Lost Classic (1)

As a semi-regular feature, I will be selecting books which I think can qualify as 'lost classics'. Each book I pick will have been found as the result of foraging in second hand bookshops, must be relatively unknown, and a good read. I love buying books second hand - you can nearly always find something unexpected, and hopefully end up reading something you wouldn't otherwise have come across. My first 'lost classic' is Gone to Earth, by Mary Webb. Set in the Welsh borderlands, this is the story of a wild teenage girl named Hazel with an intense love for nature and her own freedom, who becomes caught between the attentions of two men, with tragic consequences. As John Buchan explains in the introduction, Hazel 'suffers because she is involved in the clash of common lusts and petty jealousies...she is a creature of the wilds, with no heritage in the orderly populous world'.

Penguin Classics RED

Penguin have just launched their new Classics RED series. Having partnered with (Product)RED, they are issuing newly designed classics, from the sales of which 50% of profits will go the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. I think the new covers look great, and it's refreshing to see a major publisher seeking to do more than merely bolster their own sales - especially so during an economic depression, and considering that publishing is not an industry which generates huge profits.

The Crime of Father Amaro: sexing up a classic

Perusing the Guardian's 1000 Books Everyone Must Read, I came across The Crime of Father Amaro, by Eça de Queiroz. I'd watched the 2002 film release, (mainly due to Gabriel Garcia Bernal's presence), the poster for which is shown above, but hadn't realised it was based on a Portuguese classic originally published in 1875. This novel focuses on a young priest in a small Portuguese town, who simply cannot control his manly urges - a problem which has devastating consequences for the girl he becomes involved with, and exposes the hypocrisy and corruption of the priests in the town. Seeing this novel gave me a flash of inspiration: it just looks ripe for reinvention - with a sexy new cover playing up the historical, religious and forbidden lust themes, it could be given a new lease of life.