The Folio Society’s Summer Collection Features First-Ever Illustrated Editions of ‘Interpreter of Maladies’, ‘Faceless Killers’, and More!

Capture the Castle

Faceless Killers — FIRST EVER ILLUSTRATED EDITION

By Henning Mankell
Translated by Steven T. Murray
Introduced by Patti Smith
Illustrated by Morgan Schweitzer

A gruesome murder in a remote farmhouse; a detective with a long list of personal demons; and the bleak backdrop of a harsh Swedish winter: add Henning Mankell’s explosive prose and you have the novel that brought Nordic noir to the attention of crime-fiction fans worldwide. The first book in Mankell’s best-selling ‘Wallander’ series, Faceless Killers is a page-turning thriller of the highest order, as well as a frank snapshot of Sweden’s political and social landscape in the 1990s. Patti Smith’s original introduction is reproduced in English for the first time in this edition, while award-winning illustrator Morgan Schweitzer elevates the tension with a series of atmospheric illustrations that culminates in the stark binding design, encased in an eye-catching die-cut slipcase.

Interpreter of Maladies —FIRST EVER ILLUSTRATED EDITION

By Jhumpa Lahiri 

Preface by Domenico Starnone 

Illustrated by Shreya Gupta 

An immensely talented multilingual wordsmith, writing in Bengali, English and Italian, Jhumpa Lahiri’s debut short story collection blazed across the literary world upon publication, winning the Pulitzer Prize, the Pen award and the New Yorker Prize for Best First Book. Folio illustrates her multifaceted collection for the first time.  Over nine stories, Lahir deftly explores the tension between tradition and modernity, old and new worlds. Lahiri’s vividly drawn characters span generations and distances across the Bengali diaspora. We view partition from a distanced child’s perspective in ‘When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine’. In ‘The Blessed House’, we meet Tanima or ’Twinkle‘, who delights in collecting kitsch Christian figurines, embarrassing her husband. This new edition, illustrated by Shreya Gupta in bold, vibrant colours and patterns, includes the 2019 preface by Italian journalist and writer Domenica Starnone.

The Order of Time 

By Carlo Rovelli

Introduced by Philip Pullman – EXCLUSIVE

Designed and illustrated by Daniel Streat

Translated by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell

Why can we alter the future but not the past, and is there any such thing as the present? We think of time as universal – moving forward, measured by clocks – but look more closely, and it reveals itself to be profoundly strange. In this thrilling dive into the nature of our universe, theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli sweeps away all our easy assumptions. He shows that time flows faster or more slowly in different places, and vanishes altogether through the lens of quantum gravity theory. A number-one bestseller and one of Time’s ten best nonfiction books of the decade, The Order of Time is presented in a Folio edition unlike any other, thanks to award-winning designer Daniel Streat’s superb minimalist graphics. An exclusive new introduction by Philip Pullman, one of the book’s many literary fans, celebrates Rovelli’s rare gift for illuminating ‘ideas and concepts about the nature of the universe that are some of the strangest and deepest ever discovered’.

Pet Sematary – 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

By Stephen King

Illustrated by Edward Kinsella

Which of Stephen King’s books is the scariest? It is a question that has been fiercely debated for years, but few could disagree that Pet Sematary is one of the strongest contenders. King himself hid the book away when it was finished, finding it ‘so startling, and so gruesome’ that he was half afraid of it himself. Like Churchill the cat however, Pet Sematary was to get a second chance at life when King’s wife Tabitha convinced him it was too good not to find its way into the hands of readers.

Uniquely terrifying and terrifically entertaining, Pet Sematary disinters the darkest of taboos. What if you could bring someone back from the dead? And what if it cost their soul – or yours? For the 40th anniversary of a horror masterpiece, artist Edward Kinsella has provided 11 illustrations filled with dread and an eerie endpaper design featuring a spiral of epitaphs taken from the Pet Sematary itself. The binding design is blocked with an image of Churchill the cat looming out of the dark, and in an appropriate final touch, chapter headings are set in ‘Kingthings Trypewriter’, the same font that made an appearance in Folio’s bestselling edition of The Shining. 

The Innocents Abroad 

By Mark Twain
Introduced by Paul Theroux – EXCLUSIVE
Illustrated by James Albon 

Largely remembered for his novels, Mark Twain achieved his greatest literary success within his lifetime with The Innocents Abroad. When the fledgling journalist boarded the steamship Quaker City in 1867, it was the dawn of the age of tourism, and his acutely observed and humorous account of the five-month grand tour of Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land captivated readers … as it still does today.

Award-winning illustrator James Albon has captured the eccentricities of the travellers and the myriad locations in a set of stylish colour and black-and-white lino-cuts that echo Twain’s sardonic and eagle-eyed prose, while the striking map endpapers chart the highlights of this fascinating voyage. For the newly commissioned introduction, celebrated travel writer Paul Theroux shares his admiration for Twain, particularly his desire to look beyond clichéd experiences and portray the gritty realism of epic travel.

Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar 

By Simon Sebag Montefiore

FEATURING PHOTOGRAPHY THAT IS BEING PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME

Written by the best-selling and prize-winning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar is a thrilling, intimate portrait of a dictator who ‘believed the solution to every human problem was death’, and the henchmen who presided over an era of mass murder in his name. Drawing on ground-breaking original research, Sebag Montefiore lays out in terrifying detail the intrigue, debauchery, paranoia and treachery inside the cloistered world of the Soviet Union’s ruling circle. With its fresh perspective on the way Stalin and his associates exercised power, both within and outside the Kremlin, this has become the definitive biography. The selection of photography is unique to this handsome two-volume Folio edition, portraying the figures within Stalin’s court and the enormity of war and oppression in the territories he ruled. It includes pictures from the David King Archive, one of the world’s leading collections of Soviet photography – some published for the first time. At a time when statues are once again being raised to Stalin in Russia, The Court of the Red Tsar is a chilling and timely read.

Tehanu

By Ursula K. Le Guin

Illustrated by David Lupton

Afterword by Ursula K. Le Guin

Celebrated across the world for its adventure, its wisdom and its unforgettable characters, the Earthsea series has inspired readers and writers since the release of A Wizard of Earthsea in 1968. The fourth volume, Tehanu, sees legendary writer Ursula K. Le Guin introduce new heroes and new threats, while Ged faces perhaps the hardest challenge of his life. Series artist David Lupton worked with Le Guin at the outset of the series to create a Ged and an Earthsea that stayed true to the author’s vision. This beautiful collector’s edition features seven spellbinding colour images and a perceptive afterword by Le Guin herself, revealing her own thoughts on this remarkable chapter in the Earthsea series. The endpapers are printed with maps and the exquisite binding features a stirring illustration of Tenar and the dragon Kalessin, the eerie vapour of Kalessin’s flames blocked in shimmering silver foil.

A Clockwork Orange

By Anthony Burgess
Illustrated by Ben Jones
Introduced by Irvine Welsh

So says the prison chaplain, perhaps the only voice of reason in Anthony Burgess’ most celebrated work. Both a horrific satire of youth culture and an ingenious examination of social justice and government control, A Clockwork Orange has left an indelible, boot-shaped mark on the popular and literary culture of the late 20th century. Stanley Kubrick’ notorious 1971 film — with its iconic imagery and enduring controversies — has overshadowed a work whose philosophical paradoxes and astonishing linguistic invention are some of literature’ most inspired.

For more details, visit www.foliosociety.com.