Stack Showcase

Smith's Gazelle, by Lionel Davidson. (1971)
"A very amusing thriller set against the background of the Six-Day War, and featuring two deadly enemies - a young Arab rebel and a Jewish runaway - who meet in a remote valley. The Smith's gazelle, a species thought to be extinct, becomes an allegory for peace in Israel. The two are set on separate missions - ones that they both believe has been set for them by God." (Amazon UK)

The Last of Cheri, Colette. (1951)
"At the end of Cheri, the young Cheri left his aging mistress Lea on the eve of his marriage. Having served in the army during the war Cheri returns to Paris haunted by memories of his carefree youth and the bounty of his benevolent mistress. In the post-war 1920's he finds it impossible to settle down to a new life with his efficient and entrepreneurial wife and friends. As his looks and his reputation begin to deteriorate Cheri's life is thrown into crisis as he attempts to recapture the contentment and companionship of his luxurious youth. As Cheri and Lea confront each other, and the changes a decade has wrought on their lives and their looks, Colette displays the incredible sensitivity and insight for which she is justly famous." (Amazon)

The Group, by Mary McCarthy. (1963)
""The Group" follows eight graduates from exclusive Vassar College as they find love and heartbreak, forge careers, gossip and party in 1930s Manhattan. The Group can be seen as the original SEX AND THE CITY. It is the first novel to frankly portray women's real lives, exploring subjects such as sex, contraception, motherhood and marriage." (Amazon UK)

Lost horizon, by James Hilton.
"Celebrating the 70th anniversary of this magical and well-loved classic. Following a plane crash, Conway, a British consul; his deputy; a missionary; and an American financier find themselves in the enigmatic snow-capped mountains of uncharted Tibet. Here they discover a seemingly perfect hidden community where they are welcomed with gracious hospitality. Intrigued by its mystery, the travellers set about discovering the secret hidden at the shimmering heart of Shangri-La." (Amazon UK)

Mrs Miniver, by Jan Struther. (1950)
"Shortly before the Second World War, a column by 'Mrs Miniver' appeared in THE TIMES, the first of many recounting the everyday events of a middle-class Chelsea family: Mrs Miniver's thrill at the sight of October chrysanthemums; her sense of doom when the faithful but rackety car is replaced; the escapades of Vin, Toby and Judy, her unpredictable young children; visits to the Kent cottage and, as war becomes a reality, the strange experience of acquiring gas masks and the cameraderie of those unsettling early days. Mrs Miniver enchanted the public with her sympathy and affectionate humour, capturing ordinary lives and values now darkened by war. First published in book form in 1939 and later an enormously successful film, MRS MINIVER became a bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic -- with Churchill exclaiming that it had done more for the Allied cause than a flotilla of battleships." (Amazon UK)

My Antonia, By Willa Cather ; edited with an introduction and notes by Janet Sharistanian..
"'As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the colour of wine-stains...And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.' My Antonia (1918) depicts the pioneering period of European settlement on the tall-grass prairie of the American midwest, with its beautiful yet terrifying landscape, rich ethnic mix of immigrants and native-born Americans, and communities who share life's joys and sorrows. Jim Burden recounts his memories of Antonia Shimerda, whose family settle in Nebraska from Bohemia. Together they share childhoods spent in a new world. Jim leaves the prairie for college and a career in the east, while Antonia devotes herself to her large family and productive farm. Her story is that of the land itself, a moving portrait of endurance and strength. Described on publication as 'one of the best [novels] that any American has ever done', My Antonia paradoxically took Cather out of the rank of provincial novelists as the same time that it celebrated the provinces, and mythologized a period of American history that had to be lost before its value could be understood" (Amazon UK)

The Innocent Libertine, Colette.
"Davis and his wife, Isabella, are continuing the historical saga of a pivotal time in America's past with descendants of those courageous Acadians. In The Innocent Libertine, the impulsive young American Abigail Aldridge becomes increasingly outraged by the chasm between her Christian ideals and the plight of the poor. A well-intentioned social outreach puts her right in the middle of disaster, which turns into a scandal, and soon she is on a ship headed back to America. The broad expanse of the American landscape and an encounter with a brilliant young scholar open Abbie's heart to a new understanding of her divine destiny. The sequel to the bestselling The Solitary Envoy." (Amazon UK)

Letter from Peking, by Pearl S. Buck (Pearl Sydenstricker).
"This novel from the Nobel Prize-winning author of "The Good Earth" and "Dragon Seed" tells the story of an American-Chinese family separated by the communist revolution in China, as they struggle to overcome difficulties and the prejudices a family of mixed blood must face." (Amazon UK)

A Gentle Occupation, Dirk Bogarde.
"Bogarde's debut novel, set in 1945, concerns the period after the war as the British Army attempts to carry out a caretaking operation on an island seething with revolt following the Japanese occupation. A film star of the 1950s and 1960s, Bogarde has also written four volumes of autobiography." (Amazon UK)

South Riding : an English landscape, by Winifred Holtby ; with a new introduction by Lettice Cooper..
"Winifred Holtby's greatest novel is a rich evocation of the lives and relationships of the characters of South Riding. Sarah Burton, the fiery young headmistressof the local girls' school; Mrs Beddows, the district's first alderwoman - based on Holtby's own mother; and Robert Carne, the conservative gentleman-farmer locked in a disastrous marriage - with whom the radical Sarah Burton falls in love. Showing how public decisions can mould the individual, SOUTH RIDING offers a panoramic and unforgettable view of Yorkshire life." (Amazon UK)