To get updates on the status of these books and more, please be sure to sign up for our newsletter. If you are a member of the media or a bookseller and would like an Advance Reading Copy of any of the books below or a copy of our 2007 Catalog and Rights Guide, please drop us an email. Or, you can download our catalogue (PDF file) here.     When We Were Romans Matthew Kneale July 2008 "Like Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird and Christopher in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, young Lawrence brings readers into his world, powerfully connecting us to the drama of his childhood." --Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides and Beach Music Nine-year-old Lawrence is the man in his family. He carefully watches over his willful little sister Jemima, and his mother, Hannah. When Hannah becomes convinced that their estranged father is stalking them, the family flees London and heads for Rome, where Hannah lived happily as a young woman. For Lawrence, fascinated by stories of popes and emperors, Rome is an adventure. Though they are short of money, and move from home to home, staying with his mother's old friends, little by little their new life seems to be taking shape. But the trouble that brought them to Italy will not quite leave them in peace. Narrated in Lawrence's perfectly rendered voice, When We Were Romans powerfully evokes the emotions and confusions of childhood--the triumphs, the jealousies, the fears, and the love. Even as everything he understands is turned upside down, Lawrence remains determined to keep his family together, viewing the world from a perspective that is at once endearingly innocent and preternaturally wise. Find out more about the book here. The Implacable Order of Things José Luís Peixoto July 2008 "José Luís Peixoto is one of the most surprising revelations in recent Portuguese literature." --José Saramago Set in an unnamed Portuguese village against a background of severe rural poverty, The Implacable Order of Things is told from the various points of view of two generations of men and women, hardened by hunger and toil and driven by a fate beyond them to fulfill their roles in the never-ending cycle of retribution and death. José, a quiet sheepherder, sees his happiness crumble when the "Devil" tells him he is being cuckolded. Old Gabriel offers wise counsel while a different kind of love story develops: Moisés and Elias, twins attached at the tips of their little fingers and unable to live without each other, find their tender communion shattered when Moisés falls in love with the local cook. And, of course, there is the Devil himself. Love may be a luxury, but there are moments of the greatest tenderness among even the most unlikely lovers. Written with subtle prose and powerful imagery, The Implacable Order of Things is a novel of haunting beauty, and introduces American readers to the astounding, poetic voice of José Luís Peixoto. Find out more about the book here.   Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth Xiaolu Guo August 2008 "[A] sharp, unpretentiously sophisticated piece.... The story is not so much a slice of life as a sliver, but good things do come in slivers--Parma ham, smoked salmon or truffle-shavings, say. Xiaolu Guo's work is that sort of treat." --Sunday Times "[Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth] is a graceful, subtle novel...a piece of art that portrays human determination through evocative photos and simple narration." --Sunday Herald "Xiaolu Guo is an instinctive, humane witness, her atmospheric, unusually physical narratives are alive and attractively insistent, inspired variations on the theme of quest.... Guo's observations will make you smile and remember; she will also nudge the reader towards thoughts about language, culture and the very business of living." --Irish Times Find out more about the book here.   Searching for Schindler Thomas Keneally October 2008 "Had I read Searching for Schindler before making the film, I may have made it an hour longer. I owe you so much. The world owes you more." --Steven Spielberg This is the captivating story behind Schindler's List, the Booker Prize-winning book and the Academy Award-winning Spielberg film. Keneally tells the tale of the unlikely encounter that propelled him to write about Oskar Schindler and the impact of his extraordinary account on people around the world. Thomas Keneally met Leopold "Poldek" Pferrerberg, the owner of a Beverly Hills luggage shop, in 1981. Poldek, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor, had a tale he wanted the world to know. Charming, charismatic, and persistent, he convinced Keneally to tell the incredible story of "the all-drinking, all-screwing, all-black-marketeering Nazi, Oskar Schindler. But to me he was Jesus Christ." Searching for Schindler is the engrossing chronicle of Keneally's pursuit of one of history's most fascinating and paradoxical heroes. Traveling in the United States, Germany, Israel, Poland, and Austria, Keneally and Poldek interviewed people who had known Schindler and uncovered their indelible memories of the Holocaust. Keneally's powerful narrative rose quickly to the top of bestseller lists. Steven Spielberg's magnificent film adaptation went on to fulfill Poldek's dream of winning "an Oscar for Oskar." (Keneally's anecdotes about Spielberg, Neeson, Kingsley, and other cast members will delight film buffs.) Written with candor and humor, Searching for Schindler is an intimate look at Keneally's growth as a writer and the enormous success of his portrait of Oskar Schindler. Find out more about the book here.   Thames Peter Ackroyd November 2008 "Mesmerising.... As soon as you open this account of the Thames, you will want to immerse yourself in it." --Daily Telegraph (UK) In this perfect companion to London: The Biography, Peter Ackroyd once again delves into the hidden by-ways of history, describing the river's endless allure in a journey overflowing with characters, incidents, and wry observations. Thames: The Biography meanders gloriously, rather like the river itself. In short, lively chapters Ackroyd writes about connections between the Thames and such historical figures as Julius Caesar and Henry the VIII, and offers memorable portraits of the ordinary men and women who depend upon the river for their livelihoods. He visits all the towns and villages along the river from Oxfordshire to London and describes the magnificent royal residences, as well as the bridges and docks, locks and weirs, found along its 215-mile run. The Thames as a source of artistic inspiration comes brilliantly to life as Ackroyd invokes Chaucer, Shakespeare, Turner, Shelley, and other writers, poets, and painters who have been enchanted by its many moods and colors. In his signature entertaining and informative manner, Ackroyd allows the reader to dip into chapters on his own whimsy, or to follow the Thames from source to sea. Illustrated with maps and photographs, Thames is a vivid, highly original mosaic of life by and on the water. "It is not just the subject that sets this book apart but also the compelling new perspectives that [Ackroyd] brings." --The Times (UK) Find out more about the book here.   Land of Marvels Barry Unsworth January 2009 "This is the work of a master: lean, elegant, and wise, weaving the doomed ambitions of two fallen empires into a compelling story that also deftly comments on the American presence in Iraq." --Andrea Barrett Barry Unsworth, a writer with an "almost magical capacity for literary time travel" (New York Times Book Review) has the extraordinary ability to re-create the past and make it relevant to contemporary readers. In Land of Marvels, a thriller set in 1914, he brings to life the schemes and double-dealings of Western nations grappling for a foothold in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire. Somerville, a British archaeologist, is excavating a long-buried Assyrian palace. The site lies directly in the path of a new railroad to Baghdad, and he watches nervously as the construction progresses, threatening to destroy his discovery. The expedition party includes Somerville's beautiful, bored wife, Christine; Patricia, a smart young graduate student; and Jehar, an Arab man-of-all-duties whose subservient manner belies his intelligence and ambitions. Posing as an archaeologist, an American geologist from an oil company arrives one day and insinuates himself into the group. But he's not the only one working undercover to stake a claim on Iraq's rich oil fields. Historical fiction at its finest, Land of Marvels opens a window on the past and reveals its lasting impact. Find out more about the book here.   Poe Peter Acrkoyd January 2009 "Poe is as short and sharp as a flick-knife." --Daily Telegraph Gothic, mysterious, theatrical, fatally flawed, and dazzling, the life of Edgar Allan Poe, one of America's greatest and most versatile writers, is the ideal subject for Peter Ackroyd. Poe wrote lyrical poetry and macabre psychological melodramas; invented the first fictional detective; and produced pioneering works of science fiction and fantasy. His innovative style, images, and themes had a tremendous impact on European romanticism, symbolism, and surrealism, and continue to influence writers today. In this essential addition to his canon of acclaimed biographies, Peter Ackroyd explores Poe's literary accomplishments and legacy against the background of his erratic, dramatic, and sometimes sordid life. Ackroyd chronicles Poe's difficult childhood, his bumpy academic and military careers, and his complex relationships with women, including his marriage to his thirteen-year-old cousin. He describes Poe's much-written about problems with gambling and alcohol with sympathy and insight, showing their connections to Poe's childhood and the trials, as well as the triumphs, of his adult life. Ackroyd's thoughtful, perceptive examinations of some of Poe's most famous works shed new light on these classics and on the troubled and brilliant genius who created them. Find out more about the book here.   Ayn Rand and the World She Made Anne Heller February 2009 The first complete, unbiased biography of the writer and philosopher whose ideas permanently altered the American cultural and political landscape. Ayn Rand is best known as the author of the perennially bestselling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Altogether, more than 12 million copies of the two novels have been sold in the U.S. The books attracted a huge right-wing following, shaped the principles of Libertarianism, and influenced White House economic policies in the 1960s and '70s. A staunch advocate of laissez-faire capitalism and of the belief that individuals must choose their values and actions solely by reason, Rand remains a powerful influence on the political perceptions of Americans today. Yet, twenty-two years after Rand's death, her readers know little about her life. In this seminal biography, Anne Heller traces Rand's life from her tumultuous childhood in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution to her years as a screenwriter in Hollywood, to the publication of her novels and the proliferation of Objectivism--Rand's philosophy of radical individualism. Throughout, Heller treats Rand with a fair-mindedness lacking in earlier biographies. Based on original research in Russia, interviews with Rand's acquaintances and acolytes, and previously unexamined archives, Ayn Rand and the World She Made is a comprehensive and eye-opening portrait of one of the most important and controversial, figures of the twentieth century. Find out more about the book here.