A wide-ranging collection of reflective essays, to mark the centenary of the conflict that changed the world. In this collection of essays, ten leading writers from different countries consider the conflicts that have informed their own literary lives. 1914-Goodbye to All That borrows its title from Robert Graves's "bitter leave-taking of England" in which he writes not only of the First World War but the questions it raised: how to live, how to live with each other, and how to write. Interpreting this title as broadly and ambiguously as Graves intended, these essays mark the War's centenary by reinvigorating these questions. The book includes Elif Shafak on an inheritance of silence in Turkey, Ali Smith on lost voices in Scotland, Xiaolu Guo on the 100,000 Chinese sent to the Front, Daniel Kehlmann on hypnotism in Berlin, Colm Toibin on Lady Gregory losing her son fighting for Britain as she fought for an independent Ireland, Kamila Shamsie on reimagining Karachi, Erwin Mortier on occupied Belgium's legacy of shame, NoViolet Bulawayo on Zimbabwe and clarity, Ales Steger on resisting history in Slovenia, and Jeanette Winterson on what art is for. Contributors include: Ali Smith - Scotland Ales Steger - Slovenia Jeanette Winterson - England Elif Shafak - Turkey NoViolet Bulawayo - Zimbabwe Colm Toibin - Ireland Xiaolu Guo - China Erwin Mortier - Belgium Kamila Shamsie - Pakistan Daniel Kehlmann - Germany 'Tender, compassionate humanity' Peter Conrad, Observer'A global gathering of essayists here reimagine the war from a variety of vantage points' Guardian'This superb collection of essays by some of today's leading writers stands out among the many books commissioned to mark the centenary of the First World War.' The Lady Lavinia Greenlaw's poetry includes The Casual Perfect and A Double Sorrow: Troilus and Criseyde. Other works include The Importance of Music to Girls and Questions of Travel: William Morris in Iceland. She was the first artist-in-residence at the Science Museum, and received the Ted Hughes Award for her sound work Audio Obscura. Her work for BBC radio includes documentaries about Elizabeth Bishop, Emily Dickinson, the darkest place in England and Arctic light.

1914—Goodbye to All That

"I don't believe in love at first sight." I was taken aback. I thought we were definitely in love at first sight. "What do you mean? Wasn't it clear the moment you picked the elderflowers by the park and we looked at each other? Or was it in that book club?" You gave me a damp smile, as if my confusion proved that you were right. A Chinese woman moves from Beijing to London for a doctoral program—and to begin a new life—just as the Brexit campaign reaches a fever pitch. Isolated and lonely in a Britain increasingly hostile to foreigners, she meets a landscape architect and the two begin to build a life together. A Lover's Discourse is an exploration of romantic love told through fragments of conversations between the two lovers. Playing with language and the cultural differences that her narrator encounters as she settles into life in post-Brexit vote Britain, the lovers must navigate their differences and their romance, whether on their unmoored houseboat or in a cramped and stifling apartment in east London. Suffused with a wonderful sense of humor, this intimate and tender novel asks what it means to make a home and a family in a new land.

A Lover's Discourse

Brought to you by Penguin. I must work on a ship as a man… Yes, I must seek a new life, more adventurous than that of my fellows on this desolate salt marsh. I must find freedom on the seas. 1843. Ishmaelle is born in a small village on the stormy Kent coast where she grows up swimming with dolphins. After her parents and infant sister die, her brother, Joseph, leaves to find work as a sailor. Abandoned and desperate for a life at sea, Ishmaelle disguises herself as a cabin boy and travels to New York. Call Me Ishmaelle reimagines the epic battle between man and nature in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick from a female perspective. As the American Civil War breaks out in 1861, Ishmaelle boards the Nimrod, a whaling ship led by the obsessive Captain Seneca, a Black free man of heroic stature who is haunted by a tragic past. Here, she finds protectors in Polynesian harpooner, Kauri, and Taoist monk, Muzi, whose readings of the I-Ching guide their quest. Through the bloody male violence of whaling, and the unveiling of her feminine identity, Ishmaelle realises there is a mysterious bond between herself and the mythical white whale, Moby Dick. Xiaolu Guo has crafted a dramatically different, feminist narrative that stands alongside the original while offering a powerful exploration of nature, gender and human purpose. © Xiaolu Guo 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Call Me Ishmaelle

In a flat above a noisy north London market, translator Iona Kirkpatrick starts work on a Chinese letter: Dearest Mu, The sun is piercing, old bastard sky. I am feeling empty and bare. Nothing is in my soul, apart from the image of you. I am writing to you from a place I cannot tell you about yet… In a detention centre in Dover exiled Chinese musician Jian is awaiting an unknown fate. In Beijing his girlfriend Mu sends desperate letters to London to track him down, her last memory of them together a roaring rock concert and Jian the king on stage. Until the state police stormed in. As Iona unravels the story of these Chinese lovers from their first flirtations at Beijing University to Jian’s march in the Jasmine Revolution, Jian and Mu seem to be travelling further and further away from each other while Iona feels more and more alive. Intoxicated by their romance, Iona sets out to bring them back together, but time seems to be running out.

I Am China

Jag är Kina är en tragisk kärlekshistoria och ett fascinerande och mångbottnat porträtt av det moderna Kina. Det är en roman som sträcker sig över kontinenter och som skildrar ett Europa som inte förmår att ge en ung man på flykt någon trygghet. "låt oss säga att den inte bara är en viktig roman, den vilar dessutom på ett skickligt hantverk som naglar fast läsaren från första sidan till den sista. Sällan har jag varit så engagerad i två litterära personers öden." /GP I en lägenhet i det trendiga Islington i London börjar Iona Kirkpatrick översätta ett kinesiskt brev och snart är hon indragen i ett drama hon inte kan släppa. Vem är Kublai Jian och var finns han nu? Vem är den älskade Deng Mu som han skriver till? Jians och Mus historia blir en vindlande berättelse som tar sin början i slutet av 80-talet och fortsätter tjugo år framåt i tiden, en berättelse om kampen för att få tänka fritt, om Jians försök att undkomma sina fiender och att skapa sig en plats i tillvaron i ett stängt Europa. Xiaolu Guo föddes 1973 i Kina och är idag bosatt i London. Hennes böcker har översatts till över tjugo språk och hennes filmer har tilldelats en rad priser. För sin bok Kortfattad kinesisk-engelsk ordbok för älskande nominerades hon till det prestigefyllda brittiska Orange-priset. Xiaolu Guo listades även av Granta som Best Young British Novelist. Om Kortfattad kinesisk-engelsk ordbok för älskande: "Ypperlig - den troligen allra bästa kinesiska roman som publicerats i svensk översättning sedan de svenska förlagen fått upp ögonen för denna marknad." Göteborgs-Posten

Jag är Kina

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