Peter Owen Publishers: 107 books

A classic later novel by Anna Kavan.   A largely autobiographical account of an unhappy childhood, this daring synthesis of memoir and surrealist experimentation chronicles the subject's gradual withdrawal from the daylight world of received reality. Brief flashes of daily experience...

Depicting the hopeless, emotional polarity of a young couple, this novel follows their doomed marriage spent in a remote, tropical hell. She-described only as "the girl"-is young, sophisticated and sensitive. He, "Mr. Dog-Head," is an unreconstructed thug and heavy drinker who...

A new edition of what is commonly seen as the legendary Norwegian writer's masterpiece, this story tells the tale of Siss and Unn, two friends who have only spent one evening in each other's company. But so profound is this evening between them that when Unn inexplicably disappears, Siss's world...

Part allegory, part fable, The House In The Dark was written in secret during the German occupation of Norway, and gives a stirring picture of how a society struggled to stay united under the strain of being watched by their invaders.

A Bulgakov-like cocktail of romance, murder, and mystery are conjured up in this existential thriller set in the Czech capital   This witty, inventive Gothic novel tells the story of Count Arco, a keen fencer and debauched womanizer in 19th century Prague, who makes a lone stand...

Jean Barrie is an enormously successful, award-winning singer who spends her time in self-imposed retreat in her huge, dark St. John's Wood home. Here she wanders around the empty rooms drinking gin and vodka. Upstairs in the attic lives her mysterious lodger, The Fallen Nun. Beyond the house, Jean's...

Count Otto von Hausburg and his devoted servant are sent to Belgrade by the Austrian monarchy to investigate troubling reports of vampires. There they find a deeply frightened populace who are willing to believe the Count is the devil incarnate. Perhaps they are right. Novakovic brilliantly captures...

An early work from Anna Kavan strongly evoking life in England and its colonies from the early years of the century through the period following the First World War. More straightforward than her more famous novels, Let Me Alone is nevertheless fascinating for its hint of the personal stresses that was to inform much of her uncompromising storylines.

When Samuel receives a call out of the blue about the death of his lover, Clara, his own numbing existence seems about to come to an end. Does it matter that he never knew Clara? And, if he invents a past for his love and his loss, could he even fake his way through her funeral? Unable to pass up...

Short stories addressing the surreal realities of mental illness, from an incredible cult writer often compared to Kafka and Woolf   The tortured life of Anna Kavan brought her some reward in terms of great pieces of art. Her drug addiction bore fruit in the Julia and the Bazooka collection...

Charlie Marsden has to come to terms with a woman whom he cannot help but love unconditionally but who can never quite be his in this portrait of a vanishing generationWho is Katya Lowell and what is the secret of her life? A beautiful, seemingly cool painter of unnerving images in 1970s London, she...

To prove that he has moved on from his ex-girlfriend, Matias embarks on an odyssey of dates around the city of Ljubljana. The dates and women are wonderfully varied, the interactions perspicuously observed, the preoccupations of the characters—drawn from lively and ambitious dialogue—will speak...

The latest developments in the arguments for and against assisted dying, with a foreword by Terry Pratchett Assisted dying is perhaps one of the most divisive issues of the modern age, generating endless headlines and moral debates. Published in conjunction with the organization Dignity in...

Gnostics have always sought to “know” rather than to accept dogma and doctrine, often to their peril. This inquiry into Gnosticism examines the character, history, and beliefs of a brave and vigorous spiritual quest that originated in the ancient Near East and continues into the present day. Lawrence...