Nine-year-old Louis Drax is a problem child: bright, precocious, deceitful - and dangerously, disturbingly, disaster-prone. When he falls off a cliff into a ravine, the accident seems almost predestined. Louis miraculously survives - but the family has been shattered. Louis' father has vanished, his mother is paralysed by shock, and Louis lies in a deep coma from which he may never emerge. In a clinic in Provence, Dr Pascal Dannachet tries to coax Louis back to consciousness. But the boy defies medical logic, startling Dannachet out of his safe preconceptions, and drawing him inexorably into the dark heart of Louis' buried world. Only Louis holds the key to the mystery surrounding his fall - and he can't communicate. Or can he?

Following the demise of bloodthirsty buccaneer Captain Flint, young Jim Hawkins finds himself with the key to a fortune. For he has discovered a map that will lead him to the fabled Treasure Island. But a host of villains, wild beasts and deadly savages stand between him and the stash of gold. Not to mention the most infamous pirate ever to sail the high seas . . . This special Puffin Classics edition brings together two of the most inspirational collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London - the works of Arts and Crafts pioneer William Morris and the literature of Robert Louis Stevenson. Illustrator Liz Catchpole has selected patterns from the V&A archive and introduced new artwork inspired by the collection to create a beautiful cover which brings Robert Louis Stevenson's timeless story to life.

Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are beautiful. It's quiet and peaceful. You can't get sick, and you can't get older. In Elsewhere, death is only the beginning... Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she is killed in a hit-and-run accident. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver's license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she's dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn't want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward? Full of the most ingenious detail and woven around the most touching and charming relationships, this is a novel of hope, of redemption and rebirth. It is a novel that tells of sadness with heartbreaking honesty, and of love and happiness with uplifting brilliance.

Liz Ward believed that it was possible to have it all. A glittering career, a successful marriage and a happy family. But it doesn’t take too long for Liz to realise that taking the job of programme controller at Metro TV could be the biggest mistake of her life. When she confesses to her friends, they are scandalized – Liz is their role model and she is shattering the myth they must all live by. But she is tired of pretending that there is no price to pay for her success. She has the big house, a good-looking husband, beautiful children and a wonderful nanny, but she misses the small things which make up family life: meal times, bedtime stories, school events, time alone with her husband. Time to think. Liz makes a life-changing choice, not only for her but for those around her. Did she make the right decision. Only time will tell. Witty, provocative, compassionate, Having It All captures the dilemmas of a generation. It is for everyone woman who works and misses her children, and for every woman who stays at home and wonders if she’s missing out.

An action-packed retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous adventure, specially written for readers ready to tackle longer stories on their own. The classic story of kidnap, shipwreck and survival in the wild Scottish Highlands, accompanied by atmospheric illustrations to bring the text to life. Part of the Usborne Reading Programme developed with reading experts at the University of Roehampton. With internet links to find out more about the life and times of Robert Louis Stevenson. Adapted by Rob Lloyd Jones.

In a merciless summer of biblical heat and destructive winds, Gabrielle Fox's main concern is to rebuild her career as a psychologist after a shattering car accident. But when she is assigned Bethany Krall - violent, delusional and insistent that she can foresee natural disasters - she begins to fear she has made a terrible mistake. When catastrophes begin to occur on the very dates Bethany has predicted, the apocalyptic puzzle intensifies and the stakes multiply. A haunting story of human passion and burning faith, "The Rapture" is an electrifying psychological thriller that explores the dark extremes of mankind's self-destruction in a world on the brink.

Anthony Powell's brilliant twelve-novel sequence chronicles the lives of over three hundred characters, and is a unique evocation of life in twentieth-century England. It is unrivalled for its scope, its humour and the enormous pleasure it has given to generations. Volume 3 contains the seventh, eighth and ninth novel in the series: The Valley of Bones; The Soldier's Art; The Military Philosophers

I've known Death a long time but now Death knows me. When their idyllic childhood is shattered by the sudden death of their parents, siblings Marty, Liz and Jules are sent to a bleak state boarding school. Once there, the orphans' lives change tracks: Marty throws himself into academic life; Liz is drawn to dark forms of escapism; and Jules transforms from a vivacious child to a withdrawn teenager. The only one who can bring him out of his shell is his mysterious classmate Alva, who hides a dark past of her own, but despite their obvious love for one another, the two leave school on separate paths. Years later, just as it seems that they can make amends for time wasted, the past catches up with them, and fate - or chance - will once again alter the course of a life. Told through the fractured lives of the siblings, The End of Loneliness is a heartfelt, enriching novel about loss and loneliness, family and love.

Meet Liz: all she wants is some peace and quiet so she can read a book with her cat Henry, love of her life, by her side. But trampling all over this dream is a group of wild things also known as Liz's family. Namely: Richard - a man, a husband, no serious rival to Henry. Thomas - their sensitive seven year old son, for whom life is a bed of pain already. Evie - five year old acrobat, gangster, anarchist, daughter. And as if her family's demands (Where are the door keys? Are we made of plastic? Do 'ghost poos' really count?) weren't enough, Liz must also contend with the madness of parents, friends, bosses, and at least one hovering nemesis. Are We Having Fun Yet? is a year with one woman as she faces all the storms of modern life (babysitters, death, threadworms) on her epic quest for that holy grail: a moment to herself.

This gossipy account of Louis XIV is a clear and fascinating historical biography from Nancy Mitford. During his reign Louis XIV was the most powerful king in Europe. He presided over a golden age of military and artistic achievement in France, and deployed his charm and talents for spin and intrigue to hold his court and country within his absolute control. The Sun King's universe centred on Versailles, a glittering palace from where Louis conducted his government and complex love affairs. Nancy Mitford describes the daily life of this splendid court in sumptuous detail, recreating the past in vivid colour.

Come round to Louis Theroux's house where the much-loved TV documentary-maker, podcaster and bestselling author of Gotta Get Theroux This finds himself in unexpected danger... Like millions of others, Louis' plans were mothballed by the onset of Covid. Unable to escape to the porn sets, prisons and maximum-security psychiatric units that are his usual journalistic beat, he began reporting on a location even more full of pitfalls and hostile objects of inquiry: his own home during a pandemic. Theroux the Keyhole is an honest, hilarious and ultimately heartwarming diary of the weirdness of family life in Covid World. A wife intolerant of his obsession with Joe Wicks' daily workouts. Two teenage sons, inseparable from their videogames, for whom he is increasingly 'cringe'. A five-year-old happily spamming out videos on his own new TikTok account while on holiday with his oblivious family. Louis also describes how he launches his podcast, Grounded, finally gets to the US to film a new Joe Exotic documentary and aims his sights on the latest incarnation of the far right in a world becoming radicalized by social media. Theroux the Keyhole is Louis at his insightful best, as he faces unforeseen new challenges and wonders why it took a pandemic for him to learn that what really matters in life is right in front of him.

Mahatma Gandhi became a legend in his own time. A tireless fighter for human rights and for Indian independence, his strategy of satyagraha, or passive resistance, earned him the admiration of millions. Louis Fischer's biography is the definitive account of Ghandi's life; it tells the astonishing story of one man who changed the world forever. This is the perfect read to celebrate and understand Ghandi in the year of the 150th anniversary of his birth.

'A Dance to the Music of Time' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Reissued now in this definitive edition, it stands ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers. In this ninth volume, Nick Jenkins, now a captain, is working in military liaison. When he receives the tragic news of the death of an old friend, it is an ever-present reminder of the way things used to be, especially when Widmerpool finds himself engaged again, this time to the notorious Pamela Flitton. As the war’s toll is mounting, Nick, like the rest of his compatriots, is weary of life in uniform and looking ahead to peacetime.

This fresh edition of TASCHEN's award-winning XXL volume explores Matisse's gouaches decoupees, produced during the final years of his life. Discover the complete history of these bright, bold cut-outs through rare photographs by the likes of Henri Cartier-Bresson and F. W. Murnau, as well as texts from poets like Louis Aragon, Matisse's son-in-law Georges Duthuit, and the master himself.

Louis XIV dominated his age. He extended France's frontiers into Netherlands and Germany, and established colonies overseas. The stupendous palace he built at Versailles became the envy of monarchs all over Europe. In his palaces, Louis encouraged dancing, hunting, music and gambling. He loved conversation, especially with women: the power of women in Louis's life and reign is a particular theme of this book. Louis was obsessed by the details of government but the cost of building palaces and waging continuous wars devastated the country's finances and helped set it on the path to revolution. Nevertheless, by his death, he had helped make his grandson king of Spain, where his descendants still reign, and France had taken essentially the shape it has today. King of the World is the most comprehensive and up-to-date biography of this hypnotic, flawed figure in English. It draws on all the latest research to paint a convincing and compelling portrait of a man who, three hundred years after his death, still epitomises the idea of le grand monarque.

The triumphant finale of the hugely successful Earth's Childrens series. The Land of Painted Caves concludes the story of Ayla, her mate Jondalar, and their little daughter, Jonayla, taking readers on a journey of discovery and adventure as Ayla struggles to find a balance between her duties as a new mother and her training to become a Zelandoni - one of the Ninth Cave community's spiritual leaders and healers. Once again, Jean Auel combines her brilliant narrative skills and appealing characters with a remarkable re-creation of the way life was lived thousands of years ago, rendering the terrain, dwelling places, longings, beliefs, creativity and daily lives of Ice Age Europeans as real to the reader as today's news.