Colonial Fiction

For thousands of years, we have set out sailing for all kinds of reasons - for battle, for infinite wealth, for the excitement of exploring the unknown, and for escape from the mundane. We have always had a primal relationship with the sea - even those who have never been to sea remain fascinated by the seafaring life and tales of salty adventure. Now in a brand–new series collection, The Best Sailing Stories Ever Told brings together such diverse authors as Charles Dickens, Jack London, John Masefield, Stephen Crane, Herman Melville, and dozens more.

An alien ship rests over Water Island. For five years, the people of the US Virgin Islands have lived with the Ynaa, a race of super-advanced aliens on a research mission they will not fully disclose. They are benevolent in many ways but meet any act of aggression with disproportional wrath. This has led to a strained relationship between the Ynaa and the local Virgin Islanders, and a peace that cannot last.

When the president of Ng'ombwana proposes to dispense with the usual security arrangements on an official visit to London, his old school mate, Chief Superintendent Alleyn, is called in to try to persuade him otherwise. Alleyn performs his mission so successfully that on the night of the...

Over the years, thousands of tales both true and fantastic have been told about the dastardly thievery of pirates. Their rum-drunk exploits and high-seas violence never fail to delight. Now in a brand new series collection, The Best Pirate Stories Ever Told includes many of the very best pirate yarns ever created on history’s most debaucherous scalawags. Anyone who loves a good story full of excitement, adventure, thrills, and laughs will find this collection irresistible.

Winner of the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel, China Miéville's astonishing Embassytown is an intelligent and immersive exploration of language in an alien world. Embassytown: a city of contradictions on the outskirts of the universe. Avice is an immerser, a traveller on the immer...

This fascinating audiobook is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time.

From the award-winning, bestselling author of Stone Sky Gold Mountain comes the story of an Irish-Chinese family over four generations in Australia. ‘They said you were a murdering bushranger.’ It’s the winter of 2049 and Daniel is elderly and long isolated. Soon after yet another...

A Most Anticipated Book of the Year from The New York Times, Literary Hub, Stylist and many more 'Takes all the expected stories about growing up Indian American, slices them open with razor-sharp wit, and turns them inside out' CELESTE NG, author of OUR MISSING HEARTS 'Droll, caustic . . . and...

Bloomsbury presents Twist, written and read by Colum McCann A darkly epic novel about connection, disconnection and destruction – from the New York Times-bestselling, National Book Award-winning, Booker Prize-longlisted author of Let the Great World Spin **Named a 2025 book to look out for by...

Virginia, 1813. Isaac and Nathaniel know every hidden channel, oyster reef, and treacherous mudflat along their home creek. Enslaved since birth, they have spent their lives feeding the plantation that holds them captive. Now British warships have entered the Chesapeake, and word is spreading...

New York, a small town on the tip of Manhattan Island, 1746. One evening, a handsome young stranger off the boat from England pitches up to a counting house on Golden Hill Street, with a compelling proposition -- he has an order for a thousand pounds in his pocket that he wishes to cash. But can...

A new war has broken out.... Indian ships have invaded three British-held systems, and Indian troops have occupied British colonies, forcing Britain to choose between war and shame. The Royal Navy, battered by the fires of the First Interstellar War and desperately trying to recover from the terrifying casualties, must launch a counterattack and recover the colonies. For HMS Warspite - and a task force of British warships - the stakes have never been so high.

In this powerful novel of love and family, a doctor named Paris follows a nurse to a country on the brink of civil war. When a confrontation does break out, they are swept up by rebel forces and separated. The nurse, Helen, is pregnant; she escapes, but Paris is left behind, imprisoned by rebels as war rages. A narrative of brutal power about parental bonds, forgiveness, and identity, The Colonial Hotel recasts for the 21st century the ancient story of Paris, Helen, and Oenone.

#1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER 1920s Ceylon: A young Englishwoman marries a charming tea plantation owner and widower, only to discover he's keeping terrible secrets about his past, including what happened to his first wife, that lead to devastating consequences In this lush, atmospheric...

“A dazzling high-wire act. I turned every page with a sense of wonder and excitement.” —RICHARD RUSSO A richly layered novel of love, ambition, and duplicity, set against the storied seascape of Newport, Rhode Island A reckless wager between a tennis pro with a fading career and a drunken...

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER From the acclaimed author of The Flight Attendant: “Historical fiction at its best…. The book is a thriller in structure, and a real page-turner, the ending both unexpected and satisfying” (Diana Gabaldon, bestselling author of the Outlander series, The...

In the shadow of the London Blitz, artist Elsie Turner clings fiercely to her canvases, refusing to let war dim the colors that define her. The bombs test her nerve, but the struggle also stirs memories of her golden youth in India and of the long-lost love of her life.

This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. A man denied his birthright. A society built on prejudice. A love that defies every barrier. In the lush paradise of Mauritius, Georges Munier returns from France a wealthy, educated gentleman—only to discover that in the eyes of the island's white...

—AUDIBLE BOOK OF THE YEAR Set in a wonderfully reimagined 15th century West Africa, Masquerade is a dazzling, lyrical tale exploring the true cost of one woman’s fight for freedom and self-discovery, and the lengths she’ll go to secure her future. “[Ariel] Blake is adept at describing...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2023 NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR, TIME, ESQUIRE, VOGUE, LA TIMES, SLATE, HARPER'S BAZAAR and others “Part historical, part horror, part breathless thriller, part wilderness survival tale, The Vaster Wilds is a story...