A proper Pern novel... bodes well for future volumes

Enjoy, as I did, another point of view about Pern

Who can think of a pirate without conjuring up the image of Long John Silver?

So what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well, put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and, without any prompting, spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now, if you knew my 13-year-old daughter, you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts, blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school, so all hail Vintage Classics!

A moving story of one woman’s struggle against hierarchies of race and gender that seek her absolute subjugation, Philida vividly dramatises the courage required to lay claim to the protections of the law, to speak out for ones rights even in the moment in which the law is on the wrong side of history

Brink tells this grand-guignol tale in harrowing style

A poignant tale of a slave woman's quest for liberation set in 19th century Cape Town

Mixing brutal historical fact with legend, the novel paints a fine picture of a disintegrating society

Philida is a unique, illuminating and original book…utterly engaging

Brink writes beautiful prose, peppered with evocative descriptions of historic and often tragic Cape life

Brink writes beautiful prose peppered with evocative descriptions of historic and often tragic Cape life

Brink's act of literary ventriloquism in Philida - his summoning of the voice of an illiterate slave-girl from the 1830s, in all its demotic sophistication and expressiveness - is undeniably astounding

An unforgettable story of one woman’s determination to survive and be free

The light and shade that Brink has skillfully introduced into his augmented family history make for a compelling and memorable novel

Powerful

[A] rich and unforgettable story

This spiky portrait of love makes for a gripping read

A heartbreaking examination of lives and love

A powerful story of sexual jealousy and longing, My Policeman is also a heartbreaking examination of lives and love that has gone to waste in an era in which homosexuality was a prosecutable offence