Brief Encounters – serie

Georges Perec’s cool, exacting portrait of a couple torn apart by consumer desireA young couple build their lives around the objects they long to own. From furniture to clothes to carefully imagined interiors, their desires shape their sense of who they are – and who they might become. Yet satisfaction always seems just out of reach.. Precise and quietly ironic, Things explores the promises of material life – and the emptiness that can follow.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

A stunning, timeless story about race, friendship, what keeps us apart and what drives us apart, from the one and only Toni Morrison, with an introduction by Zadie Smith.Twyla and Roberta met in a girls’ shelter as children. Inseparable then, they lose touch as they grow older, only to meet again later at a diner, a grocery store and then on opposing sides of a protest. The two women are seemingly at opposite ends of every issue, but the persistence of their bond is undeniable.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days.

Four of Kurt Vonnegut’s best dystopian stories, Monkey Business distils his darkly comic vision of the modern world and the cost of trying to engineer a better life.In a future where everyone is forced to be equal, a gifted teenager dares to rebel. A suburban family discovers a device that delivers perfect happiness. A world frightened of death turns to drugs to slow the march of time. And in a quiet American town, a couple must decide how many children they are willing to raise – for ever.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

A startling new collection of three never-before-translated stories, from the author of I Who Have Never Known MenIn the wake of some unfathomable war, a woman wanders the forest, forbidden from ever leaving its strange depths. As part of her rigid schooling, a teenage girl is barred from questioning the dogma she is taught to believe. Locked in a loveless marriage, a young woman satisfies her husband’s desires, twice-weekly, as directed – until she begins to pursue her own.Includes the stories: The Ardennes Forest, The Outcast and The Broom CupboardBRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

At once a gripping thriller and a heartbreaking elegy, this is Toni Cade Bambara's powerful final testament, a hymn to Atlanta's missing children.Zala Spencer is barely surviving on the margins of Atlanta's booming economy when she awakens one summer’s morning in 1980 to find her teenage son, Sonny, has disappeared. As she takes to the streets to track down what happened to him, Zala is drawn into the nightmare of a city stalked by fear. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

At a Christmas party, a revelation shatters a man's complacency foreverAt a winter gathering in Dublin, friends and family come together for an evening of music, conversation and ritual. As the night unfolds, small tensions surface, and a chance revelation alters one man’s understanding of his life and his marriage. The Dead is James Joyce’s masterful story of memory, loss and awakening. Quietly devastating, it captures an essential realisation of life that lingers long after the evening ends.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Arthur Conan Doyle’s tense, unsettlingly supernatural tale of obsession and controlAfter Austin Gilroy’s fiancée is hypnotised, he finds himself drawn into the orbit of the woman responsible – Miss Penclosa. Soon, disturbances begin to unsettle him: actions he cannot account for, thoughts that seem to come from elsewhere. As Penclosa’s hold over Gilroy tightens, he discovers how little control he has over his own mind. Told through a series of journal entries, The Parasite follows a self-declared rational man drawn into a relationship he cannot escape - or fully understand.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Edith Wharton's ghost stories whisper of passion, exile, and the things we cannot forgetIn an old Dorset house, a couple settle into a life of quiet comfort – until a presence makes itself felt. At a country gathering, a man is forced to confront a long-buried secret he has tried to outrun. In a small New England community, suspicion gathers around a widower believed to be under the spell of a dead woman. Bewitched brings together three of Edith Wharton’s most unsettling ghost stories. Elegant and controlled, they trace the lingering effects of guilt, secrecy and moral judgement – and the moment when the repressed makes its reappearance. Includes the stories: Afterward, The Eyes and BewitchedBRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

A flood brings not only rising waters but the full force of a brutal, racist worldWith the Mississippi flooding, a Black farmer struggles to get his pregnant wife to safety. In the chaos, a single desperate decision sets off a chain of events that cannot be undone. Down By the Riverside is Richard Wright’s unflinching novella of race, power and consequence. Starkly told and painfully resonant, it captures how quickly the world can turn – and who is forced to pay the price.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Vivid and alive, this powerful novella about one woman's belated rebellion against the powers that be is Anita Desai at her finest.Nanda Kaul retreats to a quiet house in the hills, determined to live out her days in solitude. But the arrival of her great-granddaughter disrupts the stillness she has carefully built, bringing with it memories she would rather leave behind. Fire on the Mountain is Anita Desai’s subtle, haunting novel of isolation and memory. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Welcome to Vermilion Sands, the fully automated desert-resort ready to fulfil your most exotic whims.Out over the towering Coral D, sky artists paint the sky with clouds. A musical statue is broken down, but finds new life in unwanted places. A mysterious new resident introduces a new way of making poetry - aided by machine. Drawing together some of the most mesmerising and mind-blowing stories from J.G. Ballard's Vermillion Sands art-infused universe, this short collection is a passport into the genius of science fiction's most visionary pioneer.Includes the stories: Cry Hope, Cry Fury!, The Cloud-Sculptors of Coral-D, Venus Smiles and Studio 5, The StarsBRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

In a single afternoon's walk, Virginia Woolf captures the infinite life of a garden...A couple pause among the flowerbeds, their thoughts drifting apart. A woman’s mind fixes on a small, troubling mark on the wall. A chance meeting becomes an imagined life, rich with longing and regret. In six luminous, experimental stories, Virginia Woolf remakes the short story as a space of transcendence. Moving fluidly between inner lives and outward scenes, Kew Gardens captures moments of consciousness as they shimmer, fracture and pass, revealing the beauty and strangeness of everyday existence.Includes the stories: Kew Gardens, The Mark on the Wall, An Unwritten Novel, Monday or Tuesday, The String Quartet and Blue & GreenBRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

One of Cinema's great masters revisits his childhood - and the end of his parent's marriage - in a novella of awakeningOver the course of one summer, eight-year-old Pu Bergman realises that his parents are no longer in love. Surrounded by the quiet idyll of the Swedish countryside, with its ponds, rivers and woods, the daily chaos of the family’s ramshackle summer home threatens to end the bright, brilliant haze of Pu’s childhood world.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

A nostalgic, jazz-soaked love-letter to a youth spent in pursuit of simple pleasures, from the Japan's most celebrated contemporary storyteller, Haruki MurakamiHaunted by memories of a doomed love affair, and living in something of a strange hiatus in Tokyo, Pinball, 1973's narrator finds himself dreaming of the days he used to wile away playing pinball in J's Bar. Until one day he embarks on a quest: to find the exact model of pinball machine he played years earlier - the infamous three-flipper Spaceship.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Two sisters must find their way in a world designed to confine them.Marcelle is the elder sister, a woman whose ambitions focus on becoming the companion of a 'man of genius'. Marguerite is the younger sister, a girl whose sanity depends on breaking free of the oppressive expectations of society. Both end up focusing their attentions on the same disappointing man. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

From one of the great Chinese authors of the twentieth century, these newly translated stories illuminate the most intimate matters of the human heartSince childhood, Ruliang has sketched the same face in the margins of his books, tracing its lines without knowing why. Years later, he meets Cynthia – and recognises it at once. As their lives draw together and drift apart, what once seemed like fate begins to feel more uncertain. In these brief, evocative stories, Eileen Chang traces the pull of memory, love and chance.Includes the stories: Young at the Time, Blossoms Afloat, Flowers Adrift and Those Old Schoolmates They’re All Quite Classy NowBRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Five of Franz Kafka’s most compelling short animal stories, where fable, dark humour and unease collideA community gathers to listen to the singing of a mouse. An ape addresses an academy to explain how he became human. A creature digs ever deeper into its burrow, gripped by fear of what might be lurking outside. In these strange and unsettling stories, animals speak plainly about their hopes, fears and fixations.Includes the stories: Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse Folk, A Report to an Academy, The Burrow, The New Advocate and Investigations of a DogBRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

The life of a poet becomes a parable of hope in Yi Mun-yol’s searching novella of art, status and selfhood.With their family condemned as traitors, two young brothers are sent away in disguise to save their lives. One grows up by his wits, accepting what has been lost. The other is set on a different path, shaped by a determination to restore the family’s place in the world. As he wanders in search of recognition as a poet, ambition and survival begin to pull him in opposing directions. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

From Japan's most famous, classic novelist comes a remarkable gem of wit, irony, and feline observationA stray kitten, catapulted to literary fame loudly observes the world of Meiji Japan in all its absurdity. But he’s not the only cat in the neighbourhood, and as he rallies against the stupidity of human habit, he grows closer to the sophisticated Miss Calico – but he can’t hide his own inadequacies for long.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's stories of rebellion and sacrifice, where ordinary lives burn with extraordinary courageIn these tales of rebellion and sacrifice, ordinary lives burn with extraordinary courage. From fighters taking up arms against colonial rule to martyrs confronting impossible choices, these stories of struggle and resilience explore the cost of freedom and the endurance of the human spirit. Includes the stories: The Village Priest, The Black Bird, The Martyr, The Return, A Meeting in the Dark and Goodbye AfricaBRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Masks is Enchi's elegant, seductive story of sexual deception, revenge, and the haunting legacy of the past.Ibuki loves widow Yasuko, who is young, charming and sparkling with intelligence. His friend, Mikame, desires her too but that is not the difficulty. What troubles Ibuki is the curious bond that has grown between Yasuko and her mother-in-law, a beautiful, cultivated yet jealous woman, who is manipulating the relationship between Yasuko and the two men who love her.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Five stories of desire and discovery set in 1970s Japan, from weird fiction's most influential pioneer - Angela CarterAn Englishwoman muses on her affair with a younger Japanese man. A spurned lover seeks intimacy in another chance encounter. A boy stumbles upon a mirror world while walking in the woods. In five mesmerising, fantastical tales of 1970s Japan, Angela Carter explores what it means to arrive in a world different from one’s own, and to transform profoundly – sometimes terrifyingly – in the process.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

This ebullient, gallivanting novella encapsulates the world vision of the Czech Republic's best-loved author in one tumbling, breathtaking sentence.An ageing man holds court, spinning a single, unbroken stream of stories about his life – loves won and lost, jobs taken and abandoned, moments of absurdity and chance. As he talks, the line between memory and invention begins to blur.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days.

A dazzling catalogue of be creatures drawn from the dreamworlds of myth, folklore, and imaginationFrom ancient myths to obscure legends, a strange menagerie takes shape: creatures part real, part invented, drawn from cultures across the world. Each is described with care, as if it might exist just beyond the edge of belief. The Book of Imaginary Beings is Jorge Luis Borges’s playful, erudite bestiary of the fantastic. Curious and endlessly inventive, it explores the power of imagination to create entire worlds.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Luminous, suspenseful and serene, The Master of Go is a compelling portrait, quietly devastating of two men – and a whole society – facing defeat. Simple in its fundamentals, infinitely complex in its execution, the strategy game Go is an expression of the Japanese spirit. But when a revered Master is challenged by a younger, more modern upcomer, their match, waged over several months and layered in ceremony, pits imperial Japan against the twentieth century. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

A magical, mystical novella about the art and power of storytelling, this is Italo Calvino's miniature masterpiece. A group of travellers chance to meet, first in a castle, then in a tavern. Having mysteriously lost their powers of speech, they must tell their tales using only a deck of tarot cards. As their stories interlink and overlap, a fantastic, surreal and chaotic history of the human quest for meaning unfolds.BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Three supernatural tales of longing and loss from the grand-dame of Gothic fiction, Mary Shelley When a storm drives their boat towards the rocks, a group of sailors is saved by the light of a ruined tower. The locals speak of the Invisible Girl who haunts it – a lost, wandering soul. But the truth is more disturbing, and far more human, than any ghost story.Includes the stories: The Invisible Girl, The Mortal Immortal and The MournerBRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days

Three supernatural tales of longing and loss from the grand-dame of Gothic fiction, Mary Shelley When a storm drives their boat towards the rocks, a group of sailors is saved by the light of a ruined tower. The locals speak of the Invisible Girl who haunts it – a lost, wandering soul. But the truth is more disturbing, and far more human, than any ghost story.Includes the stories: The Invisible Girl, The Mortal Immortal and The MournerBRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days