Virago Modern Classics

In January this year Emma Watson launched her feminist book club, Our Shared Shelf, inspired by her own exploration of brilliant literature about women and equality. As she wrote at the time, ‘there is so much amazing stuff out there! Funny, inspiring, sad, thought-provoking, empowering! I’ve been discovering so much that, at times, I’ve felt […]

Looking for a spooky story to get you in the mood for All Hallow’s Eve? Here are just a few suggestions in our Halloween reading list.   Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier With one of the most famous first lines in literature, Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca has all of the elements that make for a chilling tale, […]

Inspired by our re-issue of four Daphne du Maurier collections this month, earlier this year we teamed up with Stylist Magazine and asked your for your chilling short stories. The entries poured in – covering everything from magical realism to mental illness – and having whittled down almost 500 entries to a shortlist of 10, our judges have finally selected a winner. […]

To celebrate the long-standing heritage of Virago Modern Classics and the designers who made the hardback range such a success, in Autumn 2015 we launched three sets of mugs and notebooks based on some of our best loved classics. We’ve now added three new designs to the collection for 2016 – Angela Carter’s The Magic […]

In this exclusive piece, Angela Carter biographer and academic Edmund Gordon explains what it is that makes The Magic Toyshop truly magical to him. The Magic Toyshop is Angela Carter’s second novel, but the first to feature the heady surrealism that flavours all her greatest work. Zinging with lovely sentences and rich, uncanny images, it […]

Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds was adapted for stage in 1963 by ‘master of suspense’ Alfred Hitchcock – his third Daphne du Maurier inspired film. This month we’re teaming up with The Bluestocking Club to celebrate the iconic book and film, with a special Halloween screening at Waterstones Tottenham Court Road on 30th October. As […]

In light of recent events, we’re celebrating cultures outside of the UK that contribute to our diverse range of front list and Virago Modern Classic titles.   In Diamond Square, first published in 1962, is relatively unknown out of Spain, yet it is the most acclaimed Catalan novel of all time. Set in Barcelona during […]

Find out what the Virago team has been reading so far this year, and which books we are planning on packing in our suitcases this summer. I’ve been captivated by Susan Fletcher’s novel, Let Me Tell You About A Man I Knew. It’s a wonderfully atmospheric and moving read, filled with gorgeous descriptions of Provence in the south […]

Friday 13th May, marks the 109th anniversary of the birth of Daphne du Maurier, one of the best-loved authors of the twentieth century. Here, we’ve compiled 13 facts about the author and her work. 1.A truly great novel grabs you from the very first sentence, and Rebecca features one of the most famous first lines in literature: […]

One of the best loved authors on the Virago Modern Classics list, Daphne du Maurier needs no introduction. This May, we’re adding three beautiful new paperback editions of her books to our collection, with more to come in July and October. If you know du Maurier from Rebecca, these new editions are the perfect way to […]

This month, we publish the next of the Virago Modern Classic editions of Angela Thirkell’s best loved Barsetshire series. Here, lecturer and literary historian Kate Macdonald explains the context and enduring appeal of Thirkell’s comic fiction.  During the Second World War Angela Thirkell was a best-seller, publishing a novel every year for most of her career. This […]