Howard & Valentine: Secret Europe

Tartarus Press

publishers

Secret Europe

by

John Howard and Mark Valentine

The authors of Secret Europe were inspired by the lives of the many courageous spirits in all parts of the continent who followed their conscience in troubled times: and formed a sort of Secret Europe which tried to preserve the values of our common humanity. The stories often take place in borderlands, not only in terrain but in time too, and sometimes on the borders of this world and other, mysterious worlds. Many are set during times of upheaval—war, revolution, dictatorship—while others concern more personal upheavals. Each of the remote and relatively unknown regions is evoked with a fine sense of place, and we share in the lives of authentic characters who are faced with difficult, often dangerous, choices.

Contents: 'Introduction', John Howard and Mark Valentine, ''Baltersan's Third Edition', Mark Valentine, 'Secret Byzantium', Mark Valentine, 'The Silver Eagles', John Howard, 'Silence and Fire', Mark Valentine, 'The Other Salt', Mark Valentine, 'The White City', John Howard, 'The Baltic Circles', John Howard, 'The Girl with the Violin', Mark Valentine, 'The Goat-Eyed', Mark Valentine, 'The Lion of Chaldea', Mark Valentine, 'Westenstrand', John Howard, 'The Unrest at Aachen', Mark Valentine, 'Prince Aziz', Mark Valentine, 'The Hunting Castle', John Howard, 'The Atelier at Iasi', Mark Valentine, 'A Minor Official', Mark Valentine, 'The Way of the Sun', John Howard, 'Wandering Paths', John Howard, 'A Lantern for Carpathia', Mark Valentine, 'The High Places', John Howard, 'The Fall of Ashes', Mark Valentine, 'Cabaret Zoltaire', Mark Valentine, 'The Waltz of Masks', John Howard, 'The Second Percussionist', Mark Valentine, 'A Gift for the Emperor', John Howard, 'An Officer of the Reserve', Mark Valentine.

Review

'... an astonishing work of fiction that effortlessly displaces the world we know with the world created on the pages we read. By virtue of strong, character-based storytelling, subtle prose and genuinely inventive strangeness, Valentine and Howard create a version of Europe that is not ours, but partakes of that which we know in such a manner as to be more powerful than what is real.' Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column

Limited edition hardbacks available by Mark Valentine:

A Country Still All Mystery (essays)

Star Kites (poetry)

Time, A Falconer: A Study of Sarban (biography)

Secret Europe (short stories, with John Howard)

Paperbacks available by Mark Valentine

The Collected Connoisseur (short stories, with John Howard)

Ebooks available by Mark Valentine

A Country Still All Mystery (essays)

Haunted by Books (essays)

The Collected Connoisseur (short stories, with John Howard)

Secret Europe (short stories, with John Howard)