We asked members of the team to choose their favourite Pushkin Press Classic. These are their picks!
India | Publishing Operations Director
A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter, translated by Jane Degras
This rediscovered classic holds pure magic between its pages. Adventure across a landscape of immeasurable beauty and experience the strength and courage that exploration and survival demand. If that is not enough, there is also a small arctic fox-friend named Mikkel.
Sofia | Assistant Editor
Change Your Life by Rainer Maria Rilke, selected & translated by Martyn Crucefix
One of the joys of translated literature is getting to see favourite works reinvented time and again. Crucefix’s version gives us a stunning new view of Rilke’s ethereal yet powerful poetry. Life-changing is right!
Steven | Publicity Director
Effi Briest by Theodor Fontane, translated by Hugh Rorrison & Helen Chambers
If you’re craving the deep immersion of Anna Karenina but have already read it 8 times, this is the book for you. Germany’s Great Adultery Novel is much shorter than Tolstoy’s offering but no worse for it: with less focus on agricultural labour and a number of characters who raise the odd laugh, this is perhaps a slightly lighter book to indulge in. But Effi’s plight – to live a life unstifled by social obligation; to find a partner worthy of her love; to be a good mother – drives the novel, and the claustrophobia of her situation will feel all-too familiar to fans of Anna, or Emma Bovary, while the realist depiction of 19th century provincial Prussia is a delight to get lost in. It ticks every box.
Juliet | Assistant Editor
Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton
The ultimate fake dating story about two ruthless social climbers who inconveniently find themselves falling in love. Nick and Susy make a pact to marry for a year, sponging off extravagant wedding presents and honeymooning in the opulent mansions of their much richer friends, before moving on to more lucrative prospects. A hilarious yet profound comedy of errors ensues, full of Edith Wharton’s sharp social commentary and pangs of yearning that make for a swoonworthy romance about the price of love.
Emily | Senior Press Officer
Gothic Tales by the Marquis de Sade, translated by Margaret Crossland
These are a collection of electrifying and unforgettable stories that will certainly carry you through the cold winter months. From aristocrats caught in webs of lies, to village priests deceiving their parishioners, each tale is more shocking than the last.
Daniel | Senior Commissioning Editor
The Pendragon Legend by Antal Szerb, translated by Len Rix
Antal Szerb’s immensely enjoyable story of a Hungarian student’s adventures in Britain, The Pendragon Legend, is almost impossible to summarize or categorize. Within its pages you will come across gruesome murder, a ghostly horseman, an eccentric Earl, esoteric occult references, gigantic axolotls… and much more besides. If that sounds a strange combination, then it is, but it is also wonderfully funny and sparkles with the playful intelligence that makes Szerb one of the most loveable writers on the Pushkin list.
Megan | Artworker
The Journey To The East by Hermann Hesse, translated by Hilda Rosner
The Journey to the East is my favourite Pushkin Press Classic published this year. I adore the cover for its use of captivating imagery and colour palette. I believe that it’s a celebration of the simple yet effective classics series design that draws readers in for beautiful writing.