The Same Old Story Every Year

Maya's class prepares for and performs the school's annual Nativity play.

Filled with dreams of pursuing a career as a poet, the young Alexander Aduev moves from the country to St Petersburg, where he takes up lodgings next to his uncle Pyotr, a shrewd and world-weary businessman. As his ideals are challenged by disappointment in the fields of love, friendship and poetical ambition, Alexander must decide whether to return to the homely values he has left behind or adapt to the ruthless rules and morals of city life.Told in the author's trademark humorous style and presented in a sparkling new translation by Stephen Pearl, The Same Old Story - Goncharov's first novel, preceding his masterpiece Oblomov by twelve years - is a study of lost illusions and rude spiritual awakening in the modern world.

The Roots of Anti-Irish Racism First published in 1984, this classic sold over 21,000 copies. Traces the long and shameful tale of anti-Irish prejudice in Britain from the Norman Conquest of Ireland in the 12th century up to present day.

A successful Italian doctor’s idyllic life is shattered by shameful accusations in a novel by the Campiello Prize–winning author of The Worst Intentions. In a sprawling villa on the outskirts of Rome, the internationally revered pediatric oncologist Leo Pontecorvo and his family have gathered for dinner. For these exemplary members of Italy’s upper middle-class, the scene is perfect in every way—until a horrifying accusation airs on the evening news concerning Leo Pontecorvo himself. From this point on, nothing will ever be the same. An allegation of embezzling would be bad enough, but to the horror of his family, Leo is also said to have seduced his son’s twelve-year-old girlfriend. The spotlight now turned on Leo reveals every mistake, regret, and contradiction of his lifetime. The details of his private and professional life are debated by both friends and foes, ravenous reporters and punctilious prosecutors. Unable to face the suspicious gazes of his wife and children, Leo descends into the basement of his palatial home—a self-imposed exile in which he attempts to piece together the shattered remains of his life.