Every letter contains a miniature story, & here are some of the greatest. From Oscar Wilde`s unconventional method of using the mail to cycling enthusiast Reginald Bray`s quest to post himself, Simon Garfield uncovers a host of stories that capture the enchantment of this irreplaceable art (with a supporting cast including Pliny the Younger, Ted Hughes, Virginia Woolf, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lewis Carroll, Jane Austen, David Foster Wallace & the Little Red-Haired Girl). There is also a brief history of the letter-writing guide, with instructions on when & when not to send fish as a wedding gift. & as these accounts unfold, so does the tale of a compelling wartime correspondence that shows how the simplest of letters can change the course of a life. ...

To the Letter tells the story of our remarkable journey through the mail. From Roman wood chips discovered near Hadrian`s Wall to the wonders & terrors of email, Simon Garfield explores how we have written to each other over the centuries & what our letters reveal about our lives. Along the way he delves into the great correspondences of our time, from Cicero & Petrarch to Jane Austen & Ted Hughes (and John Keats, Virginia Woolf, Jack Kerouac, Anais Nin & Charles Schulz), & traces the very particular advice offered by bestselling letter-writing manuals. He uncovers a host of engaging stories, including the tricky history of the opening greeting, the ideal ingredients for invisible ink, & the sad saga of the dead letter office. As the book unfolds, so does the story of a moving wartime correspondence that shows how letters can change the course of life. To the Letter is a wonderful celebration of letters in every form, & a passionate rallying cry to keep writing. ...

The serene & maternal Mrs Ramsay, the tragic yet absurd Mr Ramsay, together with their children & assorted guests, are holidaying on the Isle of Skye. From the seemingly trivial postponement of a visit to a nearby lighthouse Virginia Woolf constructs a remarkable & moving examination of the complex tensions & allegiances of family life. One of the great literary achievements of the twentieth century, ` To the Lighthouse` is often cited as Virginia Woolf`s most popular novel. The Vintage Classics Virginia Woolf series has been curated by Jeanette Winterson, & the texts used are based on the original Hogarth Press editions published by Leonard & Virginia Woolf. Introductions by Eavan Boland & Maud Ellman. ...

When Mrs Ramsay tells her guests at her summer house on the Isle of Skye that they will be able to visit the nearby lighthouse the following day, little does she know that this trip will only be completed ten years later by her husb&, & that a gulf of war, grief & loss will have opened in the meantime. As each character tries to readjust their memories & emotions with the shifts of time & reality, this long-delayed excursion will also prove to be a journey of self-discovery & fulfilment for them. Rich in symbolism, daring in style, elegiac in tone & encapsulating Virginia Woolf s ideas on life, art & human relationships, To the Lighthouse is a landmark of twentieth-century literature & one of the high points of early Modernism. ...

Mr & Mrs Ramsay & their eight children have always holidayed at their summer house in Skye, surrounded by family friends. The novel`s opening section teems with the noise, complications, bruised emotions, joys & quiet tragedies of everyday family life that might go on forever. But time passes, bringing with it war & death, & the summer home stands empty until one day, many years later, when the family return to make the long-postponed visit to the lighthouse. One of the great literary achievements of the twentieth century, To the Lighthouse is at once an intensely autobiographical & universally moving masterpiece. ...

Climb up to the moon with this amazing fold-out colouring book, the tallest in the world! Colour an amazing tower, all the way from your house down on the ground, past dragons, witches, space ports & flying elephants, to reach the moon at the very top! Grab your pens & let`s get going! Can you climb all the way to the moon? ...

Cecilia, capricious & unable to love, inches reluctantly towards a second marriage to the kind, passionless Julian Tower. Meanwhile, her sister-in-law, Emmeline, is surprised to find the calm tenor of her life disturbed by her attraction to the predatory Mark Linkwater. Markie`s appearance disrupts the lives of both women, but in the pain of misunderstanding, it is Emmeline who reveals her vulnerability in a violent & tragic act. This book is reissued alongside The Hotel & The Little Girls. ...

Climb down to the depths of the ocean in this amazing fold-out colouring book, the longest in the world! You can colour an amazing tower, all the way from a boat bobbing in the waves, past sea dragons, mermaids, aqua robots & sharks, to reach the deep ocean floor. ...

To the River is the story of the Ouse, the Sussex river in which Virginia Woolf drowned in 1941. One idyllic, midsummer week over sixty years later, Olivia Laing walked Woolf`s river from source to sea. The result is a passionate investigation into how history resides in a landscape
- & how ghosts never quite leave the places they love.
...

Henry, Penny, Frankie, Mum & Dad embark on their most exciting adventure yet
- from Tassie to the very tip of the Top End. Travel
...