Description
Exclusive Unpublished G.K Chesterton PLUS The Complete Father Brown
G.K. Chesterton
There is no shortage of heroes in the early days of detective fiction, from prim and proper Poirot to the manic force of nature that is Sherlock Holmes. But for our money, no one tops the genial, bespectacled Father Brown—an unassuming figure with an unwavering belief in the redemptive power of forgiveness. Not only are they cleverly constructed mysteries, but each rereading reveals new meaning. Central to Chesterton’s detective tales is always “why.” Such as, why do seemingly good people do terrible things? Why do we act against our own interests? Why do predictable sins like greed and vanity continually upset our moral compass?
For roughly a century, Chesterton’s work has resonated with audiences around the world, evidenced by book translations into over thirty languages, societies and magazines dedicated to his philosophies, and recently on screen, BBC One greenlighting two more seasons of its long-running Father Brown series. But the author was also a standard bearer in his own time, chosen as the first president of the storied Detection Club by fellow members Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, and E.C. Bentley. Unsurprisingly, Chesterton has inspired countless others, from Gabriel García Márquez to W.H. Auden, Orson.
The Strand Presents unpublished G. K. Chesterton content, seen here for the first time:
The Strand is proud to present Chesterton’s, The Historical Detective Story, the essay was intended for the first issue of a magazine the Detection Club had planned to publish. For reasons unknown, that plan never came to fruition, and instead, the essay is being published here in The Strand.
Written with the author’s trademark wit and unusual humor, The Historical Detective Story playfully skewers the conventions of crime-fiction, advocating for a departure from some of the more tired formulas of the genre—advice as relevant today as when it was first written. The Strand is thrilled to introduce this work to the broader reading public in the spirit of Chesterton’s enduring relevance.
What next?
Apropos of Chesterton championing innovation, we are also proud to publish a number of stories pushing the genre forward in this issue. Our fiction section is headlined by Josh Malerman with, Children Aren’t the Only Ones Who Know Where the Presents Are Hidden, an eerie tale about a young woman’s flight from her past. Innocence and darkness mingle in neo-noir master Joe R. Lansdale’s, Night Trail, in which a boy’s late-night adventure takes a sinister turn when he stumbles on a man disposing of a mysterious object in a river. In, The Case of the Pensive Poet, Margie Deck has Holmes and Watson sussing out a locked-room literati-society mystery. And John M. Floyd brings it home, literally, with a PI’s perilous journey to his hometown in, Welcome to Armadillo.
When artists achieve some level of success, it can be tempting to try replicating lightning in a bottle. Rupert Holmes and James Patterson—our two interviewees this issue—have done the opposite. Riding a wave of bestseller success with his latest novel, How to Murder Your Employer, songwriter and Broadway phenom Rupert Holmes spoke at length about his admiration for the crime genre, which has influenced much of his career. Meanwhile, the ever-experimental James Patterson reveals how he brought Michael Crichton’s Eruption to life using notes left by the late, great author, and how he draws ideas to continue innovating.
Want more unpublished works?
If you’re looking for more previously unpublished short stories by other legends, be sure to check out these issues with stories by Shirley Jackson, Ernest Hemingway, Truman Capote, Raymond Chandler, H.G. Wells, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett, Tennessee Williams, Louisa May Alcott, John Steinbeck, and Ray Bradbury.
Find out more about G. K. Chesterton here and on his Goodreads page.
Product information:
- 68 pages
- 8.5 inches x 11 inches
Complete Father Brown
All the Father Brown stories from five classic volumes—in one definitive edition
With his cherubic face and unworldly simplicity, his glasses and huge umbrella, Father Brown is one of the most unforgettable characters in literature.The Complete Father Brown Stories brings together all the stories featuring G. K. Chesterton’s amateur sleuth—plus two additional cases, “The Donnington Affair” and “The Mask of Midas,” that were discovered in Chesterton’s papers after his death. An introduction by Chesterton scholar Michael D. Hurley sheds new light on the beloved detective series.
For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
