Brief Encounters
52 books in this series
Ape and Essence
Huxley's dystopian classic is a nightmare vision of the fate of humanity in a post-nuclear world.
After a devastating global catastrophe, a group of scientists arrives in a ruined future shaped by fear, ritual and violence. Humanity has survived – but at a terrible cost, and not in any form they recognise. Ape and Essence is Aldous Huxley’s bleak, satirical vision of civilisation after collapse. Fierce, strange and provocative, it confronts the destructive impulses that persist even after the world has ended.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
After a devastating global catastrophe, a group of scientists arrives in a ruined future shaped by fear, ritual and violence. Humanity has survived – but at a terrible cost, and not in any form they recognise. Ape and Essence is Aldous Huxley’s bleak, satirical vision of civilisation after collapse. Fierce, strange and provocative, it confronts the destructive impulses that persist even after the world has ended.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Bartleby, The Scrivener
Herman Melville's enduringly comic and affecting tale of a man who takes quiet quitting to its extreme
A new clerk in a Wall Street lawyer’s office causes dismay and confusion when, after a productive start, he suddenly refuses to do his job. But how to deal with Bartleby, the Scrivener, when he refuses to leave the office altogether?
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
A new clerk in a Wall Street lawyer’s office causes dismay and confusion when, after a productive start, he suddenly refuses to do his job. But how to deal with Bartleby, the Scrivener, when he refuses to leave the office altogether?
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Behind a Mask
This is Alcott as you have never seen her before - gothic, and gloriously unsettling
A young governess arrives at a grand country house and quickly wins the confidence of its family. Humble and modest, Jean Muir seems to embody every virtue expected of her. But beneath her meticulous performance lies a will sharpened by resentment, ambition and rage.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
A young governess arrives at a grand country house and quickly wins the confidence of its family. Humble and modest, Jean Muir seems to embody every virtue expected of her. But beneath her meticulous performance lies a will sharpened by resentment, ambition and rage.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Bewitched
Edith Wharton's ghost stories whisper of passion, exile, and the things we cannot forget
In an old Dorset house, a couple settle into a life of quiet comfort – until a presence makes itself felt. At a country gathering, a man is forced to confront a long-buried secret he has tried to outrun. In a small New England community, suspicion gathers around a widower believed to be under the spell of a dead woman. Bewitched brings together three of Edith Wharton’s most unsettling ghost stories. Elegant and controlled, they trace the lingering effects of guilt, secrecy and moral judgement – and the moment when the repressed makes its reappearance.
Includes the stories: Afterward, The Eyes and Bewitched
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
In an old Dorset house, a couple settle into a life of quiet comfort – until a presence makes itself felt. At a country gathering, a man is forced to confront a long-buried secret he has tried to outrun. In a small New England community, suspicion gathers around a widower believed to be under the spell of a dead woman. Bewitched brings together three of Edith Wharton’s most unsettling ghost stories. Elegant and controlled, they trace the lingering effects of guilt, secrecy and moral judgement – and the moment when the repressed makes its reappearance.
Includes the stories: Afterward, The Eyes and Bewitched
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
The Book of Imaginary Beings
A dazzling catalogue of be creatures drawn from the dreamworlds of myth, folklore, and imagination
From ancient myths to obscure legends, a strange menagerie takes shape: creatures part real, part invented, drawn from cultures across the world. Each is described with care, as if it might exist just beyond the edge of belief. The Book of Imaginary Beings is Jorge Luis Borges’s playful, erudite bestiary of the fantastic. Curious and endlessly inventive, it explores the power of imagination to create entire worlds.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
From ancient myths to obscure legends, a strange menagerie takes shape: creatures part real, part invented, drawn from cultures across the world. Each is described with care, as if it might exist just beyond the edge of belief. The Book of Imaginary Beings is Jorge Luis Borges’s playful, erudite bestiary of the fantastic. Curious and endlessly inventive, it explores the power of imagination to create entire worlds.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Cain
Written in the last years of Saramago's life, Cain is a controversial and witty story of a wilful, authoritarian God.
After killing his brother, Cain is condemned to wander the earth. As he moves through time, he encounters moments from the Old Testament – acts of faith, violence and divine judgement that he cannot accept without question. Cain is José Saramago’s bold, darkly playful reimagining of a biblical outcast.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
After killing his brother, Cain is condemned to wander the earth. As he moves through time, he encounters moments from the Old Testament – acts of faith, violence and divine judgement that he cannot accept without question. Cain is José Saramago’s bold, darkly playful reimagining of a biblical outcast.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
The Case of the Late Pig
A fiendishly brutal but brilliant, charming English murder mystery, from Agatha Christie's favourite writer - the criminally underrated, Margery Allingham.
Private detective Albert Campion is summoned to the village of Kepesake to investigate a particularly distasteful death. The body turns out to be that of Pig Peters, freshly killed five months after his own funeral. Soon other corpses start to turn up, just as Peters's body goes missing. It takes all Campion's coolly incisive powers of detection to unravel the crime.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Private detective Albert Campion is summoned to the village of Kepesake to investigate a particularly distasteful death. The body turns out to be that of Pig Peters, freshly killed five months after his own funeral. Soon other corpses start to turn up, just as Peters's body goes missing. It takes all Campion's coolly incisive powers of detection to unravel the crime.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
The Castle of Crossed Destinies
A magical, mystical novella about the art and power of storytelling, this is Italo Calvino's miniature masterpiece.
A group of travellers chance to meet, first in a castle, then in a tavern. Having mysteriously lost their powers of speech, they must tell their tales using only a deck of tarot cards. As their stories interlink and overlap, a fantastic, surreal and chaotic history of the human quest for meaning unfolds.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
The Cat
Colette’s elegant, unsettling study of love turned hostile - and all because of a cat.
A young marriage begins to sour, poisoned by rivalry and resentment. At its centre is a cat – adored by the husband, despised by the wife – whose presence exposes the quiet cruelty and emotional imbalance of the household.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The classic, moving tale of a man born old, destined to die young, and live at odds with his time
To the confusion and embarrassment of his family, Benjamin Button is born an old man. As the years pass, he grows younger – moving against the current of ordinary life. While those around him age as expected, Benjamin finds himself increasingly out of step, his relationships strained by a life no one else can share. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s quietly unsettling tale of being a misfit to one’s time.
Includes the stories: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Winter Dreams and 'The Sensible Thing'
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
To the confusion and embarrassment of his family, Benjamin Button is born an old man. As the years pass, he grows younger – moving against the current of ordinary life. While those around him age as expected, Benjamin finds himself increasingly out of step, his relationships strained by a life no one else can share. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s quietly unsettling tale of being a misfit to one’s time.
Includes the stories: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Winter Dreams and 'The Sensible Thing'
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age
This ebullient, gallivanting novella encapsulates the world vision of the Czech Republic's best-loved author in one tumbling, breathtaking sentence.
An ageing man holds court, spinning a single, unbroken stream of stories about his life – loves won and lost, jobs taken and abandoned, moments of absurdity and chance. As he talks, the line between memory and invention begins to blur.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days.
An ageing man holds court, spinning a single, unbroken stream of stories about his life – loves won and lost, jobs taken and abandoned, moments of absurdity and chance. As he talks, the line between memory and invention begins to blur.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days.
The Dead
At a Christmas party, a revelation shatters a man's complacency forever
At a winter gathering in Dublin, friends and family come together for an evening of music, conversation and ritual. As the night unfolds, small tensions surface, and a chance revelation alters one man’s understanding of his life and his marriage. The Dead is James Joyce’s masterful story of memory, loss and awakening. Quietly devastating, it captures an essential realisation of life that lingers long after the evening ends.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
At a winter gathering in Dublin, friends and family come together for an evening of music, conversation and ritual. As the night unfolds, small tensions surface, and a chance revelation alters one man’s understanding of his life and his marriage. The Dead is James Joyce’s masterful story of memory, loss and awakening. Quietly devastating, it captures an essential realisation of life that lingers long after the evening ends.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Distant Star
A dazzling, daring tale of poets at the end of the world, Distant Star is Roberto Bolano's miniature dystopian masterpiece
Alberto Ruiz-Tagle was once the quiet, unpromising member of Chile’s young poetry scene. But the military coup of 1973 sees Alberto reborn as Chile’s leading celebrity poet, Carlos Wieder, known for his daring sky poems, penned in smoke high above the cities. Where did this talent suddenly spring from? And, how is it connected to the disappearance of the beautiful Garmendia twins? Told from across the years in exile in Europe, the narrator’s attempts to trace the fate of his old circle will lead him to one last confrontation with the brutality of their generation.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Alberto Ruiz-Tagle was once the quiet, unpromising member of Chile’s young poetry scene. But the military coup of 1973 sees Alberto reborn as Chile’s leading celebrity poet, Carlos Wieder, known for his daring sky poems, penned in smoke high above the cities. Where did this talent suddenly spring from? And, how is it connected to the disappearance of the beautiful Garmendia twins? Told from across the years in exile in Europe, the narrator’s attempts to trace the fate of his old circle will lead him to one last confrontation with the brutality of their generation.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Down by the Riverside
A flood brings not only rising waters but the full force of a brutal, racist world
With the Mississippi flooding, a Black farmer struggles to get his pregnant wife to safety. In the chaos, a single desperate decision sets off a chain of events that cannot be undone. Down By the Riverside is Richard Wright’s unflinching novella of race, power and consequence. Starkly told and painfully resonant, it captures how quickly the world can turn – and who is forced to pay the price.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Dracula's Guest
Step into the night where tombs lie open and wolves prowl under a cursed moon
A solitary traveller strays from the road on the eve of Walpurgis Night. Snow closes in, strange figures emerge, and an abandoned tomb offers shelter. But what begins as a detour becomes a brush with something far older and more deadly. Dracula’s Guest gathers Bram Stoker’s eerie short fiction, steeped in dread and foreboding – four tales that explore the thin line between the rational world and the shadows that constantly close in on it.
Include the stories: Dracula’s Guest, The Judge’s House, The Squaw, The Burial of the Rats
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
A solitary traveller strays from the road on the eve of Walpurgis Night. Snow closes in, strange figures emerge, and an abandoned tomb offers shelter. But what begins as a detour becomes a brush with something far older and more deadly. Dracula’s Guest gathers Bram Stoker’s eerie short fiction, steeped in dread and foreboding – four tales that explore the thin line between the rational world and the shadows that constantly close in on it.
Include the stories: Dracula’s Guest, The Judge’s House, The Squaw, The Burial of the Rats
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
The Dunwich Horror
In the decaying hills of Dunwich, something monstrous stirs
Wilbur Whateley is a strange child – of uncertain parentage, growing to abnormal size at abnormal speed. Shunned by the villagers of Dunwich, Wilbur and his grandfather set out on tending to their own plan. But the otherworldly can’t be kept tame forever. The Dunwich Horror is H. P. Lovecraft’s terrifying tale of strange beings, forbidden knowledge and the power of unseen forces – and what follows when the wrong things are allowed to take root.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days
Wilbur Whateley is a strange child – of uncertain parentage, growing to abnormal size at abnormal speed. Shunned by the villagers of Dunwich, Wilbur and his grandfather set out on tending to their own plan. But the otherworldly can’t be kept tame forever. The Dunwich Horror is H. P. Lovecraft’s terrifying tale of strange beings, forbidden knowledge and the power of unseen forces – and what follows when the wrong things are allowed to take root.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS: classic novellas and captivating stories, to be read in a single sitting or savoured over days