Meet the world's most enduring storytellers with Brief Encounters, a collection of short novels and stories to read in a single sitting, or to savour over days. These are the authors and stories that have shaped literature across the world, made to be enjoyed by everyone.

The Lovers

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Friendships, romances, rivalries, obsessions: stories of intimacy in its most complex forms.

Lady Susan by Jane Austen
Lady Susan
Jane Austen
£9.99
Woman of Genius by Simone de Beauvoir
Woman of Genius
Simone de Beauvoir
£9.99
Sunday's Children by Ingmar Bergman
Sunday's Children
Ingmar Bergman
£9.99
The Cat by Colette
The Cat
Colette
£9.99
A Gentle Spirit & A Faint Heart by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
A Gentle Spirit & A Faint Heart
Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age by Bohumil Hrabal
Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age
Bohumil Hrabal
£9.99
The Dead by James Joyce
The Dead
James Joyce
£9.99
Passing by Nella Larsen
Passing
Nella Larsen
£9.99
Recitatif by Toni Morrison
Recitatif
Toni Morrison
£9.99
Things: A Story of the Sixties by Georges Perec
Things: A Story of the Sixties
Georges Perec
£9.99

The Rebels

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Outsiders, oddballs, resistance fighters, outcasts or irreverent individuals: stories of resistance in all its forms - political and personal, quiet and explosive.

Fire On The Mountain by Anita Desai
Fire On The Mountain
Anita Desai
£9.99
We Were Forbidden by Jacqueline Harpman
We Were Forbidden
Jacqueline Harpman
£9.99
Sally Bowles by Christopher Isherwood
Sally Bowles
Bartleby, The Scrivener by Herman Melville
Bartleby, The Scrivener
Herman Melville
£9.99
Pinball, 1973 by Haruki Murakami
Pinball, 1973
Haruki Murakami
£9.99
Fighters & Martyrs by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Fighters & Martyrs
Ngugi wa Thiong'o
£9.99
Cain by José Saramago
Cain
José Saramago
£9.99
Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein
Tender Buttons
Gertrude Stein
£9.99
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog by Dylan Thomas
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog
Dylan Thomas
£9.99
Kew Gardens by Virginia Woolf
Kew Gardens
Virginia Woolf
£9.99
Down by the Riverside by Richard Wright
Down by the Riverside
Richard Wright
£9.99

The Seekers

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Detectives and wanderers, travellers and the exiled: stories of pursuit and passage, following quests for truth, belonging and justice.

The Case of the Late Pig by Margery Allingham
The Case of the Late Pig
Margery Allingham
£9.99
Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño
Distant Star
Roberto Bolaño
£9.99
First Light by Toni Cade Bambara
First Light
Toni Cade Bambara
£9.99
Laura by Vera Caspary
Laura
Vera Caspary
£9.99
Young at the Time by Eileen Chang
Young at the Time
Eileen Chang
£9.99
The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices by Charles Dickens
The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices
Charles Dickens
£9.99
The Third Man by Graham Greene
The Third Man
Graham Greene
£9.99
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway
£9.99
Paradises Lost by Ursula K. Le Guin
Paradises Lost
Ursula K. Le Guin
£9.99
The Poet by Yi Mun-Yol
The Poet
Yi Mun-Yol
£9.99
An Undesirable Friend by Natsume Soseki
An Undesirable Friend
Natsume Soseki
£9.99

The Timeless

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Speculative futures, mythic pasts, altered histories, philosophical fictions and bygone eras: stories that bend chronology and reimagine worlds, expanding time, memory and possibility.

Significant Moments by Margaret Atwood
Significant Moments
Margaret Atwood
£9.99
Venus Smiles (and Other Vermillion Sands Stories) by J. G. Ballard
Venus Smiles (and Other Vermillion Sands Stories)
J. G. Ballard
£9.99
The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges
The Book of Imaginary Beings
Jorge Luis Borges
£9.99
In Watermelon Sugar by The Estate of Richard Brautigan
In Watermelon Sugar
The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino
The Castle of Crossed Destinies
Italo Calvino
£9.99
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
F. Scott Fitzgerald
£9.99
Ape and Essence by Aldous Huxley
Ape and Essence
Aldous Huxley
£9.99
The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata
The Master of Go
Yasunari Kawabata
£9.99
A Parish Chronicle by Halldór Laxness
A Parish Chronicle
Halldór Laxness
£9.99
Monkey Business by Kurt Vonnegut
Monkey Business
Kurt Vonnegut
£9.99

The Weird

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Gothic hauntings, psychological disturbances, uncanny doubles, and psychological uncertainty: stories where the familiar slips into the strange.

Behind a Mask by Louisa May Alcott
Behind a Mask
Louisa May Alcott
£9.99
The Fatal Eggs by Mikhail Bulgakov
The Fatal Eggs
Mikhail Bulgakov
£9.99
A Souvenir of Japan by Angela Carter
A Souvenir of Japan
Angela Carter
£9.99
The Parasite by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Parasite
Arthur Conan Doyle
£9.99
Masks by Fumiko Enchi
Masks
Fumiko Enchi
£9.99
Mouse Folk by Franz Kafka
Mouse Folk
Franz Kafka
£9.99
The Dunwich Horror by H. P Lovecraft
The Dunwich Horror
H. P Lovecraft
£9.99
The Invisible Girl by Mary Shelley
The Invisible Girl
Mary Shelley
£9.99
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
Dracula's Guest
Bram Stoker
£9.99
Bewitched by Edith Wharton
Bewitched
Edith Wharton
£9.99

The full list

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Ape and Essence by Aldous Huxley
Bartleby, The Scrivener by Herman Melville
Behind a Mask by Louisa May Alcott
Bewitched by Edith Wharton
The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges
Cain by José Saramago
The Case of the Late Pig by Margery Allingham
The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino
The Cat by Colette
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Dancing Lessons for the Advanced in Age by Bohumil Hrabal
The Dead by James Joyce
Distant Star by Roberto Bolaño
Down by the Riverside by Richard Wright
Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker
The Dunwich Horror by H. P Lovecraft
The Fatal Eggs by Mikhail Bulgakov
Fighters & Martyrs by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Fire On The Mountain by Anita Desai
First Light by Toni Cade Bambara