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Daunt Books Children's Short Story Competition 2013

Southern & Mediterranean Europe

• Italy
• Spain
• Portugal
• Greece
• Balkans

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  Broken April by Ismail Kadare

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  'The Kanun' is the code of the blood feud of the Albanian mountains and in this frighteningly compelling novel it dictates that Gjorg must seek revenge on his brother's murderer, sealing his own fate in the process. But a honeymooning couple, fascinated by the ways of the mountain folk, take pity on him. Packs the punch of a classic fable.

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  The File on H by Ismail Kadare

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  A wicked and amusing satire, this is Kadare's lightest work, but one that brims nonetheless with the dark forces of a Communist state. Two visiting scholars, in Albania to record the last epic oral singers, are mistaken for spies and become embroiled in a sinister game of cat and mouse. Fantastic.

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  Little Infamies by Panos Karnezis

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  These magnificent interlinked stories all take place in nameless Greek village, populated by characters that are flawed but likeable and always utterly human. Karnezis writes with great poise and observation, and evokes the details of Greek life with masterly precision.

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  The Convent by Panos Karnezis

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  The calm and isolation of a convent on the Spanish sierra is shattered by the arrival of a baby on the doorstep. Engaging, accessible fiction.

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  Zorba The Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

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  Met with great acclaim upon publication in 1952, this is Kazantzakis's most popular and enduring novel. When a young English writer meets the exuberant Alexis Zorba in Crete, the stage is set for an unlikely, life-affirming friendship. Exhilirating, uplifting and rich, this is compulsory reading.

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  The Cypriot by Andreas Koumi

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  This splendid novel sets a classic across-the-barricades love story against the tensions of 1950s Cyprus, culminating in the Turkish invasion of 1974. Andonis struggles to move out of his father's shadow and to be free to love his Muslim girl, his personal journey mirroring that of his nation. An important and compelling book of subtle power.

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  Nada by Carmen Laforet

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  Student Andrea moves to Barcelona to live with her aunt and finds her identity corrupted by the family secrets she learns. A fantastic piece of contemporary Spanish fiction.

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  The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampudesa

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  It is 1860 and the charismatic Prince of Salina - known as 'The Leopard' - must decide whether to resist Garibaldi's invasion of Sicily or accept with dignity the end of his reign. The prose here is a wonder, the characters a delight. L.P. Hartley called this utterly superb novel 'perhaps the greatest of the century' - we certainly would not disagree.

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  Distant Music by Lee Langley

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  An ambitious historical saga of tragic love that begins in 15th century Madeira and wends its way remarkably into the London of the 21st. Broad in scope, pacily plotted and adept in its exploration of the timelessness of love, this is a true holiday book.

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  A Question of Belief by Donna Leon

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  A crooked judge and an obsession with horoscopes distracts from a heatwave in this newest mystery from Venice.

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  Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon

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  The first of the magnificent Brunetti novels sees the detective investigating the death of an eminent conductor during a perfomance at La Fenice theatre. In a spectacularly assured debut, Leon introduces her characters, themes and setting with such skill that delving further into the series is irresistible.

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  Selected Poems by Federico Garcia Lorca

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  A terrific introduction to a singular and well-loved poet, this bilingual volume showcases an array of translators presenting a broad range of Lorca's work, from the classic to the unknown. Not to be missed.

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  Carte Blanche by Carlo Lucarelli

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  The first volume of Lucarelli's implacable 'De Luca Trilogy' is a slender postwar murder mystery that packs a serious punch. Set in the final days of the Fascist Republic, jaded but determined Commissario De Luca must wade through the mire of a corrupt and crumbling regime in his quest for justice.

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  Death in Venice and Other Stories by Thomas Mann

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  Mann's intoxicating study of obsession remains one of the great novellas. Writer Gustave von Aschenbach finds his eye caught by a radiantly beautiful young boy, and his initial fascination soon develops into an all-consuming fixation. Dark, heady, and utterly drenched in foggy Venetian atmosphere. Also included here, among others: 'The Joker', 'Tristan' and 'Gladius Dei'.

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  New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani

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  A brutally bludgeoned, barely conscious man is found by a quayside in wartime Trieste, his jacket bearing a Finnish name: Sampo Karjalainen. When he awakes, he can remember nothing, not even his language. Taking an interest in his plight, a Finnish doctor decides to teach his patient this notoriously complex language, thus beginning the reconstruction of a man called Sampo Karjalainen. A rich, thrilling tour de force. ‘I can't remember when I read a more extraordinary novel, or when I was last so strongly tempted to use the word "genius" of its author’, The Guardian.

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  The Penguin Book of Classical Myths by Jenny March

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  Classical scholar Jenny March retells the myths alongside notes on their origins, their development and their influence on the world.

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  Your Face Tomorrow: Fever and Spear by Javier Marias

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  Volume one of Marias' extraordinary, ambitious trilogy. A sprawling, philosophical novel of ideas and one of the most exciting pieces of fiction this century. Not for the faint-hearted but truly remarkable.

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  A Heart So White by Javier Marias

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  Recognised in recent years as a major contemporary novelist, Spanish genius Marias deserves every accolade. This subtle and sinuous novel explores the complexities of love through its protagonist Juan, haunted by the inevitably of repeating his father's mistakes.

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  Tomorrow in the Battle Think on Me by Javier Marias

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  A gripping and unusual book from the excellent Marias, beginning with a magnificent set piece that renders the reader powerless to look away. To what lengths would you go to preserve your sense of innocence? A murder story unlike any other.

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  The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason

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  A slim paperback that you could easily miss, computer scientist Zachary Mason's debut novel is an extraordinary work. In a series of short stories, Mason has written variations on the Odyssey - both retellings as well as imagined episodes exempt from Homer's original work. It is almost impossible to believe that such an ambitious project might actually work, but Mason has written a curious, bewitching and philosophical masterpiece. One of our books of the year.

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  Don't Look Now and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier

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  Perhaps the most terrifying and haunting story ever penned, 'Don't Look Now' renders Venice an eerie and spectral backdrop to a magnificently chilling exploration of grief. 'Not After Midnight' and 'The Breakthrough', also included here among others, are equally potent.

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  Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier

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  A true blockbuster of a novel, magnificently plotted and deeply atmospheric. Suffering perhaps from a rather heavy-handed translation, this is nonetheless a fine literary thriller that stands up well to comparisons with 'The Shadow of the Wind'.

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  The Information Officer by Mark Mills

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  A straightforward, bestselling thriller set in Malta in 1942. A British solider must deal with a spate of local murders as well as the threat of Nazi bombardment. Mills plays fast and loose with historical accuracy in favour of drama, and perhaps at times melodrama. Still, fans of his 'Savage Garden' won't be disappointed.

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  '54 by Wu Ming

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  A fabulous, comic thriller in which Cary Grant is working undercover for the British government in the height of the Cold War.

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  The Man of My Life by Manuel Vazquez Montalban

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  Pepe Carvalho is a fiery detective, anti-establishment to the bones but with a weakness for women and fine food. This instalment in Montalban's excellent series is our favourite. Often described as doing for Barcelona what Raymond Chandler did for LA: we heartily agree.