with the tension of a thriller — by the author of The Cryptographer, and just as quietly gripping.
8. The Year After — Martin Davies From the author of The Conjuror's Bird — Davies writes historical fiction with meticulous care and genuine emotional depth. The aftermath of a war, the gap between those who came back and those still waiting, and the stories we tell to survive the silence.
9. Actors Anonymous — James Franco Yes, that James Franco. A novel about young actors in Hollywood — and whatever you think of the author, the book is a genuinely strange, formally inventive piece of work that earns its place on this list. Faber published it, which tells you something about its literary ambitions.
10. The Solitude of Emperors — David Davidar A young journalist arrives in a small Indian hill town and finds himself at the centre of escalating communal violence. Davidar — founder of Penguin India — writes about the subcontinent's religious fault lines with insider authority and unflinching moral clarity. "Unflinching. Unsentimental. Deeply moving."
11. The Mountain Can Wait — Sarah Leipciger A Canadian father, his estranged son, and the wilderness between them — both literal and otherwise. Mark Haddon said it was "clear and beautiful, like swimming in a mountain lake." One of those quiet debut novels that arrives without fanfare and stays with you for years.
12. Black Mulberries — Caitlin Davies Two families, six decades, one story that takes root and refuses to let go. Davies writes intergenerational fiction with a journalist's eye for detail and a novelist's instinct for what matters — an unforgettable tale, as promised.
13. Queen Bee — Ciara Geraghty "Bridget Jones meets menopause," says Cecelia Ahern — "sharp, funny and real." Geraghty has a gift for finding the comedy in the moments women aren't supposed to laugh about, and Queen Bee is her funniest and most honest book yet.
14. Shark — Will Self Will Self writing about the aftermath of Hiroshima, a psychiatric ward in 1970s London, and the nature of time, memory, and trauma across a fractured, formally dazzling narrative. Not easy — nothing Self writes is easy — but genuinely rewarding in ways that safer fiction can't reach.
15. The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite — Beatrice Colin Berlin, the early twentieth century, a woman moving through the wreckage of the Weimar Republic and into the rise of something far darker. Colin writes historical fiction with real glamour and real darkness in equal measure — Lilly Aphrodite is one of the great names in recent literary fiction.
16. What Was Promised — Tobias Hill The second Hill in this box — a novel about London and the impossible promises the city makes to those who arrive in it. "Hill writes the kind of fiction that can change the way you look at the world." Two Tobias Hill novels for the price of none is a very good deal.
17. The Masquerade — Nicholas Griffin Venice, intrigue, hidden identities, and the particular treachery of a city built on water and illusion. Griffin writes historical fiction that takes the pleasures of the form — atmosphere, plot, period detail — seriously and delivers them with style.
18. Reaching Tin River — Thea Astley Four-time Miles Franklin Award winner, and this novel is a reminder of exactly why. Astley's prose crackles with dark comedy and fierce intelligence — the Sunday Herald called it "sheer joy played at full volume," which is the best description of reading Astley that anyone has managed.
Description
Secondhand Literary Fiction Bargain Box — 18 Books
A wonderfully varied collection that moves from Booker-shortlisted Indian literary fiction to Will Self at his most formally audacious, from fin-de-siècle Vienna to post-war Canada, from a Granta anthology of the best young American novelists to a novel written by James Franco — which is either the strangest or the most fitting thing in a box this eclectic. Two Tobias Hill novels, two appearances by Australian legend Thea Astley across recent boxes, Jeet Thayil following up Narcopolis, and Ciara Geraghty doing for menopause what she did for midlife crisis. Plenty here for the adventurous reader.
1. Half in Love — Justin Cartwright Short fiction from the Whitbread Award-winning South African-British novelist — Cartwright writes about love, loss, and the gap between who we are and who we imagine ourselves to be with a precision that makes even short pieces feel complete. An underrated writer at his most concentrated.
2. Low — Jeet Thayil From the author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Narcopolis — Thayil writes about Bombay's shadow world with a poet's ear and a novelist's eye for the moment everything goes wrong. Low carries the same hallucinatory intensity as his debut and confirms him as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Indian literature.
3. The Loves and Journeys of Revolving Jones — Leslie Thomas Leslie Thomas gave us The Virgin Soldiers and a career's worth of picaresque, warm-hearted comedy. This novel does what Thomas always did best — follows an irresistible character through a series of adventures that are funny, human, and surprisingly moving by the end.
4. The Fig Eater — Jody Shields Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century, a mysterious death, and an investigation that runs alongside — and counter to — Freud's famous Dora case. D.M. Thomas called it "suspenseful, atmospheric and highly intelligent." It's all three, plus genuinely beautiful to read.
5. Rabbit Hole — Kate Brody A woman falls into an online community obsessed with her mother's disappearance and begins to lose her grip on where the investigation ends and obsession begins. A "mindbending debut" that uses the particular dread of internet rabbit holes to brilliant psychological effect.
6. Granta: Best of Young American Novelists 2 The famous Granta special issue — "Now even younger!" — that introduced or confirmed the next generation of American literary voices. These anthologies have an extraordinary track record of identifying writers who go on to define their era. Essential reading for anyone who wants to know where the novel went next.
7. The Hidden — Tobias Hill An archaeological dig on a Greek island, a team of researchers, and something underneath the surface that isn't just ancient history. Hill writes literary fiction with the tension of a thriller — by the author of The Cryptographer, and just as quietly gripping.
8. The Year After — Martin Davies From the author of The Conjuror's Bird — Davies writes historical fiction with meticulous care and genuine emotional depth. The aftermath of a war, the gap between those who came back and those still waiting, and the stories we tell to survive the silence.
9. Actors Anonymous — James Franco Yes, that James Franco. A novel about young actors in Hollywood — and whatever you think of the author, the book is a genuinely strange, formally inventive piece of work that earns its place on this list. Faber published it, which tells you something about its literary ambitions.
10. The Solitude of Emperors — David Davidar A young journalist arrives in a small Indian hill town and finds himself at the centre of escalating communal violence. Davidar — founder of Penguin India — writes about the subcontinent's religious fault lines with insider authority and unflinching moral clarity. "Unflinching. Unsentimental. Deeply moving."
11. The Mountain Can Wait — Sarah Leipciger A Canadian father, his estranged son, and the wilderness between them — both literal and otherwise. Mark Haddon said it was "clear and beautiful, like swimming in a mountain lake." One of those quiet debut novels that arrives without fanfare and stays with you for years.
12. Black Mulberries — Caitlin Davies Two families, six decades, one story that takes root and refuses to let go. Davies writes intergenerational fiction with a journalist's eye for detail and a novelist's instinct for what matters — an unforgettable tale, as promised.
13. Queen Bee — Ciara Geraghty "Bridget Jones meets menopause," says Cecelia Ahern — "sharp, funny and real." Geraghty has a gift for finding the comedy in the moments women aren't supposed to laugh about, and Queen Bee is her funniest and most honest book yet.
14. Shark — Will Self Will Self writing about the aftermath of Hiroshima, a psychiatric ward in 1970s London, and the nature of time, memory, and trauma across a fractured, formally dazzling narrative. Not easy — nothing Self writes is easy — but genuinely rewarding in ways that safer fiction can't reach.
15. The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite — Beatrice Colin Berlin, the early twentieth century, a woman moving through the wreckage of the Weimar Republic and into the rise of something far darker. Colin writes historical fiction with real glamour and real darkness in equal measure — Lilly Aphrodite is one of the great names in recent literary fiction.
16. What Was Promised — Tobias Hill The second Hill in this box — a novel about London and the impossible promises the city makes to those who arrive in it. "Hill writes the kind of fiction that can change the way you look at the world." Two Tobias Hill novels for the price of none is a very good deal.
17. The Masquerade — Nicholas Griffin Venice, intrigue, hidden identities, and the particular treachery of a city built on water and illusion. Griffin writes historical fiction that takes the pleasures of the form — atmosphere, plot, period detail — seriously and delivers them with style.
18. Reaching Tin River — Thea Astley Four-time Miles Franklin Award winner, and this novel is a reminder of exactly why. Astley's prose crackles with dark comedy and fierce intelligence — the Sunday Herald called it "sheer joy played at full volume," which is the best description of reading Astley that anyone has managed.
