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  The Struggles of Brown Jones and...

  Anthony Trollope

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  Billed as a satire concerning the dishonest advertising and business practices of the day, it tells the tale of an upstart clothing business doomed from the get-go to utter failure. Its senior partner (the elderly Brown, who provides the investment) is far too timid for business. His son-in-law (Jones, who runs the store) is stealing from the till, and the junior partner, Robinson (who writes advertisements for the store) is so obsessed with the idea that advertising alone will drive the business, he uses up every last penny of the capital investment in a series of increasingly ludicrous ad campaigns and publicity stunts.Thrown into this mix are the two daughters of Brown, who are equally cold and calculating. The elder (married to Jones) is constantly trying to wring money out of the old man, and the younger, Maryanne, spends the entire novel playing off of two potential suitors, Robinson, or Brisket the butcher (one of Trollope's wonderful examples of ironic character naming). (above summary by Steve Forsyth, Texas) Nevertheless, Trollope shows considerable sympathy for the risks faced by small businessmen (and also notes the vulnerability of writers to over-ready critics); Robinson is to publish his experiences in the Cornhill Magazine, a prominent journal for over 100 years, in which many Victorians serialized novels (including this one). In the final chapter there is a surprising ennoblement of Robinson, and a very positive ending (final comments by Arnold Banner)

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  Remember Me

  Fay Weldon

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  Madeleine wants to love, be remembered—and take revenge Abandoned by her husband, Jarvis, for a new wife and child, Madeleine is left alone with her troubled adolescent daughter, Hilary. By day, Madeleine tends (or doesn’t tend) to Hilary, who is growing more difficult by the hour. By night, she entertains dark fantasies about Jarvis’s second wife—Lily the Supplanter. And what of Margot, the doctor’s wife, who had a one-night stand with Jarvis many moons ago? All are ripe for their comeuppance as Madeleine, with malice aforethought, orchestrates her revenge. In Remember Me, Fay Weldon plumbs the depths of a fury that nothing, not even death, can stop. Compulsively readable, this is a novel that will be remembered for its wit, originality, and persistent humanity.

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  Le Glitch

  Philip Ogley

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  Jean Marc Bulot is the Mayor of Crêpe, a French village a million miles from nowhere. Where you can’t even get a baguette, let alone a beer. His only real companions: an alcoholic ex-miner, a pedantic village secretary, a 92-year-old retired school teacher, and an idle janitor. It's the stuff of nightmares. Only this is real. Welcome to Crêpe. Then one day a car arrives. And another. Then another. All lost. All hungry. All in need of a drink. Suddenly everyone is coming to Crêpe. But why?

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  The Life and Opinions of...

  Laurence Sterne

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  Tristram Shandy is a satirical and experimental work that takes a unique approach to storytelling. Rather than following a linear narrative, the book is a chaotic and digressive account of the life and opinions of its narrator, Tristram Shandy. The novel incorporates various elements, including humorous anecdotes, reflections on philosophy, and playful experiments with typography. It is often considered a precursor to modernist literature due to its unconventional structure and self-aware narrative.

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  To the Nines

  Janet Evanovich

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  Stephanie Plum's got rent to pay, people shooting at her, and psychos wanting her dead every day of the week (much to the dismay of her mother, her family, the men in her life, the guy who slices meat at the deli...oh, the list goes on). An ordinary person would cave under the pressure.But hey, she's from Jersey.Stephanie Plum may not be the best bounty hunter in beautiful downtown Trenton, but she's pretty darn good at turning bad situations her way...and she always gets her man. In To the Nines, her cousin Vinnie (who's also her boss) has posted bail on Samuel Singh, an illegal immigrant. When the elusive Mr. Singh goes missing, Stephanie is on the case. But what she uncovers is far more sinister than anyone imagines and leads to a group of killers who give new meaning to the word hunter.In a race against time that takes her from the Jersey Turnpike to the Vegas Strip, Stephanie Plum is on the chase of her life. The unforgettable characters, nonstop action, high-stakes suspense, and sheer entertainment of To the Nines define Janet Evanovich as unique among today's writers.A Macmillan Audio production.

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  Mr Finchley Goes to Paris

  Victor Canning

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  Book 2 of the classic trilogy of humorous adventures 
  An ebullient Mr Finchley is about to propose marriage to a lady he had rescued from mishap, when he is sent to Paris by his firm. 
  There he manages to upset a boat, adopt a stray orphan and get himself kidnapped. The fine tangle he gets into takes some unravelling! Only when eventually back in London does he complete the proposal of marriage that was interrupted at the start. 
  This gentle comedy trilogy was a runaway bestseller on first publication in the 1930s and retains a timeless appeal today. It has been dramatized twice for BBC Radio, with the 1990 series regularly repeated.What people are saying about the Mr Finchley series: 
  ‘Wonderful character from a kinder slower England between the wars.’ 
  ‘An overlooked gem. An innocent picaresque novel set in an arcadian version of mid 20th century England. The literary equivalent of naive painting, it narrates the adventures of a respectable upper middle-aged man who takes retirement.’ 
  ‘An antidote to the rush of the early 21st century.’ 
  ‘A thoroughly enjoyable stroll through a vanished England with some lovable characters. Don't expect modern, fashionable agonisings, here there is good, evil, and understanding. A lovely reminiscent wallow of a read.’ 
  ‘Gentle well told simple story, full of pleasant surprises, and a mild mannered believable hero. Loved it to bits.’ 
  ‘So gentle, it hurts.’ 
  ‘There is a freshness about the writing which is charming and that disarms criticism. Don't expect any great profundities, a gripping plot or inter-character tensions - these books are of the world of Billy Bunter and William Brown - but do expect a very well-written and enjoyable romp through early twentieth-century England in the company of an engaging protagonist.’ 
  ‘A delightful story of a man who finds himself jolted out of his comfort zone and taken on a journey beyond his wildest imaginings.’ 
  ‘Another lovely book detailing the adventures of Mr Finchley in altogether far too short a series. Full of humour and a book I was sorry to finish as I wanted it to go on and on.’ 
  ‘Highly recommended for anyone seeking an entertaining amusing read.’ 
  ‘A delight to be transported to an England I never knew despite growing up in the 1950s and to experience the countryside through the sharp eyes of the author who obviously had a great love of all things rural.’Editorial reviews: 
  ‘Quite delightful, with an atmosphere of quiet contentment and humour that cannot fail to charm … The longer we travel with Mr Finchley, the better we come to love him. He makes us share his bread and cheese, and beer and pipe. His delight at the beauties of the countryside and his mild astonishment at the strange ways of men are infectious.’ Daily Telegraph 
  ‘His gift of story-telling is obviously innate. Rarely does one come on so satisfying an amalgam of plot, characterisation and good writing.’ Punch 
  ‘A paean to the beauties of the English countryside and the lovable oddities of the Engli

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