Author:Shirley Jackson,Amy Finnegan
Brought to you by Penguin.
In The Sundial Shirley Jackson, author of We Have Always Lived in the Castle, blends family politics and apocalyptic terror to create a disturbing world of sinister relations and the macabre.
'An amazing writer' Neil Gaiman
Mrs Halloran has inherited the great Halloran house on the death of her son, much to the disgust of her daughter-in-law, the delight of her wicked granddaughter and the confusion of the rest of the household. But when the original owner - long dead - arrives to announce the world is ending and only the house and its occupants will be saved, they find themselves in a nightmare of strange marble statues, mysterious house guests and the beautiful, unsettling Halloran sundial which seems to be at the centre of it all.
Shirley Jackson's chilling tales have the power to unsettle and terrify unlike any other. She was born in California in 1916. When her short story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the greatest American stories of all time. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was published in the same year and was followed by five more: Hangsaman, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48.
'The world of Shirley Jackson is eerie and unforgettable ... It is a place where things are not what they seem; even on a morning that is sunny and clear there is always the threat of darkness looming, of things taking a turn for the worse' A. M. Homes
'Shirley Jackson is unparalleled as a leader in the field of beautifully written, quiet, cumulative shudders' Dorothy Parker
'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt
© Shirley Jackson 1958 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written
—— Donna TarttA pioneer of the supernatural horror genre
—— ObserverShe is the finest master...of the cryptic, haunted tale
—— The New York Times Book ReviewEmpowering poetry that has inspired women worldwide
—— Marie ClaireA moving, layered story
—— The Irish TimesNikita's words are as powerful as they are beautiful. Her poems mix ideas that are both ancient and timeless, and somehow she makes them urgent. Her voice is one of the most compelling, compassionate and creative in contemporary literature. She's the writer we all need to read right now."
—— Daisy BuchananStunningly beautiful
—— BustleA much-needed escape into a lyrical world
—— StylistOne of the best books of the year ... a spiritually enriching experience
—— EasternEyeBoyd's writing is as fluent as ever but it's the ideas pulsing beneath the surface that distinguish Trio
—— Financial TimesTrio is an intricate set of variations on the idea of alternative selves, well beyond the title's trio, unobtrusively elegant in its formal beauty
—— New Statesman, Books of the YearSending an affably satiric shimmer over the ceaseless rewrites, grotesque miscastings and behind-the-scenes chicanery, William Boyd simultaneously explores deeper issues of duplicity and divided personality
—— Sunday Times, Best Fiction Books of the YearConsistently intelligent and compulsively readable... [Amis] applies his insight and curiosity as a novelist to this stylish and genuine account of his development as a writer. The result reaches the heights of his finest work.
—— Publishers Weekly *STARRED REVIEW*Profoundly moving... If Experience was Amis elucidating the visible events of his life, the one-10th of the iceberg sitting above the waterline, then this book is a dark and tender exploration of the part that lies submerged.
—— Richard Strachan , Herald ScotlandYou really feel that in this book you are getting to the heart of one of the most remarkable writers of our time.
—— Jake Kerridge , Sunday Express[Martin Amis is a] master chronicler of the male condition.
—— Bill Prince , Daily TelegraphAs always with Amis the prose is beautiful, expressive, and precisely engineered... The book is a boundless treasure filled with hilarious anecdotes, heart-wrenching confessions, and eye-opening revelations.
—— Joshua Whitehead , MancunionA deeply engaging 'novelised autobiography' that focuses on love and death... Wonderfully readable, rich in the familiar Amis pleasures of wit, insight, and well-formed anecdotes. An intriguing, often brilliant addition to a storied career.
—— Kirkus *STARRED REVIEW*The unexpected gift of Inside Story comes under the heading of "How to Write". Amis reliably provides synaptic pleasure whenever he pauses to give one of his didactic asides about the English language. It would be worth compiling these in a volume to stand alongside Kingsley's The King's English.
—— Thomas Meaney , New StatesmanIn Amis's writing, [there is] that brilliant observational gift for ironies... There are perfectly crafted scenes that capture the creeping shocks of mortality.
—— Tim Adams , ObserverIt is always a pleasure to read Martin Amis... [Inside Story] is a generous book in sharing so much with its readers... Brilliant.
—— Lynn Barber , Daily TelegraphAn account [of Larkin is] written with such empathy and insight that it is truly harrowing... grandly resonant, brilliantly suggestive.
—— Edmund Gordon , Times Literary SupplementThe book's most solemn task is perhaps that of honouring the dead...and this it accomplishes beautifully.
—— Keith Miller , Literary Review[In Inside Story] humour and illumination flow.
—— Janan Ganesh , Financial TimesSad and funny... Utterly compelling on grief.
—— Alex Clark , GuardianThis is a celebration of his [Amis's] life in all its exuberant brilliance and melancholy moments.
—— BURO[Inside Story displays] compelling insights and observations, courage, tenderness; and above all, an undimmed passion for the written word.
—— Dan Brotzel , UK Press SyndicationFascinating... Martin Amis at his best, and that is very good indeed.
—— David Herman , Jewish ChronicleInside Story is something particular, something unique... the tenor of his writing...about Israel, the Holocaust and 9/11 reveals a different Amis, and is the source of some of the book's best passages.
—— Neil McCarthy , SpikedCaptivating and moving.
—— Tablet, *Summer Reads of 2021*Moving... Beneath the attention-seeking is a well-loved author who has gone through his cupboards, giving us all that he has.
—— Johanna Thomas-Corr , Sunday TimesA defiant and witty testimony to mortality and a tender remembrance of his friends and literary heroes… I’ve been reading and re-reading it this year
—— Times Literary Supplement, *Books of the Year*Continues in the same superior vein as Restoration… The fusion of such an engrossing character, and the minutiae of another time, remains a marvel
—— Daily TelegraphIn this evocative and beautifully drawn novel of family and loyalty in the face of an uncertain future Tremain continues the story of a wonderfully unique character
—— Hannah Britt , Daily ExpressHugely enjoyable
—— Reader's DigestMerivel’s hapless charm remains intact in this tour de force of literary technique
—— Sunday Telegraph (Seven)A sequel that looks back to the earlier novel without ever quite recapturing its spirit is the perfect form in which to evoke that feeling of having to carry on, and of trying to make yourself have fun even with it eventually begins to hurt
—— Colin Burrow , GuardianA marvelllously rollicking good read, and it is such a pleasure to meet Robert Merivel again. Rose Tremain brings the character to life in a way that makes you want to find out even more about the period. Enormously skilled and deft
—— Good Book Guide