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Daunt Books Children's Short Story Competition 2013

Western Europe

• France
• Benelux
• Germany
• Austria
• Switzerland

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  Mission to Paris by Alan Furst

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  Mission to Paris is a novel brimming with wonderfully drawn characters. German Baroness von Reschke, socialite, who is deeply involved in Nazi subterfuge; assassins Herbert and Lothar; Olga Orlova Russian film actress and spy; Hungarian diplomat Count Janos Polanyi; along with the French actors, German film producers, and femme fatalés aplenty surround Viennese-American actor Frederic Stahl, part plaything of the great powers, part playing the lead role in the greatest spy thriller 1930's Paris has ever seen. And Paris is omnipresent, the heart of Europe, lovingly and menacingly recreated by Furst's deft hand.

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  The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman

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  Egon Loeser - the central character of Beauman's sprawling, Booker-longlisted novel - is, as his name suggests, a bit of a loser, hanging on at parties, drinking and paying no attention at all to the evolving social changes in 1930s Germany. After a chance encounter with a girl who promptly leaves the country, Egon embarks on an aimless and futile search that takes him to Paris, New York and Hollywood. Strange and energetic - sometimes frustratingly so - Beauman's second novel is reminiscient of Tom McCarthy's epic C.

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  The Book of Clouds by Chloe Aridjis

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  Slim little novel which beautifully evokes contemporary Berlin with poetic prose. Not as well-known as it should be, we've found it to be a perfect companion on a brief trip to the city.

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  Prague Fatale by Philip Kerr

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  On returning from the horrors of the Eastern Front in 1941, the sardonic detective, Bernie Gunther, is presented with a diplomatic minefield when he is required to investigate a murder in a country house full of senior figures in the SS and SD. Kerr's eighth Bernie Gunther novel evokes the spirit of the age impeccably and is, as ever, a treat to read.

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  Alex by Pierre Lemaitre

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  The dark horrors of this gripping novel evoke Orwell's Room 101, and indeed, Alex is not a novel for the faint-of-heart, but this mysterious tale of a kidnapping and its unravelling should not be written off as tawdry gore. Filled with wonderfully drawn characters and chilling plot twists, this novel, as the Guardian so susinctly puts it: "Where another novel would have finished, Alex is just beginning, and the book moves from read-as-fast-as-you-can horror to an intricately plotted race to a dark truth."

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  Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke

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  A bilingual edition of Rilke's major opus - which took ten torturous years to complete - and one of the literary masterpieces of the century. By turns majestic and intimate he speaks of the mysteries of human life and the possibility of transcending our fear through art.

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  Berlin Tales

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  A marvellous collection of German short stories set in Berlin which can serve to introduce the reader to the psyche, the history and the mood of a city better than any guidebook.

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  Citadel by Kate Mosse

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  From the bestselling author of Labyrinth and Sepulchre comes another new adventure set in the Languedoc. An epic tale of passion, loyalty and courage in the French Resistance.

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  HHhH by Laurent Binet

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  Based on real events during the Second World War, in which two Czechoslovakian soldiers parachuted into Germany with the intention of assassinating Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Nazi secret services, this is a gripping and moving novel which has achieved international acclaim.

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  The Lighthouse by Alison Moore

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  One of 2012's surprise Booker longlist picks, Alison Moore's debut novel is a terrifically haunting exploration of loss. Trying to recover from the break-up of his marriage, Futh embarks on a restorative walking holiday along the Rhine. But as his trip unfolds, it soon becomes clear that the real trauma in Futh’s life occurred much, much earlier.

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  Grimm Tales For Young and Old by Philip Pullman

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  Fifty familiar tales of wicked wives, brave children, villainous kings and proud princes told in a new and distinctive way by Philip Pullman, with snippets of research and commentary to enrich our understanding. Perfect for reading aloud as the nights draw in.

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  Swimming Home by Deborah Levy

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  A middle-class holiday in south-east France brings together two families and one stranger, the novel's catalyst Kitty Finch. Intent on meeting Joe, a famous poet, she appears at their villa unannounced, determined that he should read her poem, Swimming Home. Short-listed for the 2012 Booker, this is an unexpected, perfectly presented novel.

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  Toby's Room by Pat Barker

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  An insightful and beautifully composed portrait of love and loyalty, intolerance and discrimination, and the consequences of war. When grief-stricken Elinor receives notification that her brother Toby is 'missing, believed killed' on the battlefields of France, she refuses to accept his death until she has uncovered the secrets surrounding his life and demise.

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  The Hidden Force by Louis Couperus

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  A new translation of a Dutch literary classic. Set at the height of Dutch colonial rule in the East Indies, this novel portrays the clash between Western rationalism and indigenous mysticism. Originally published in 1900 this is a fresh new translation courtesy of Pushkin Press.

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  A Compass Error by Sybille Bedford

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  As the Second World War looms, Flavia is living in a small village in the South of France, studying for her Oxford entrance, swimming in the sea, and living with the confidence and relish of youth. In this a dramatic companion novel to A Favourite of the Gods, Flavia’s world is overturned when she becomes fascinated by Andrée – beautiful, sophisticated, yet manipulative – and is caught up in a devastating intrigue. A stylish and engrossing novel, published by Daunt Books.

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  Merivel: A Man of His Time by Rose Tremain

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  As Robert Merivel - physician to Charles II and beloved of many for his kind spirit - enters the autumn of his life, he begins to question his past: has he been a good father? Is he the King's friend or the King's slave? In search of answers, Merivel sets off for the French court. But Versailles - all glitter in front and squalor behind - leaves Merivel in despair, until a chance encounter with Madame de Flamanville, a seductive Swiss botanist, allows him to dream of an honourable future. Merivel, an Everyman with an unmistakable, self-mocking voice, speaks directly to us down the centuries.

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  The Architects by Stefan Heym

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  It is 1956, and Daniel Wollin returns to East Germany after sixteen years of Soviet imprisonment. A brilliant architect, Daniel is taken in by his former colleague, Arnold Sundstrom, who has become hugely successful since their exile in Moscow. Together, the two men work to redesign the nation for the Communist future.

  But with Daniel’s arrival, Arnold’s young wife, Julia, begins to uncover the lies that hold her marriage together and the mystery behind her own parents’ deaths in Russia many years ago. A novel of political intrigue and personal betrayal, The Architects tells a story of love and friendship in a world governed by surveillance and mistrust.

  A German Jew and a Communist who escaped the Nazis as a young man, Heym fled to America and fought in the U.S. Army before returning to East Germany in the 50s to escape the anti-Communist purges in America. Denounced by Honecker in 1965, Heym lived under state surveillance for many years, and his novels were banned from publication. He died in Israel in 2001.

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  Cassandra by Christa Wolf

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  Cassandra, daughter of the King of Troy, is endowed with the gift of prophecy but fated never to be believed. After ten years of war, Troy has fallen to the Greeks, and Cassandra is now a prisoner, shackled outside the gates of Agamemnon’s Mycenae. Through memories of her childhood and reflections on the long years of conflict, Cassandra pieces together the fall of her city. From a woman living in an age of heroes, here is the untold personal story overshadowed by the battlefield triumphs of Achilles and Hector. This stunning reimagining of the Trojan War is a rich and vivid portrayal of the great tragedy that continues to echo throughout history.
  
  To read more about the book, and author, and to see what the critics have said, click here
  (PDF).

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  Mimi by Lucy Ellmann

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  This wonderful romp, packed with martinis, plastic surgery, and the most fabulous parties Manhattan has ever seen follows the romance that blooms in the aftermath of a chance encounter with surgeon of note Harrison Hannifan, and the elusive but alluring Mimi. A glorious book, bringing all the best of a New York romance to life. Neurosis, drama, comedy, but most of all, love. A treat!

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  The Lost Estate (Le Grand Meaulnes) by Alain-Fournier

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  One of our very favourite novels: part adventure, part love story, part elegy of youth. When Meaulnes arrives at a provincial school he immediately makes an impression on his new classmates, none moreso than our narrator Francois. Meaulnes' restless search for the mysterious country house where he once met a beautiful girl comes to dominate both of their lives. A moving and evocative work, without which Fitzgerald would never have penned 'The Great Gatsby', this comes highly recommended.

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  Blooms of Darkness by Aharon Appelfeld

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  Philip Roth deems Aharon Appelfeld to be 'fiction's foremost chronicler of the Holocaust'. His latest novel, Blooms of Darkness, depicts the unlikely friendship between an eleven-year-old boy and an unhappy prostitute who agrees to hide him from the Nazis. Out of the depths of unfathomable tragedy, there emerges a renewal of life and a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. Winner of the 2012 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize

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  Badenheim 1939 by Aharon Appelfeld

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  This slender yet luminously beautiful novel opens on the brink of WWII as a group of middle-class Jews arrive in the resort town of Badenheim for what they intend to be an idyllic summer. As rumours of war begin to creep into the town, Appelfeld's wonderfully drawn characters fight to maintain a calm exterior. Highly recommended.

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  The Memory Man by Lisa Appignanesi

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  Pnemonic expert Bruno Lind returns to Vienna, the city of his birth, after an absence of many years, and finds that the past haunts him more than he could have known. Shot through with a rare humour, this is a powerful novel about memory, guilt and parenthood.

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  DeKok & Murder by Installment by A.C. Baantjer

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  In another fantastic thriller from the 'Dutch Conan Doyle' DeKok becomes embroiled in a sinister spate of drug-related murders.

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  DeKok & the Death of a Clown by A.C. Baantjer

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  Baantjer has sold 5 million copies of his DeKok novels and been knighted in his home country. Read one and you will see why: his thrillers are witty, deftly plotted and soaked in the heady atmosphere of Amsterdam.