The new novel from Booker Prize-shortlisted Philip Hensher - his most ambitious and daring novel yet. An astonishing novel, 'The Emperor Waltz' draws together various narrative strands into a compelling symphonic whole. In a third-century desert settlement on the fringes of the Roman Empire, a new w[...]

'The wisest and wittiest argument imaginable for the preservation of handwriting. I have learnt so much, and by it have been so happily entertained, that I am compelled to recommend it to everyone.' Diana Athill The simple pleasure of picking up a pen and writing is a skill that has existed for thou[...]

Winner of the James Tait Black Memorial PrizeDarkness Visible opens at the height of the London Blitz, when a naked child steps out of an all-consuming fire. Miraculously saved but hideously scarred, soon tormented at school and at work, Matty becomes a wanderer, a seeker after some unknown redempti[...]

The loop of an "l," the chewed-on pen, letters tiny or expansive: what we've lost in the error of typing and texting
When Philip Hensher realized that he didn't know what a close friend's handwriting looked like, he felt that something essential was missing from their friendship. It dawned on hi[...]

"Here I am!" Flora called to Richard as she went downstairs. For a second, Meg felt disloyalty. It occurred to her of a sudden that Flora was always saying that, and that it was in the tone of one giving a lovely present. She was bestowing herself.' The soul of kindness is what Flora believes hersel[...]