In Gobseck, Honoré de Balzac delivers a powerful and penetrating exploration of wealth, obsession, and the hidden machinery of society. Set in post-Napoleonic Paris, this masterful novella—part of Balzac's monumental collection La Comédie Humaine—examines the corrosive power of money and the moral compromises people make in pursuit of status and survival. At the center of the story stands Jean-Esther van Gobseck, an aging and enigmatic moneylender whose life revolves around one unwavering principle: gold rules the world. Cold, calculating, and emotionally detached, Gobseck has built his fortune by lending money to desperate aristocrats and ambitious social climbers, watching with clinical fascination as debt exposes their secrets, weaknesses, and hypocrisies. To him, human emotions—love, honor, loyalty—are mere illusions, all ultimately subject to the authority of money. The narrative unfolds through the perspective of a young lawyer, Derville, who recounts Gobseck's life and his dealings with the aristocratic Countess de Restaud. As the Countess spirals into financial and moral ruin to sustain her extravagant lifestyle and illicit passions, Gobseck becomes both witness and silent judge. Through this tragic entanglement, Balzac reveals the fragile façade of high society and the devastating consequences of greed, vanity, and unchecked desire. Yet Gobseck is more than a portrait of a miser. It is a profound meditation on capitalism, power, and human nature. Gobseck himself is a paradox—both predator and philosopher, villain and observer. Though he accumulates immense wealth, he lives in stark austerity, hoarding treasures he never uses, revealing the emptiness at the heart of his obsession. His life poses unsettling questions: Is wealth power, security, or prison? Can a person truly possess riches without being possessed by them? Balzac's sharp realism, vivid characterizations, and incisive social commentary make Gobseck a timeless study of ambition and morality. With psychological depth and keen insight into the financial and emotional transactions that govern human relationships, this novella remains strikingly relevant in a world still driven by profit and power. Dark, intelligent, and unflinchingly honest, Gobseck is a compelling exploration of the price of wealth—and the cost of losing one's soul in its pursuit.
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La inolvidable autobiografía de la mujer que escribió Vera y Expiación. «Para empezar, me gustaría decir que, aunque los padres, los maridos, los hijos, los amantes y los amigos están muy bien, no son perros. En el transcurso de mi vida he sido todo ello— excepto que en lugar de marido he sido esposa—, y sé de lo que hablo, conozco muy bien los altibajos, esos altibajos diarios, que a veces se dan casi a cada hora en los que son más sensibles, y que parecen acompañar inevitablemente a los amores humanos. Los perros están libres de esas fluctuaciones. Cuando aman, aman con todas sus fuerzas, sin vacilaciones, hasta su último aliento. Así es como quiero ser amada. Por ello, voy a escribir sobre perros». La autobiografía de una escritora tan cautivadora, sagaz y avanzada a su tiempo como Elizabeth von Arnim recorre sus recuerdos a través de los perros que la acompañaron desde Pomerania a Inglaterra en sus amores, desilusiones, matrimonios, cambios, amistades y duelos en el viaje de la vida. «Una autobiografía cautivadora. Los perros son los protagonistas, pero también habla de maridos conflictivos, casas maravillosas y una vida fascinante». The Observer
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Shamed schoolteacher, Mathilde, moves to a dairy farm in the Norwegian countryside for an 'easier life', but she's soon up to her old tricks … upending and unsettling the lives of two reclusive farmers. Exquisitely written, razor-sharp and simmering with an unexpected tension, Toxic marks the return of one of Norway's finest writers… `Flatland has the gift that I most often covet in the work of other writers: the ability to make everyday events compelling … how the quietest existence can brim with urgency and drama´ Ann Morgan `Helga Flatland writes with elegance and subtle humour´ Daily Express `The author has been dubbed the Norwegian Anne Tyler and for good reason´ Good Housekeeping –––––––––––––– When Mathilde is forced to leave her teaching job in Oslo after her relationship with eighteen-year-old Jacob is exposed, she flees to the countryside for a more authentic life. Her new home is a quiet cottage on the outskirts of a dairy farm run by Andres and Johs, whose hobbies include playing the fiddle and telling folktales – many of them about female rebellion and disobedience, and seeking justice, whatever it takes. But beneath the apparently friendly and peaceful pastoral surface of life on the farm, something darker and more sinister starts to vibrate and, with Mathilde's arrival, cracks start appearing … everywhere. –––––––––––– Praise for Helga Flatland `The most beautiful, elegant writing I've read in a long time´ Joanna Cannon `Helga Flatland writes with such astuteness about families´ Prima `I absolutely loved its quiet, insightful generosity´ Claire King `So perceptive and clever´ Rónán Hession `Thoughtful and reflective´ Observer `A beautifully written, bittersweet, moving and poignant … a wise novel of great insight´ NB Magazine `Poignant and beautifully written … The prose and style, with the dialogue enveloped in the narrative, is intimate, evocative and moving´ Kristin Gleeson `I love the sophistication, directness and tenderness of this book´ Claire Dyer `The most satisfying book that I've read in a long time … masterful´ Sara Taylor `A moving and exquisite read´ Shelan Rodger
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THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Wise, funny and generous' The Times 'Warm and perceptive' New York Times 'So honest and funny and smart' Observer 'Griffin Dunne knows how to tell a story' Washington Post 'Dunne is a prospector for the incandescent detail' Los Angeles Times 'Full of light, life and colour...a startling tale of precarious American privilege, spotlighting a family that is blessed and cursed' Guardian At eight, Sean Connery saved him from drowning. At thirteen, desperate to hook up with Janis Joplin, he attended his aunt Joan Didion's legendary LA launch party for Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. In his early twenties, he shared a Manhattan apartment with his best friend and soulmate Carrie Fisher while she was filming some sci-fi movie called Star Wars and he was a struggling actor selling popcorn at Radio City Music Hall. A few years later, he produced and starred in the now-iconic film After Hours, directed by Martin Scorsese. In the midst of it all, Griffin's twenty-two-year-old sister, Dominique, a rising star in Hollywood, was brutally strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend, leading to one of the most infamous public trials of the 1980s. The outcome was a travesty of justice that marked the beginning of their father Dominick Dunne's career as a bestselling author of true crime narratives. And yet, for all its boldface cast of characters and jaw-dropping scenes, The Friday Afternoon Club is no mere celebrity memoir. It is, down to its bones, a family story that embraces the poignant absurdities and best and worst efforts of its loveable, infuriating, funny and moving characters - its author most of all.
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In What Is Mine, sociologist José Henrique Bortoluci uses interviews with his father, Didi, to retrace the recent history of Brazil and of his family. From the mid-1960s to the mid-2010s, Didi's work as a truck driver took him away from home for long stretches at a time as he crisscrossed the country and participated in huge infrastructure projects including the Trans-Amazonian Highway, a scheme spearheaded by the military dictatorship of the time, undertaken through brutal deforestation. An observer of history, Didi also recounts the toll his work has taken on his health, from a heart attack in middle age to the cancer that defines his retirement. Bortoluci weaves the history of a nation with that of a man, uncovering parallels between cancer and capitalism – both sustained by expansion, both embodiments of 'the gospel of growth at any cost' – and traces the distance that class has placed between him and his father. Influenced by authors such as Annie Ernaux and Svetlana Alexievich, What Is Mine is a moving, thought-provoking and brilliantly constructed examination of the scars we carry, as people and as countries.
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À la faveur d’un phénomène naturel unique, les protagonistes de "Portrait de groupe au pied de la montagne" se retrouvent pour raconter leur petite ville, ses figures et ses endroits emblématiques, observer et relater ses mutations, retourner aux tranches de leur passé commun dans une polyphonie narrative. <br> <br>Suite à "Scène de pêche en Algérie" publié en 2006, <b>Mohamed Magani</b> renoue, dans ce douzième opus, avec le genre du roman choral, caractérisé par une pluralité de voix, de regards, de points de vue, de personnages, de formes et d’imaginaires. Chaque histoire est une partie distincte et autonome ; chronique, récit, nouvelle à part entière. Elle situe l’œuvre dans l’espace de l’indéfini entre la nouvelle et le roman, et de l’insaisissable de la magie quand la frontière entre la réalité et la fiction s’estompe. Mises ensemble, ces histoires forment un continuum qui laisse entrevoir des univers plus vastes et plus complexes. Plus qu’elles ne se complètent, elles créent quelque chose de plus grand que la somme de leurs parties. L’ensemble fait écho et lien dont les fils conducteurs multiples partagent les mêmes personnages, les mêmes lieux et contextes, faits, événements et thématiques, ce qui confère un fort élément d’unité, de cohérence au tout. <br> <br>"Portrait de groupe au pied de la montagne" constitue le deuxième volet d’une trilogie chorale." <br> <br> <br> <br> <br>À PROPOS DE L'AUTEUR <br> <br>Mohamed Magani est né à El Attaf. Auteur de romans en français et de nouvelles en anglais, il parcourt le monde et s’inspire de ses voyages dans l’écriture. Mohamed Magani vit à Alger et enseigne à l’Université. <br> <br>
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Get the FIRST SIX books in Doug Johnstone's addictive, darkly funny and unmissable The Skelfs series in one GREAT-VALUE Box Set. When family patriarch Jim dies, three generations of Edinburgh women – widow Dorothy, daughter Jenny and granddaughter Hannah – take over the family funeral directors and PI businesses. From missing people and faked deaths to gangland vendettas and graveyard secrets, their investigations pull them into danger in a series of tense, warmly funny and unforgettable mysteries. ––––––––– 'The Skelfs feel like family – their joys are my joys, their pains are my pain' Val McDermid 'Tense, funny and deeply moving' Mark Billingham 'Some of the best female characters in crime fiction' Sarah Hilary 'Gripping and blackly humorous' Observer ––––––––––– A Dark Matter (book 1) Jim's death leaves Dorothy, Jenny and Hannah in charge — but a vanished friend, a cheating husband and hidden affairs soon make their first cases lethal. The Big Chill (book 2) A car crashes into an open grave, an elderly professor grows dangerously obsessed and old enemies plot revenge. The Great Silence (book 3) A severed foot, a dying woman's secret and a missing girl tied to Jenny's violent ex push the family into deadly territory. Black Hearts (book 4) A possible faked death, a stalker threatening Hannah and ghosts from Jenny's past bring peril to all three. The Opposite of Lonely (book 5) Suspicious fires, conspiracy theorists and a missing sister-in-law test loyalty and survival closer to home. Living Is a Problem (book 6) A funeral attacked by a drone, gangland violence and graveyard intrusions force the Skelfs to fight for their lives. –––––––––––––– 'Underlines just how accomplished Johnstone has become' Daily Mail 'Wonderful characters: flawed, funny and brave' Sunday Times 'A unique brand of crime fiction boasting rare heart and depth' Ambrose Parry
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Deux âmes perdues. Un flic. Un réseau tentaculaire... Comment agir face au pire ? <br>Ancien militaire pendant la guerre de Bosnie-Herzégovine, Steve revient au pays. Atteint du syndrome post-traumatique des soldats partis au front, il a du mal à se réintégrer dans la société. Sa rencontre avec Lucie, une jeune femme violée par son beau-père, le fera basculer dans une cavale vengeresse relayée par tous les médias. Mais dès lors tous deux embarqués au centre d’une inconcevable spirale interdite, une terrible menace les attend… <br> <br>À PROPOS DE L'AUTEUR <br> <br>Né dans les années 70 quelque part dans le sud de la France, <b>Freeric Huginn</b> aime provoquer un divertissant vertige chez ses lecteurs. Tremper sa plume dans son sang et lâcher les fauves. À chacun sa part d’Ombre. Puisque si d’un seul regard, voir les six facettes d’un cube s’avère impossible, Freeric Huginn vous invitera à tourner celui-ci dans tous les sens afin d’en observer chaque face avec attention.
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