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This New York Times–bestselling trilogy follows an artistic girl as she grows up to become a painter—from the “highly gifted” author of Cluny Brown (The New Yorker). A master of the twentieth-century comedy of manners, British author Margery Sharp has been praised as “one of the most gifted writers of comedy” (Chicago Daily News) and “a wonderful entertainer” (The New Yorker). In her New York Times bestseller, The Eye of Love, she introduced nine-year-old artist Martha, a character so fascinating Sharp continued her story into adulthood in two beautifully wrought follow-up novels. “[Martha] offers a completely unique portrait of female genius, in all its single-minded dedication and selfishness” (The New York Times). The Eye of Love: They met at the Chelsea Arts Ball: He came as a brown paper parcel, she as a Spanish dancer. Dolores and Harry have been passionately in love ever since. But ten years later, during the Great Depression, Harry must marry his colleague's daughter to rescue his nearly bankrupt business. Yet with help from Dolores's artistically inclined, orphaned nine-year-old niece, Martha, the couple may still find their way to happily ever after, in this New York Times bestseller. “This postwar novel is one of her best.” —The New York Times “A double-plotted... masterpiece with a great deal of wit and not an ounce of sentimentality.” —The GuardianMartha in Paris: Now eighteen, Martha is blessed with the opportunity of a lifetime: an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris to study painting. Despite her single-minded pursuit of creativity, she attracts an admirer in the City of Light—not a debonair Frenchman, but a homesick British bank clerk. When an unexpected complication arises, Martha deals with the consequences in her usual sensible, independent fashion. “Chalk up another for Margery Sharp's collection of offbeat heroines and outrageously funny novels.” —Newark Evening News Martha, Eric, and George: In the decade since her time in Paris, Martha has become a successful artist in England. Now, as she returns to Paris to attend an exhibition of her work, she must face some unfinished business—namely her ten-year-old son, George, who's been raised by his father, Eric, and doting grandmother. In this precocious Parisian boy, she is finally about to meet her match. “Amusing, enjoyable, Miss Sharp is a born storyteller.” —The Times (London)

Margery Sharp's enchanting New York Times–bestselling novel about the profound ways that love can change our view of other people and the world around us Miss Dolores Diver and Harry Gibson have been passionately in love ever since they met at the Chelsea Arts Ball: He came as a brown paper parcel, she as a Spanish dancer. Only the eye of love could have transformed plain Dolores into a Spanish rose and stout Harry into the man of Dolores's dreams. But ten years later, during the Great Depression, Harry must marry his colleague's daughter in order to save his nearly bankrupt business. The course of true love never runs smoothly but with some inadvertent help from Dolores's keenly observant nine-year-old niece, Martha, Harry's grasping fiancée, and Dolores's calculating lodger, Harry might succeed in both averting financial ruin and reclaiming his beloved.

From exuberant comedy to edge-of-your-seat intrigue, a trio of novels from “a superb storyteller” (The New York Times). These three novels—ranging from a journey of transformation with a larger-than-life aunt to dark tales of international intrigue—beautifully illustrate the myriad ways in which the acclaimed British author “had wit and grace and character and story and a transcendent universal compassion that places him for all time in the ranks of world literature” (John le Carré). Travels with my Aunt: Now that dullish London bank manager Henry Pulling has retired with an agreeable pension, he plans to spend more time weeding his dahlias. Then, for the first time in fifty years, he sees his aunt Augusta at his mother's funeral. Charging into her seventies with florid abandon, Augusta insists that Henry abandon his garden, follow her, and hold on tight. She whisks her nephew out of Brighton and onto the Orient Express bound for Paris and Istanbul, then on to Paraguay, and down the rabbit hole of her past, which swarms with swindlers, smugglers, war criminals, and rather unconventional lovers. With each new stop, Henry discovers not only more about his aunt and her secrets but also about himself. “Cheerfully irreverent.” —The Guardian The Confidential Agent: In prewar England, D., a professor of Romance literature, has arrived in Dover on an important mission to buy coal for his country, one torn by civil war. With it, there's a chance to defeat fascist influences. Without it, the loyalists will fail. When D. strikes up a romance with the estranged but solicitous daughter of a powerful coal-mining magnate, everything appears to be in his favor—if not for a counteragent who has come to England with the intent of sabotaging every move he makes. Accused of forgery and theft, and roped into a charge of murder, D. becomes a hunted man, hemmed in at every turn by an ever-tightening net of intrigue and double cross. “[A] magnificent tour-de-force among tales of international intrigue.” —The New York Times The Ministry of Fear: On a peaceful Sunday afternoon, Arthur Rowe comes upon a charity fete where he wins a game of chance. If only this were an ordinary day. Britain is under threat by Germany, and the air raid sirens that bring the bazaar to a halt expose Rowe as no ordinary man. Recently released from a psychiatric prison for the mercy killing of his wife, he is burdened by guilt, and now, in possession of a seemingly innocuous prize, on the run from Nazi spies who want him dead. Pursued on a dark odyssey through the bombed-out streets of London, there isn't a soul he can trust, not even himself. Because amnesiac Arthur Rowe doesn't even know who he really is. “[A] master thriller.” —Time

A retired London bank manager is yanked out of the suburbs by his eccentric aunt for a “cheerfully irreverent” romp across Europe (The Guardian). Now that the dullish Henry Pulling has left his job with an agreeable pension and a firm handshake, he plans to spend more time weeding his dahlias. Then, for the first time in fifty years, he sees his aunt Augusta at his mother's funeral. Charging into her seventies with florid abandon, not a day of her life wasted, and her future as bright as her brilliant red hair, Augusta insists that Henry abandon his garden, follow her, and hold on tight. With that, she whisks her nephew out of Brighton and boards the Orient Express bound for Paris and Istanbul, then on to Paraguay, and down the rabbit hole of her past that swarms with swindlers, smugglers, war criminals, and rather unconventional lovers. With each new stop, Henry discovers not only more about his aunt and her secrets but also about himself as well. Pulsing with “the tragic and comic ironies of love, loyalty and belief” Graham Greene's deceptive lark of novel was made into the 1972 film starring Maggie Smith (The Times, London).