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Exile and the Kingdom
Exile and the Kingdom
Jun 30, 2025 11:05 PM

Author:Albert Camus,Carol Cosman

Exile and the Kingdom

The stories of Exile and the Kingdom explore the dilemma of being an outsider - even in one's own country - and of allegiance. With intense power and lyricism, Camus evokes beautiful but harsh landscapes, whether the shimmering deserts of his native Algeria or the wild, mysterious jungles of Brazil.

Here a Frenchwoman is gradually seduced by the sheer difference of North Africa, a mutilated renegade is driven mad by the cruelty of his own people, and a barrel-maker watches the slow decline of his craft. A kindly teacher must choose between the law and a life, while a modest painter is out of his depth in the hypocrisy of the art world, and a French engineer discovers a new sense of belonging in a distant land.

Reviews

Pace, pace, pace is what Simon Kernick does best.

—— Daily Mirror

Simon Kernick writes great plots, great characters, great action.

—— Lee Child

Simon Kernick writes with his foot pressed hard on the pedal. Hang on tight!

—— Harlen Coben

Simon Kernick uses every trick in the book to keep the action breakneck.

—— Time Out

From the first line, Simon Kernick knows how to get a thriller shifting, and he doesn't let up until the very last

—— Daily Mirror

Good Lord, where in the hell did this guy come from? Hits as hard as an ax handle to the side of the head after you've snorted a nose full of battery acid and eaten a live rattlesnake for breakfast. Seriously, I'm warning you in advance: take your heart medication and strap yourself to your bar stool for one of the wildest damn rides you're ever going to take inside a book.

—— Donald Ray Pollock, author of Knockemstiff

Dark, grim, and achingly beautiful. Frank Bill is one of the most original and compelling voices in this new generation of crime writers.

—— John Rector, author of The Cold Kiss

Some serious hillbilly-noir that had my ears ringing by the end. Open the first page... and duck.

—— Craig Clevenger, author of The Contortionist’s Handbook

A triumph...certain to seal her reputation as our contemporary Chekhov

—— Mirabella

Superlative...She distills a novel's worth of dramatic events into a story of 20 pages

—— Erik Huber

These astonishing stories remind us, yet again, of the literary miracles Alice Munro continues to perform

—— Elle

Goosebumpingly unforgettable

—— New York Observer

Runaway may well be the synthesizing work of one of literature's keenest investigators into the human soul

—— USA Today

The great Alice Munro proves again why short story writers bow down to her

—— Vanity Fair

[Munro] really is the short story writer to beat... Munro has always been fascinated by those moments that tilt our world on its axis, as though the world really does turn on a kiss, but her brilliance lies in the psychological way that she convinces us of that fact

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

In crystalline prose, she illuminates her characters' hopes and longings

—— Rebecca Rose , Financial Times

[Munro] has been compared to Chekhov and I'm only being slightly tongue in cheek when I say that the honour is entirely his. Dear Life is comprised of 13 rich and startling stories, a must read

—— Niamh Boyce , Irish Independent

I haven’t even finished all of Dear Life, but Alice Munro’s stories have lived with me for such a long time and with such quiet passion that I’m barely capable of explaining why

—— Shahidha Bari , Times Higher Education

[Munro’s] talent is formidable but she has never been self-seeking: her short stories have a subtle, covert brilliance

—— Kate Kellaway , Observer

These stories won’t give you easy moral comfort, but will stretch you. They’re moral in that they name things as they are

—— Father Ronald Rolheiser , Catholic Herald

Dear Life is a dazzling portrait of ordinary existence which illustrates how seemingly insignificant meetings and moments can have a monumental impact

—— Upcoming

This collection is beautiful; full of pure, simple truths that linger long in the mind

—— Philip Womack , New Humanist
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