The Deerslayer

"Set during the French and Indian Wars, The Deerslayer vividly captures the essence of both the murderous humanity and the natural beauty that distinguished America

The Catastrophist

"James Gillespie, an Irish writer, goes to the Congo in 1962, in pursuit of an Italian woman. What follows tells of the ebb and flow of their passion, the shimmering heat of Africa, the terrible collapse of the colonial regime, the murder of the African leader and general descent into unholy chaos.

Shortlisted for the 1998 Whitbread Novel Award"

The Carrier

"In Jutland, a scientific instrument is discovered in an archaeological dig and a young Turkish archaelogist is invited to examine its possible origins. This opening episode takes the reader back in time to 16th century Algiers. A noble-man has fallen in love with one of his servants and it transpires that both she and the nobleman's wife give birth on the same day. One of the ""twins"" becomes a slave to his brother bud decides torun away to educate himself and stop being a slave. He joins the crew of a ship bound for the new world, which is caught in a storm, drowning everyone except him. He is washed up on the shores of Jutland and rescued, then goes to Cyprus where he spends 3 years reading and learning and becomes a scholar working in a library. He returns first to Jutland thenheads south on a ship which will take him back to the world he left behind. "

The Boys of My Youth

"A startling collection of 13 connected personal narratives, capturing the collision of youthful longing and the hard intransigence of fate and time. Jo Ann Beard's piece ' The fourth state of matter ' was chosen by Bill Buford to appear in the New Yorker's July 1996 special fiction issue. It is a tale based on Beard's own life and is an extroadinary example of the recent trend of non-fiction that reads like fiction. The pieces in this book range from a devastating account of a random shoot out at Beard's workplace to a stunning evocation of a drive through the Arizona desert to reminiscences of the boys of her youth to splitting up with her husband and thedeath of her mother. She writes with a unique perception about both the blandly domestic side of existence and the unexpected events in life over which we have no control. Her subjects are love, loss, abnadonment, the importance of strong friendships with female friends, her betrayal by men, the landscapes of America, dogs... Jo Ann Beard has a remakable and original voice, and theseshort pieces of personal history are incredibly moving, funny and utterly compelling. They herald the arrival of a brilliant young writer. "

The Beautiful Mrs Seidenman

This is the story of the thirty-six hours that follow Irma Seidenman`s arrest and the events that lead to her dramatic rescue as the last of Warsaw`s Jews are about to meet their death. A handful of people conspire in Irma`s escape; in the author`s masterful hands they form a pattern of intersecting lives ranging backward and forward through time.