Penelope Lively Books In Order

Novels

  1. Astercote (1970)
  2. The Whispering Knights (1971)
  3. The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy (1971)
  4. The Driftway (1972)
  5. The Ghost of Thomas Kempe (1973)
  6. The House in Norham Gardens (1974)
  7. Going Back (1975)
  8. A Stitch in Time (1976)
  9. Fanny’s Sister (1976)
  10. The Road to Lichfield (1977)
  11. The Voyage of QV 66 (1978)
  12. Treasures of Time (1979)
  13. Judgement Day (1980)
  14. The Revenge of Samuel Stokes (1981)
  15. Next to Nature, Art (1982)
  16. Perfect Happiness (1983)
  17. According to Mark (1984)
  18. Moon Tiger (1987)
  19. The City of the Mind (1988)
  20. Passing On (1989)
  21. Cleopatra’s Sister (1993)
  22. Heat Wave (1996)
  23. Spiderweb (1998)
  24. A House Unlocked (2001)
  25. The Photograph (2003)
  26. Making It Up (2005)
  27. Consequences (2007)
  28. Family Album (2009)
  29. How It All Began (2011)

Collections

  1. Nothing Missing But the Samovar (1978)
  2. Uninvited Ghosts (1984)
  3. Pack of Cards (1986)
  4. A Long Night at Abu Simbel (1995)
  5. Lost Dog and Other Stories (1996)
  6. Stories for 6-Year-Olds (1997)
  7. Beyond the Blue Mountains (1997)
  8. The Five Thousand and One Nights (1997)
  9. Spooky Stories (2008)
  10. The Purple Swamp Hen (2016)
  11. Metamorphosis (2021)

Picture Books

  1. Princess by Mistake (1993)
  2. Good Night, Sleep Tight (1994)
  3. One, Two, Three, Jump! (1998)

Novellas

  1. Abroad (2013)

Chapter Books

  1. Boy Without a Name (1975)
  2. The Stained Glass Window (1976)
  3. Fanny and the Monsters (1979)
  4. Dragon Trouble (1984)
  5. A House Inside Out (1987)
  6. Judy and the Martian (1992)
  7. The Cat, the Crow, and the Banyan Tree (1994)
  8. A Martian Comes to Stay (1995)
  9. Staying with Grandpa (1995)
  10. Ghostly Guests (1997)
  11. Debbie and the Little Devil (2000)
  12. A Martian in the Supermarket (2002)

Anthologies edited

  1. The May Anthologies (1999)

Non fiction

  1. The Presence of the Past (1976)
  2. Jacaranda, Oleander (1994)
  3. In Search of a Homeland, the Story of the Aeneid (2001)
  4. Ammonites and Leaping Fish (2013)
  5. Dancing Fish and Ammonites (2014)
  6. Life in the Garden (2017)

Novels Book Covers

Collections Book Covers

Picture Books Book Covers

Novellas Book Covers

Chapter Books Book Covers

Anthologies edited Book Covers

Non fiction Book Covers

Penelope Lively Books Overview

The Driftway

Running away from home to their grandmother’s, Paul and his sister, Sandra, travel along The Driftway, an ancient road that carries messages from people who traveled on it centuries before them. If Paul is prepared to listen, their tales of sadness & joy might help him come to terms with the changes in his own life.

The Ghost of Thomas Kempe

One of a series of top quality fiction for schools, this novel won the 1973 Carnegie Medal. A 17th century sorcerer materalizes and tries to make a modern boy his apprentice, and this troublesome spirit has to be exorcised from James’s ancient cottage.

A Stitch in Time

Maria is always getting lost in the secret world of her imagination! A ghostly mystery and winner of the Whitbread Award, newly republished in the Essential Modern Classics range. Maria likes to be alone with her thoughts. She talks to animals and objects, and generally prefers them to people. But whilst on holiday she begins to hear things that aren’t there a swing creaking, a dog barking and when she sees a Victorian embroidered picture, Maria feels a strange connection with the ten year old, Harriet, who stitched it. But what happened to her? As Maria becomes more lost in Harriet’s world, she grows convinced that something tragic occurred! Perfect for fans of ghostly mysteries like ‘Tom’s Midnight Garden’.

The Road to Lichfield

InThe Road to Lichfield,Penelope Lively explores the nature of history and memory as it is embodied in the life of a forty year old woman, Anne Linton, who unexpectedly learns that her father had a mistress. With this new knowledge, Linton must now examine the realities of her own life of her childhood, her husband and ask, What do they really know of her? Deeply felt, beautifully controlled,The Road to Lichfieldis a subtle exploration of memory and identity, of chance and consequence, of the intricate weave of generations across a past never fully known, a future never fully anticipated.

Judgement Day

Penelope Lively is one of England’s greatest living writers, whom The New York Times Book Review has called ‘blessed with the gift of being able to render matters of great import with a breath, a barely audible sigh, a touch. The result is wonderful writing.’ Judgment Day takes us into the life of Clare Paling, who has just moved with her family to Laddenham, a seemingly drowsy village enlivened by sideshows of adultery and gossip. An avowed agnostic, Clare is nonetheless caught up in the restoration of the church, even inciting the villagers to put on a pageant that re creates the church’s dark past. With flawless precision, Lively brings the village and its inhabitants to life as an unpardonable death reminds them all that the world is a very uncertain place.

The Revenge of Samuel Stokes

When positively uncanny things begin happening in the new housing development, Tim and his grandfather realize they must do something to stop them.

Perfect Happiness

After a long and happy marriage, Frances is plunged into mourning when her husband dies leaving her unprepared and vulnerable. She is submerged in her own loss, until, shocked into feeling by the revelations and sufferings of others, she is drawn into the sunlight of new hope.

Moon Tiger

Claudia Hampton is dying. As memories crowd in, she re creates the mosiac of her life, her own story enmeshed with those of her brother, her lover and father of her daughter, and the centre of her life, Tom, her one great love both found and lost in the ‘mad fairyland’ of war torn Egypt.

The City of the Mind

Penelope Lively is one of England’s greatest living writers. In City of the Mind, Matthew Halland is an architect intimately involved with the new face of London, while haunted by the destruction and loss in its history. Matthew has a rich and moving relationship with his daughter Jane, and becomes entangled with an array of fascinating characters, from Rutter, a corrupt real estate developer whose Mafia like ways disgust him, to Sarah, a romantic ray of hope who enters his life. In Lively’s most ambitious novel, she has created a wonderfully rich and audacious confrontation with the mystery of London.

Passing On

Booker Prize winning author Penelope Lively is that rare writer who goes from strength to strength in book after perfectly assured book. In Passing On, she applies her distinctive insight and consummate artistry to the subtle story of a domineering and manipulative mother’s legacy to her children. With their mother’s death, Helen and Edward, both middle aged and both unmarried, are left to face the ramifications of their mother’s hold on their lives for all of these years. Helen and Edward slowly learn to accept what has been lost in their own lives and embrace what can yet be retrieved. ‘The richest and most rewarding of her novels.’ The Washington Post Book World

Cleopatra’s Sister

A palaeontologist by choice and perhaps due to the accidental discovery of a fossil fragment on the north coast of England when he was six years old Howard Beamish is flying to Nairobi on a professional mission when his plane is forced to land in an imaginary country called Callimbia. On assignment to write a travel piece for Sunday magazine, journalist Lucy Faulkner is on the same flight. What happens to Howard and Lucy in Callimbia is one of those accidents that determine fate, that can bring love and take away joy, that reveal to us the precariousness of our existence and the trajectory of our lives.

Heat Wave

It is a long, hot summer at World’s End, a two family grey stone cottage in the English countryside. Pauline is editing a romance novel in the smaller dwelling, and the larger part is occupied by her daughter, Teresa; Teresa’s baby; and her husband, Maurice, a writer, whose infatuation with his editor’s girlfriend is growing. Pauline fears for Teresa, who is passionately in love with her husband, for she senses Maurice’s imminent betrayal. She remembers a time when her possessive passion for Teresa’s father eroded her own youth. A stunning and unexpected denouncement irrevocably changes the order of things for this family, whose intimacy the reader abandons reluctantly at novel’s end.

Spiderweb

At age sixty five, retired anthropologist Stella Brentwood buys a cottage in Somerset, England, and slowly acquires neighbors, a dog, and a professional curiosity about the country village where she intends to settle and put down roots for the first time. The drama of life in the West Country alternates with Stella’s powerfully vivid memories of lovers, friends, and her anthropological sojourns in such exotic places as the Nile Valley in Egypt, the island of Malta, and among farmers in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland. She has spent her life studying communities of peopletheir families, social structures, how they welcomed outsiders into their midstremaining an observer, privileged to share in their intimate life but not obliged, and finally unwilling, to tie herself closely to any lover, friend or social group. In Somerset, Stella once again finds an opportunity to become part of the web of relationships that make for human society. Her oldest friend’s husband, now widowed, is interested in something more than friendship with her. Her neighbors turn out to be dangerously violent and unstable family, a threat to the entire community as well as Stella herself. An old friend, an archaeologist, poignantly seeks her out for companionship. How will independent minded Stella, always reluctant to make an emotional commitment, respond?Written in exquisitely nuanced prose, Spiderweb is a captivating and deeply moving novel, a brilliant vision of our modern experience.

A House Unlocked

Whitbread Award and Booker Prize winning Penelope Lively is one of England’s greatest living writers, whom The New York Times Book Review has called ‘blessed…
able to render matters of great import with a breath, a barely audible sigh, a touch.’ In A House Unlocked, Lively bridges personal and social history in telling the story of Golsoncott, the country house in Somerset, England, that her grandparents bought in 1923. As her narrative moves from room to room, from object to object, she paints a moving portrait of an era of rapid change and of the family that changed with the times. As she charts the course of the domestic tensions of class and community among her relatives, she brings to life the effects of the horrors of the Russian Revolution and the Holocaust, through portraits of the refugees who came to live with them. A fascinating, intimate social history, A House Unlocked is an eloquent meditation on place and time, memory and history, and above all a tribute to the meaning of home. ‘An inspiration…
. This book helps define one of our leading novelists.’ Brian Martin, The Financial Times

The Photograph

Penelope Lively is a grande dame of British letters whose novels have attracted readers of Ian McEwan and Iris Murdoch as well as those enthralled by her insight into relationships and family. The Photograph brings her talents into a whole new page turning realm. It opens with a snapshot: a young woman, Kath, at an unknown gathering, hands clasped with a man not her husband, their backs to the camera. Its envelope is marked DO NOT OPEN DESTROY. But Kath’s husband, Glyn, does not heed the warning. The mystery of The Photograph, and of Kath herself and her recent death, propels him on a journey of discovery that sends shock waves through the lives of her family and friends. The elfin Kath with her mesmerizing looks and casual ways moves like an insistent ghost through the thoughts and memories of everyone who knew her: self centered Glyn, past his lusty, passionate professorial prime; her remorselessly competent sister Elaine, a doyenne garden designer married to feckless ne’er do well Nick; and their daughter Polly, beloved of Kath, who oscillates between home and family and the tumultuous new era she inhabits. The Photograph, with Lively’s signature mastery of narrative and psychology, explores issues that extend far beyond its London suburban setting: a woman’s beauty and its collision with her own happiness, sisters’ rivalry and lovers’ cooling, a marriage in supreme crisis, and the cost of professional ‘success’ as life unfolds. It is Penelope Lively at her very best, the dazzling and intriguing climax to all she has written before.

Making It Up

Hailed by critics as a benchmark in a career full of award winning achievements, Making It Up is Penelope Lively’s answer to the oft asked question, ‘How much of what you write comes from your own life?’ What if Lively hadn’t escaped from Egypt, her birthplace, at the outbreak of World War II? What would her life have been like if she’d married someone else? From a hillside in Italy to an archaeological dig, the author explores the stories that could have been hers, fashioning a sublime dance between reality and imagination that confirms her reputation as a singular talent.

Consequences

The Booker Prize winning author’s first novel since The Photograph is a sweeping saga of three generations of women, their lives, and loves

A chance meeting in St. James s Park begins young Lorna and Matt s intense relationship. Wholly in love, they leave London for a cottage in a rural Somerset village. Their intimate life together Matt s woodcarving, Lorna s self discovery, their new baby, Molly is shattered with the arrival of World War II. In 1960s London, Molly happens upon a forgotten newspaper a seemingly small moment that leads to her first job and, eventually, a pregnancy by a wealthy man who wants to marry her but whom she does not love. Thirty years later, Ruth, who has always considered her existence a peculiar accident, questions her own marriage and begins a journey that takes her back to 1941 and a redefinition of herself and of love.

Told in Lively s incomparable prose, Consequences is a powerful story of growth, death, and rebirth and a study of the previous century its major and minor events, its shaping of public consciousness, and its changing of lives.

Family Album

A novel of family intrigue from ‘one of the most accomplished writers of fiction of our day’ The Washington PostAll Alison ever wanted was a blissful childhood for her six children, with summers at the beach and birthday parties on the lawn at their family home. Together with Ingrid, the family au pair, she has worked hard to create a real ‘old fashioned family life.’ But beneath its postcard sheen, the picture is clouded by a distant father, Alison’s inexplicable emotional outbursts, and long repressed secrets that no one dares mention. For years, Alison’s adult children have protected her illusion of domestic perfection but as each child confronts the effects of past choices on their current adult lives, it becomes evident that each must face the truth. Penelope Lively’s novels of history, memory, and character have earned her a loyal readership. Like Ian McEwan’s Atonement, this novel is a measured, thoughtful look at how events of the past, both small and large, seen and unseen, deeply inform character and the present. Quietly provocative and disturbing, Family Album is a highly nuanced work that showcases a master of her craft.

How It All Began

A vibrant new novel from Penelope Lively a wry, wise story about the surprising ways lives intersect. When Charlotte Rainsford, a retired schoolteacher, is accosted by a petty thief on a London street, the consequences ripple across the lives of acquaintances and strangers alike. A marriage unravels after an illicit love affair is revealed through an errant cell phone message; a posh yet financially strapped interior designer meets a business partner who might prove too good to be true; an old guard historian tries to recapture his youthful vigor with an ill conceived idea for a TV miniseries; and a middle aged central European immigrant learns to speak English and reinvents his life with the assistance of some new friends. Through a richly conceived and colorful cast of characters, Penelope Lively explores the powerful role of chance in people’s lives and deftly illustrates how our paths can be altered irrevocably by someone we will never even meet. Brought to life in her hallmark graceful prose and full of keen insights into human nature, How It All Began is an engaging, contemporary tale that is sure to strike a chord with her legion of loyal fans as well as new readers. A writer of rare wisdom, elegance, and humor, Lively is a consummate storyteller whose gifts are on full display in this masterful work.

Uninvited Ghosts

Part of the BANANA BOOKS series, now available in a new format with a sewn binding designed for use in the classroom, a ghost story suitable for Key Stages 3 and 4. Illustrated by Frank Rodgers.

Pack of Cards

In Pack of Cards, Penelope Lively introduces the reader to slivers of the everyday world that are not always open to observation, as she delves into the minutiae of her characters’ lives. Whether she writes about a widow on a visit to Russia, a small boy’s consignment to boarding school, or an agoraphobic housewife, Penelope Lively takes the reader past the closed curtains, through the locked door, into a world that seems at first mundane and then at second glance, proves to be uniquely memorable.

Stories for 6-Year-Olds

A collection of six stories for six year olds, read by Josie Lawrence and Joe McGann.

Beyond the Blue Mountains

A collection of 14 short stories, ranging from the fantasy of Scheherazade to a dazzling example of chaos theory.

The Five Thousand and One Nights

British novelist Lively relishes the concentrated drama of the short story form in this fine collection of crisp, superbly crafted tales about people on unfamiliar terrain, be it geographic or psychological.

Spooky Stories

In Mary Hoffman’s Dracula’s Daughter, when the Battys find a baby on their step, they decide to keep her. Angela grows up like any other child, until her teeth appear, sharp and pointed. At Halloween, more spooky things begin to happen too! Next, in Penelope Lively’s Debbie and the Little Devil, Debbie has no end of trouble with a little red devil who thinks it s a great joke to cheat in every game they play. But Debbie likes to win as well, so she decides to trick him using her own secret weapon! Bomber Wilson hates writing, so he s dreading keeping a nature diary especially when bossy Harriet makes fun of his ideas. But Bomber s fantastic discoveries in his garden at night make his diary more interesting than anyone could have imagined, in The Monster from Underground by Gillian Cross. Chilling, full color illustrations throughout from Chris Riddell, Valeria Petrone, and Chris Priestley add to the terror. Dare you open the cover of this spooky book?

Dragon Trouble

Yellow Bananas are captivating chapter books designed to help young readers make the transition from storybooks to text based books. The next level up from Blue Bananas, each book features short chapters, engaging full color illustrations, and a strong story about interesting characters. As their reading abilities develop, kids will want to make the jump from Blue to Yellow Bananas! Peter wants to give his grandfather something special for his birthday something different, something unusual. But when the ideal present hatches into dragons, Peter and his grandfather are in for more trouble than they could ever imagine.

A Martian Comes to Stay

The Martian’s spaceship needs repairs, but when he returns with the spanner he’s borrowed from Peter and his gran, he finds he’s been abandoned! Luckily, Gran and Peter take him in, and introduce him to life in the country. It’s all going well until they take him to the village fete. Will the local villages see through the Martian’s cunning disguise and what will happen if they do?

A Martian in the Supermarket

Judy first sees the Martian when her mom’s looking for fish fingers. She isn’t scared, but he’s a bit nervous. His rocket’s engine won’t start, so Judy takes him back to her house while they think of a plan. They soon become good friends, and avoid detection in ingenious ways. But the Martian soon becomes homesick, and so Judy must take him back to the supermarket to try to find the rocket and see if it can be prepared. But something has happened to the rocket in the meantime will the Martian ever be set free?

Jacaranda, Oleander

A poignant and bittersweet memoir from the distinguished British fiction writer Penelope Lively, Oleander, Jacaranda evokes the author’s unusual childhood growing up English in Egypt during the 1930s and 1940s. Filled with the birds, animals and planetsof the Nile landscape that the author knew as a child, Oleander, Jacaranda follows the young Penelope from a visit to a fellaheen village to an afternoon at the elegant Gezira Sporting Club, one milieu as exotic to her as the other. Lively’s memoir offers us the rare opportunity to accompany a gifted writer on a journey of exploration into the mysterious world of her own childhood.

In Search of a Homeland, the Story of the Aeneid

The fall of Troy, the wanderings of Aeneas, the descent into the underworld these phrases from Virgil’s seminal story continue to resonate more than 2,000 years after he wrote it, and Penelope Lively retells this timeless tale with pitch perfect pacing, poignancy, and drama. The story begins with Aeneas escaping from the sacked city of Troy with his son and father and an important task given by his mother, Venus: He must find a new home for his people. Readers accompany him on his adventure and danger awaits him around every corner. He battles monsters and giants, the elements, and makes a terrifying descent into the underworld where he is allowed a glimpse into the future. Ian Andrew s illustrations evocatively interpret the mortals, gods and goddesses, and the epic backdrops of this classic tale. This accessible and enthralling introduction to The Aeneid takes its place alongside Rosemary Sutcliff s classic retellings of Homer s Iliad and Odyssey. Included are a Latin pronunciation guide and a map of Aeneas s extraordinary quest.

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