Geoffrey Household

Books PUBLISHED

Geoffrey Household was born in 1900 and died in 1988. After graduating from Magdalen College Oxford he went on to write 36 books mostly thrillers but also including children’s books and collections of short stories. He is widely regarded as the father of the ‘flight and chase’ thriller. The New York Times said ‘Household … helped develop the suspense story into an art form.’ 

Most of the titles are available to purchase through Orion Books and for any rights related matters please contact AM Heath

 

 

Arabesque

Arabesque is a love story that takes us to the colourful crossroads of the Middle East at the height of World War II

Armande Herne - half English, half French and impassively beautiful - is sitting out the war in Beirut with no visible means of support. The rumour is she's a spy. But, as conflict between British and French, Jew and Arab whirl around her, it is a British security sergeant who finds her. Soon they are embroiled in a plot, rich with adventure and intrigue.


Arrows of Desire

A compelling vision of Britain centuries in the future

It is 700 years after the age of destruction and London is just a forest. Britain is no longer an independent state but a primitive outpost of the Euro-African Federation. All is not well at the settlement near Avebury. The native Britons do not like the new Britons who have 'come home' from Euro-Africa, dancing a bizarre, twenty-two-man cricket dance and singing an obscure song called 'Landa Fope'.

After one of these immigrants takes a shot at the High Commissioner, Ali Pretorius, chaos breaks out, and it is left to a beautiful young woman, Thea, to restore peace and order . . .


The Brides of Solomon and Other Stories

Sixteen short stories from acclaimed author Geoffrey Household.

First published in 1958, this collection of short stories is a snapshot of Household's great skill as a storyteller. Despite vastly different characters and plots, the collection as a whole explores Household's generation - raw from war and political upheaval - with wit, suspense and brilliance. 

Including, among others, The Case of Valentin Lecormier, Constant Lovers, The Idealist, Kindly Stranger, Salute,Eggs as Ain't, The Eye of a Soldier, Children's Crusade.


CAPRICORN AND CANCER

Fourteen stories set around the world, from the author of ROGUE MALE.

A collection containing some of Household's most beloved tales.

With stories ranging from playful hilarity among the Tropic of Capricorn to the savage realities of war and conflict in Cancer, Household's collection encompasses a wealth of human experience. Masterful storytelling and compelling characters render this collection as powerful now as when it was first published in 1981.     

Includes, among others, Heart in the Mouth, Letter to a Sister, The Brides of Solomon, First Blood, The Hut, The Battle of Mussolini, Immoral Trade and the captivating novella The Salvation of Pisco Gabar.


THE COURTESY OF DEATH

By the author of Rogue Male, a classic thriller of the twentieth century.

When retired mining engineer Yarrow is disturbed after midnight by Barnabas Fosworth, he assumes that he is just a curious eccentric. But by helping Fosworth in his search for the mysterious girl he seeks, Yarrow soon finds his life inexplicably threatened by a mystical sect who believe that taking life is forgivable, since death is only a transition.

Entombed in a cavern in the Mendips, Yarrow discovers the ancient secrets that have their origins in paleolithic paintings; and it is only through this new knowledge that he can hope to escape a very unpleasant death.


DANCE OF THE DWARFS

A tale of nightmare set at the edge of the Amazonian jungle - 'A superb horror story' - New York Times

At the edge of the Amazonian jungle, Dr Owen Dawnay has set up an agricultural station. It's a remote place, isolated from the world, and home to a group of half-Indian cattlemen.

Dawnay is puzzled by the cattlemen's apparent fear of the dark. Until he learns of the elusive dwarfs who are supposed to dance among the trees by moonlight. His scientific brain urges him to confront the unknown, but Dawnay has entered a realm of nightmare, one that science cannot explain...


THE DAYS OF YOUR FATHERS

A short story collection from the author of classic masterpiece ROGUE MALE.

From the suspenseful and exciting to the heart-wrenchingly poignant, this 1987 collection is a striking example of some of the author's very best work. Stories across a vast array of styles, locales and characters demonstrate Household's ability to paint realistic, sympathetic figures as they struggle through war-torn uncertainty.

With stories such as A Jew and an Irishman, Firefly, Debt of Honour, Exiles, Space Fiction, Estancia La Embajadaand Chaplain to the Embassy, this collection proves the timeless resonance of Household's writing.


DOOM’S CARAVAN

The Middle East. 1941. Captain Oliver Enwin, interpreter for British Intelligence, has gone missing and it is up to one of his fellow officers, the story's narrator, to track him down. In the course of his investigations of a colonel's widow and her daughter, Valerie, living a lonely life in a high valley in Lebanon, he comes across the trail of the missing officer.

But the narrator's life is also threatened, and he must forge a pact with the man he has been sent to find, as well as making both women his allies. But who can be trusted in such uncertain times? And will the two men alone be able to suppress a German-inspired Arab revolt that threatens all their lives?


ESCAPE INTO DAYLIGHT

An edge-of-your-seat children's story from the acclaimed author of ROGUE MALE.

A tense, edge-of-your-seat story of two kidnapped children, Mike and Carrie, who find themselves imprisoned under the ruins of an abbey. The two must escape as they realise that no one is coming for them...


THE EUROPE THAT WAS

A riveting collection of short stories from the classic-crime master and author of Rogue Male, Geoffrey Household.

From the fine lines of an Eton suit on the morning of Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination to the extreme poverty of the Bosnian border, Household's collection of short stories takes the reader on a vivid and compelling journey around a Europe that was.

Including the stories Kindly Stranger, Sabres on the Sand, Three of Castile and Twilight of a God (among others).


THE EXPLOITS OF XENOPHON

A compelling children's retelling of Cyrus the Great and his Greek Army from the acclaimed author of ROGUE MALE.

Geoffrey Household retells Xenophon's time-enduring story of the Greek army that supported Cyrus the Great in his attempt on the Persian throne. 

Told for the first time for children, this is one of the world's great stories of courage and endurance.


FACE TO THE SUN

Edmund Hawkins is down on his luck in London, after a brief sojourn in an African dictatorship. In desperation for cash he steals a woman's bag in which, in addition to money, he finds a mysterious gold pendant, which, it transpires, is the national icon of Malpelo, a small Central American country.

Intrigued by the pendant, and flush with money from the theft, Hawkins decides to travel to revolution-riven Malpelo, setting in motion a train of dramatic and far-reaching events from which he will be lucky to escape.


FELLOW PASSENGER

A brilliant story of espionage and disguise from the original master of spy fiction.

Claudio Howerd-Wolferstan is neither a communist nor a spy. Yet he breaks into a top-security Government hostel to retrieve the family treasure. 

With a spot secured on the wanted lists of both the British police and Russian communist leaders, he is forced to run from a charge of high treason. A master of disguise, he bluffs his way out of many a dangerous situation and outwits his pursuers. But how long can his luck last?

The speed of Claudio's transformations from Spanish sailor to chimney-sweep, from elephant trainer to Indian guitarist give the chase a comical breathlessness. It is easy to understand why FELLOW PASSENGER is one of Household's own favourites.


THE HIGH PLACE

Another superbly crafted Middle Eastern adventure by the author of the classic Rogue Male

They called the organisation World Opposition. Its aim was a world where the State no longer existed and where the individual controlled their own destiny. 

Their headquarters were called Kasr-el-Sittat - meaning fortress of the holy women - and their leader was the strange and beautiful Elisa Cantemir. For her, no method was too ruthless, no human life too valuable, compared with the aims of the organisation.

Only one man knew their real aims and opposed them. And he was desperately in love with Elisa Cantemir.


HOSTAGE: LONDON

A superbly tense classic thriller from the bestselling author of ROGUE MALE.

What happens when a terrorist decides to pull out?

Julian Despard is a cell-leader in the ruthless international revolutionary organisation MAGMA. As one of MAGMA's leading activists, he has been responsible for many daring operations, including the recent hijacking of an arms shipment in the Mediterranean. 

But then Despard finds out that the cargo he stole was not conventional weaponry but nuclear material. And that the MAGMA leadership intends to use it for a devastating attack on London. Sickened, Despard makes a dramatic personal decision to begin a bloody last-minute mission of his own, only to find himself hunted by both MAGMA gunmen and the police in a race against time to stop certain destruction...


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THE LAST TWO WEEKS OF GEORGES RIVAC

Georges Rivac is in big trouble. His London contact doesn't want his business and has never heard of Rivac's Czech client. And Rivac's chances of proving his innocence rapidly diminish when that client finally turns up - dead.

Then Rivac meets Zia, the delectable Hungarian, whose job it was to watch the Czech's movements. And together they uncover a hornet's nest of espionage and treachery that send them running for their lives.


THE LIVES AND TIMES OF BERNARDO BROWN

A story of suspense and narrow escapes from the acclaimed author of ROGUE MALE.

1920s' Eastern Europe. A place of post-war intrigue, crumbling monarchies and Russian refugees. A world fortified by ghettos, brothels, freak shows and cabarets. And within this melting pot of society, Bernardo Brown embarks on a journey across the continent, without passport or money, evading the police.

As Bernardo travels from the Basque Coast to Hungary, Romania, England and back to Spain, he employs wild and hilarious means to avoid detection. The reader is transported from one narrow escape to the next in this fine example of the English picaresque tradition.


OLURA

Olura Manoli is a lovely creature, though perhaps a little foolish in her friendship with an African prime minister whom she accompanies to Spain without police protection. 

Olura and the politician are followed by an Italian paparazzo hoping to catch glimpses of their indiscretion. But when he turns up dead in the couple's bathroom, it seems there is no one Olura can turn to for help but Philip Ardower, an English don and authority on the Basque language. 

His help is certainly needed in the dangerous day to follow, when violent death and police suspicion dog the lovers along the rugged mountains and dark mine shafts of the fierce Biscay coast.


PRISONER OF THE INDIES

An exciting historical children's story from the acclaimed author of ROGUE MALE.

The exciting sixteenth-century story of the Englishman Miles Phillips and his fifteen-year journey to New Spain, where he encounters a tropical paradise, good food, and the Inquisition...


RED ANGER

Geoffrey Household returns to the rural England of Rogue Male and Watcher in the Shadows, with the savage hunting of his two heroes from the estuaries of South Devon to the empty Marlborough Downs.

The novel reveals at last the fate of Alwyn Rory, the security officer who was believed to have taken a bribe to allow a naval spy to escape and to have defected to Russia rather than face trial. Both Rory and his new ally, Adrian Gurney, by whom the story is told, are on the run and may be killed with impunity, as they do not exist ...


ROGUE JUSTICE

When the Rogue Male misses his chance to assassinate Hitler in peacetime, he goes undercover in Nazi Germany looking for a second opportunity.

Here, he declares his own personal war and recklessly fights his way across occupied Europe, with the Gestapo hot on his heels.

Battling against Nazi ideology, he's transported across a continent, allied with escaping Jews and resistance groups, as he seeks justice for the evils done to the land, the people and the woman that he loved.


ROGUE MALE

One of the classic thrillers of the 20th century - 'Simply the best escape and pursuit story yet written' [THE TIMES] - with a brand new Introduction by Robert Macfarlane

An Englishman plans to assassinate the dictator of a European country. But he is foiled at the last moment and falls into the hands of ruthless and inventive torturers. They devise for him an ingenious and diplomatic death but, for once, they bungle the job and he escapes. 

But England provides no safety from his pursuers - and the Rogue Male must strip away all the trappings of status and civilization as the hunter becomes a hunted animal.


A ROUGH SHOOT

A classic thriller set in Dorset after the Second World War, full of Household's signature action and suspense.

An afternoon's shooting in the country seems a pleasant prospect to Roger Taine, a respected family man with a distinguished military record. But when he discovers a poacher on his land, he fires a warning blast that stops the intruder dead in his tracks.

Investigating further, Taine inadvertently uncovers a new-fascist plot which he is determined to thwart. A series of car chases, aeroplane drops and cross-country scrambles sharpen the mystery, but the adventure takes a new twist when Taine discovers that he himself is being pursued by the police.


THE SALVATION OF PISCO GABAR AND OTHER STORIES

Twelve compelling, accomplished and varied tales from a master of classic fiction.

Beginning on the Equator with the shimmering, mountainous coastline of Peru to starboard and the setting sun on the horizon, these brilliant and varied stories transport the reader to Spain, to the Andes foothills, to the pantries of London and the streets of New York. 

Geoffrey Household, master of the spy novel and author of acclaimed classic Rogue Male, demonstrates his pure skill as a storyteller in each brilliant tale - whether it's a sketch, a character study or a longer, gripping narrative. 

Stories include, among others, Delilah of the Back Stairs, Estancia la Embajada, Taboo, Technique and Women on Wheels.


THE SENDING

'Geoffrey Household's prose is as clean and spare and unwaveringly efficient as are his plots' Sunday Times

On the death of his father, artist and mystic Alfgif Hollaston returns to his Somerset house. There, he befriends Paddy Gadsden, a saddler and horse psychiatrist, and inherits Paddy's polecat, Meg, after Paddy's violent and inexplicable death. But innocent and playful Meg isn't quite what she seems. 

Soon Alfgif's life and sanity are threatened by a relentless terror, resembling the sixth sense of an animal, which warns when danger is imminent ...


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SUMMON THE BRIGHT WATER

In the Forest of Dean, Pierre Colet joins an esoteric community preparing its members for the collapse of urban civilisation. The experiment is financed by Simeon Marrin, who allows it to be thought that he has the secrets of alchemy. He is also an accomplished diver, who explores the bed of the Severn at night.

One night Colet joins him - and barely escapes with his life. With the growing suspicion that Marrin is secretly mining a hoard of buried treasure to finance his commune, Colet, whom his adversary believes dead, hides out in the forest and shadows Marrin's every move.


TALES OF ADVENTURERS

Thirteen short stories from the original master of the spy-thriller.

It was by this 1952 collection of short stories that Geoffrey Household wished his literary skill to be judged. And it is clear why. In a captivating assortment of tales from spy thrillers to historical fables, the reader is taken on a journey from the Mediterranean Sea on the eve of the First World War through the freezing valleys of Albanian to the ironic, personal landscape of a female spy preoccupied with marriage. With wit, suspense and political intrigue, Tales of Adventurers stands with Household's best.

Including, among others, The Cook Runner, The Picket Lines of Marton Hevessy, The Hut, Woman in Love and Railroad Harvest.


THE TERROR OF VILLADONGA

An exciting children's adventure story from the acclaimed author of ROGUE MALE, Geoffrey Household.

12-year-old Dick Garland lives on the northern coast of Spain. With his thirst for exploring, he has ventured into nearly every cave nearby - except the feared Cave of Angels. When dared to spend one night there alone by the gutsy Lola, Dick boldly accepts her challenge. But there's an unspeakable terror in that cave, and in order to protect his family and friends Dick decides to do something about it . . . 

Household's exciting children's novel demonstrates the strength of courage, the thrill of adventure and the power of loyalty.


THING TO LOVE

An adventure novel from the acclaimed author of ROGUE MALE.

General Kucera fled his homeland of Czechoslovakia when the Communists arrived, and he made a new life for himself in the fictional republic of Guayanas. A gifted soldier, he builds up the Fifth Armored Division, which he commands, with hard-hitting efficiency.

But when revolution arrives in the land, General Kucera is unsure which side he should be on. His troops will make a huge difference to the outcome of war.

Loyalty to his adopted country means he initially joins with the President's forces. But as he realises that the war is between the haves and have-nots, one side supported by the veiled intervention of the United States and the Soviet Union, he realises that victory will be empty if it does not follow the wishes of the people.


THE THIRD HOUR

A gripping adventure from the acclaimed author of ROGUE MALE.

For Manuel Vargas, helping a revolutionary leader derail a train in Mexico is not that unusual. That is, until he realises there are gold bars and coins on-board. After concealing his new wealth, his life is changed forever.

Meanwhile in London, a man takes an innocuous job in the toy industry, unaware that his path will cross with Manuel Vargas. When the two meet, they hatch a plan to locate the hidden gold and smuggle it out of Mexico.


THE THREE SENTINELS

A company-controlled oil town becomes the scene of a layoff and a subsequent boycott led by Rafael Garay, whose wife is killed alongside 17 others in the protest.

Mat Darlow, a gentle mining engineer, is sent to the Latin American community to handle the situation. Each man is fighting for control of the Three Sentinels: three, deep, surging oil wells perched on a barren ridge of the Andes.

Despite the deadlock, the opponents are instinctively drawn to each other - and one thing links them: Garay's son, Chepe, who attaches himself to both men at war.

'Household is a story-teller in direct line of descent from Daniel Defoe and Robert Louis Stevenson' New Yorker


A TIME TO KILL

A TIME TO KILL is a classic thriller from one of the 20th century's best crime writers. 

Roger Taine wants to be left alone to live quietly in the country with his wife and children. But Roland, head of British Intelligence needs his help. 

A vicious spy ring has a very simple idea: strategically placed foot-and-mouth disease. One isolated outbreak would spread virulently. Twenty outbreaks at the same time would be uncontrollable. And so two men must fight against time to prevent certain catastrophe...


WATCHER IN THE SHADOWS

A deadly pursuit through the English countryside from the acclaimed author of ROGUE MALE.

After working as a double agent for the British in Nazi Germany during the war, Charles Dennim is now living a quiet, unassuming life in England. Until the postman delivers a letter bomb to his front door.

Suddenly hunted by a killer with no name and no apparent motive, Dennim must use his wartime skills to stay alive, and the two master hunters embark on a deadly game of cat and mouse through the picturesque English countryside. 

With brilliant descriptions of the Cotswolds and a high-stakes manhunt, this is a pursuit novel that stands with Household's best.