Romain Gary

A romantic, thrilling memoir that has become a French classic. You will be a great hero, a general, Gabriele d'Annunzio, Ambassador of France! For his whole life, Romain Gary's fierce, eccentric mother had only one aim: to make her son a great man. And she did. This, his thrilling, wildly romantic autobiography, is the story of his journey from poverty...

Published in France in 1980, The Kites is a beautifully written novel about the triumph of joy over darkness. Set in Normandy before and during WWII, The Kites is narrated by a young orphan, Ludo Fleury, who is madly in love with Lila de Bronicki, a charming and self-absorbed Polish aristocrat. Despite the looming war, Ludo remains obstinately in love...

90 classic titles celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books Why should I bother to invent things? My life has been far more exciting and wonderful than any fairy-tale In the heart of the English countryside, surrounded by irritatingly polite relatives and hopeless sycophants, Lady L. is celebrating her eightieth birthday. But as the guests disperse, she feels the undeniable pull...