Two sisters quarrel over an inheritance and a new baby. A housekeeper caring for a helpless old man uncovers secrets from his past. A young girl accepts a lift in a car with a group of strangers. An old friend brings bad news to a dinner party. In these gripping and unsettling stories, the ordinary is made extraordinary and the real things that happen to people turn out to be every bit as mysterious as their dreams.

Everyday life crackles with the electricity sparking between men and women, between parents and children, between friends. A son confesses to his mother that he is cheating on his girlfriend; a student falls in love with her lecturer and embarks on an affair with a man in the pub who looks just like him. Young mothers pent-up in childcare dream treacherously of other possibilities; a boy becomes aware of the woman, a guest at his parents' holiday home, who is pressing up too close against him on the beach. Hidden away inside the present, the past is explosive; the future can open unexpectedly out of any chance encounter; ordinary moments are illuminated with lightning flashes of dread or pleasure. These stories about family life are somehow undomesticated and dangerous.

A beguiling collection of short stories from award-winning author of Free Love, The Past and Late in the Day, Tessa Hadley. Lottie announces at the breakfast table that she is getting married. The youngest daughter of a large and close-knit family, Lottie is nineteen but looks five years younger. Her fiance is Edgar Lennox, a composer of religious music and lecturer at Lottie's university, forty-five years her senior.It is a story of romantic dreams and daily reality, family loyalties tested but holding, and the comedy and solace to be found in small moments. Evoking a world that expands beyond the pages, it marks the beginning of what is an astonishing collection to treasure.

Selected and with a New Introduction by Tessa Hadley A girl shares her secret den. A couple stroll through a ruined city. A man walks into a ladies' hat shop. A teacher dreams of killing her pupil. Spanning the 1920s to the post-war years, this new selection brings Elizabeth Bowen's finest short stories together for the first time. Elegant and subtle, they showcase Bowen's ability to evoke ineffable emotions - grief, nostalgia, self-consciousness, dread - and combine remarkable psychological insight with vivid settings, from the countryside of Bowen's native Ireland to the streets of her London home after the Blitz. Encompassing characters from many walks of life and a vast array of moods, these are intricate journeys of domesticity and discovery, of the homely and uncanny, of the mind and body.

Howard Lovecraft was an American writer who achieved posthumous fame through his influential works of horror fiction. Despite the fact that he was virtually unknown before he died, today he is known as the most influential author in his genre. "The Dreams in the Witch-House and Other Stories" is a collection of wonderful short stories such as "The Horror at Red Hook," "In the Vault," "The Dreams in the Witch-House" and others. These stories, full of mystery and fantastic creatures, have captured the minds of readers all over the world.

Little Prince and Princess discover the world as all toddlers do. In the evening, they get ready for bed and fight off bad dreams and the monsters under their beds. With the help of the fun and recognizable sounds on each page, toddlers will easily relate to these royal stories.

A stunning new collection of short stories about motherhood, selected and introduced by Candice Brathwaite. The story of motherhood is an endlessly rich one: it's one of love - and all the highs and lows that come with that world-turning emotion - and, in the purest sense, of life itself. Within these pages, some of the finest writers in the world explore motherhood in wildly varying modes, from single parenthood to sisters coparenting, from the deepest hardships to the biggest celebrations. Selected and introduced by Candice Brathwaite, author of I Am Not Your Baby Mother. Stories by Lydia Davis, Anita Desai, Mary Gaitskill, Tessa Hadley, Jamaica Kincaid, Toni Morrison, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Irenosen Okojie, Casey Plett, Tabitha Siklos, Helen Simpson, Ali Smith

Features Five Great Short Stories by Chekhov, Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground, The Overcoat and Other Short Stories by Gogol, Pushkin's The Queen of Spades and Other Stories, The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Short Stories by Tolstoy, Fathers and Sons by Turgenev, and Gorky's Chelkash and Other Stories.

Howard Lovecraft (1890 - 1937) was an American writer who achieved posthumous fame through his infl uential works of horror fi ction. Despite the fact that he was virtually unknown before he died, today he is known as the most influential author in his genre. "The Dreams in the Witch House and Other Stories" is a collection of wonderful short stories such as "The Horror at Red Hook," "In the Vault," "The Dreams in the Witch House" and others. These stories, full of mystery and fantastic creatures, have captured the minds of readers all over the world.

The fifth novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Free Love, The Past and Late in the Day, Clever Girl is a tale of an ordinary life made extraordinary by the gifts of Tessa Hadley. Stella was a clever girl, everyone thought so. Living with her mother and rather unsatisfactory stepfather in suburban respectability she reads voraciously, smokes until her voice is hoarse and dreams of a less ordinary life. When she meets Val, he seems to her to embody everything she longs for - glamour, ideas, excitement and the thrill of the unknown. But these things come at a price and one that Stella despite all her cleverness doesn't realise until it is too late.

Big Bad Biteasaurus is the biggest baddest bully. He frightens all the other dinosaurs with his big, bad bite. Until one day the other dinosaurs have had enough. Big Bad Biteasaurus is going to have to be nice - even if it means a trip to the dentist! This roaringly funny story from award-winning author Malachy Doyle is perfect for children who are learning to read by themselves and for Key Stage 1. It features engaging illustrations from David Creighton-Pester and quirky characters young readers will find hard to resist. Bloomsbury Young Readers are the perfect way to get children reading, with book-banded stories by brilliant authors like Julia Donaldson. They are packed with gorgeous colour illustrations and include inside cover notes to help adults reading with children, as well as ideas for activities related to the stories.

Big Bad Biteasaurus is the biggest baddest bully. He frightens all the other dinosaurs with his big, bad bite. Until one day the other dinosaurs have had enough. Big Bad Biteasaurus is going to have to be nice - even if it means a trip to the dentist! This roaringly funny story from award-winning author Malachy Doyle is perfect for children who are learning to read by themselves and for Key Stage 1. It features engaging illustrations from David Creighton-Pester and quirky characters young readers will find hard to resist. Bloomsbury Young Readers are the perfect way to get children reading, with book-banded stories by brilliant authors like Julia Donaldson. They are packed with gorgeous colour illustrations and include inside cover notes to help adults reading with children, as well as ideas for activities related to the stories.

A pair of short stories about greed, charity, life and death from one of Russia's most influential writers and thinkers. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910). Tolstoy's works available in Penguin Classics are Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Childhood, Boyhood, Youth,The Cossacks and Other Stories, The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories, What is art?, Resurrection, The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories, Master and Man and Other Stories, How Much Land Does A Man Need? & Other Stories, A Confession and Other Religious Writings and Last steps: The Late Writings of Leo Tolstoy.

"Although he feared death, he could not stop. ‘If I stopped now, after coming all this way - well, they’d call me an idiot!" A pair of short stories about greed, charity, life and death from one of Russia’s most influential writers and thinkers. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin’s 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910). Tolstoy’s works available in Penguin Classics are Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Childhood, Boyhood, Youth,The Cossacks and Other Stories, The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories, What is art?, Resurrection, The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories, Master and Man and Other Stories, How Much Land Does A Man Need? & Other Stories, A Confession and Other Religious Writings and Last steps: The Late Writings of Leo Tolstoy.

"Although he feared death, he could not stop. ‘If I stopped now, after coming all this way - well, they’d call me an idiot!" A pair of short stories about greed, charity, life and death from one of Russia’s most influential writers and thinkers. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin’s 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910). Tolstoy’s works available in Penguin Classics are Anna Karenina, War and Peace, Childhood, Boyhood, Youth,The Cossacks and Other Stories, The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories, What is art?, Resurrection, The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories, Master and Man and Other Stories, How Much Land Does A Man Need? & Other Stories, A Confession and Other Religious Writings and Last steps: The Late Writings of Leo Tolstoy.

Stories to spark your imagination in this beautiful collection of stories, poems and illustrations to celebrate Puffin's 80th birthday! A brand new anthology featuring extracts from classic family favourites AND brand new stories about BIG dreams from Puffin's best-loved and exciting new authors and illustrators, including: Humza Arshad & Henry White, Jeff Kinney, Jacqueline Wilson, Malorie Blackman, Nadia Shireen, Tom Fletcher, Anne Fine, Rashmi Sirdeshpande, Jamie Littler, Yassmin Abdel-Magied and Sophy Henn. This magical book also features quotes and motivational pieces from brilliant inspiring leaders, scientists and actors on their own BIG dreams.