Collected Works

In this novel and the other works of fiction gathered here, the reader follows Lowry as he confronts the abyss, but also shares in his eternal hope for transcendence. Ultramarine: Lowry's debut novel, and the only book, other than Under the Volcano, published in his lifetime, is the coming-of-age story of Dana Hilliot, who escapes the bourgeois provincialism of his upper-class British upbringing by joining a crew of weathered, world-weary sailors on a freighter bound for South Asia. Part Moby-Dick, part A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ultramarin draws on Lowry's own early experience on the sea. Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place: Published posthumously, these seven stories and novellas include "Through the Panama," in which a burned-out, alcoholic writer on a voyage from Vancouver to Europe tries to make sense of the literature that has kept him afloat, while the pulse of his life grows harder to distinguish, and "The Forest Path to Spring," about a couple that has been through hell finding new life in the beauty and seclusion of a vast forest. Under the Volcano: Former British consul Geoffrey Firmin lives alone with his demons in the shadow of two active volcanoes in South Central Mexico. Drowning in alcoholism, Geoffrey makes one last effort to salvage his crumbling life when his estranged wife, Yvonne, arrives in town on the Day of the Dead, 1938. October Ferry to Gabriola: Edited by Lowry's widow and frequent collaborator, and released more than a decade after his untimely death, October Ferry to Gabriola is the story of a married couple striving for renewal, sanity, and transcendence in the deep seclusion of the British Columbian forest.

Rates of Exchange: University lecturer and seasoned international traveler Angus Petworth is unprepared for the oddities of culture and circumstance that await him on the other side of the iron curtain-in the eastern European nation of Slaka. In two eventful weeks, the professor gives an incendiary interview, is seduced by a femme fatale, and becomes embroiled in a plot of international intrigue. Satirizing everything from critics and diplomats to Marxism and academia, Rates of Exchange is a witty and lighthearted novel of cultural interchange at the height of the Cold War, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The History Man: Bradbury's classic skewering of 1970s academia and ideological hypocrisy centers around Professor Howard Kirk, who prides himself on being the most highly evolved teacher on campus. But beneath Kirk's scholarly bohemianism and studied cool is a ruthless, self-serving Machiavellian streak. Kirk is vain and bigoted, dismissing female students and colleagues while releasing vitriol against those who contradict him, particularly his clever, wayward wife, Barbara, the long-suffering mother of his two children. Someone needs to teach him a lesson . . . Stepping Westward: At the height of the swinging sixties, mediocre British writer James Walker accepts an academic post in America for a year he'll never forget. As Benedict Arnold University's writer in residence, he finds himself something of a celebrity-his work, though met with shrugs at home, is the subject of vibrant scholarly criticism among American academics. But the buttoned-up professor is about to take a crash course in culture shock taught by spirited advocates of free love and aggressively ambitious colleagues.

Captured: Diagnosed with late-stage brain cancer, Kenny Drummond is determined to make amends while there's still time. But when he tries to contact an old schoolmate, Callie Barton, he finds she's disappeared without a trace-and it seems her husband may have something to hide. With a ticking clock and a promise to keep, nothing's going to stop Kenny from finding out what happened to Callie. Holloway Falls: The paths of a cult leader, a precognitive man with a secret, and a detective with a troubled past intersect. Mr. In-Between: Jon Bennet is the perfect hitman: utterly reliable and completely detached. On the tight leash of the Tattooed Man, Jon kills and maims on order. But after bumping into old friends, he is drawn back into the normal world with its bonds of love and kindness, and finds himself changing back into the person he once was. The Tattooed Man, however, requires total servitude, and his wrath is more fearful than Jon could ever have expected.

In this collection, Cross unflinchingly explores the dark side of parenting and family drama in ways equally startling and unforgettable. Always the Sun Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize Looking for a fresh start after the death of his wife, Sam and his thirteen-year-old son, Jamie, return to Sam's hometown. But at his new school, a group of kids led by a savage bully target Jamie, and the administration does nothing. When Jamie comes home bearing real, physical scars, Sam is left at a crossroads: How far will he go to protect his child? Natural History: In a last-ditch attempt to save their floundering marriage, Patrick and Jane founded an animal sanctuary called Monkeyland. But following the mysterious death of an ape, Patrick becomes obsessed, while Jane's in Zaire shooting a nature show-and possibly cheating-and their son gets fired after an altercation. As a predatory cat stalks the periphery of the dilapidated zoo, Jane and Patrick's search for wild beasts blinds them to the danger in their own backyard.