PUBLISHER Hachette has launched its first-ever modern classics list, a curated list of award-winning, critically acclaimed and beloved titles.
And we're giving away a pack - which includes all 11 books - to one lucky reader. Here are the first 11 Hachette Essentials titles in the series:
Fingersmith (Sarah Waters): Set in Victorian London it is the story of an orphan who grows up among petty thieves under the rough but loving care of Mrs Sucksby and her "family". From the moment she draws breath, Sue's fate is linked to that of another orphan in a gloomy mansion not too many miles away.
A Visit from the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan): An this ambitious study of time and relationships. Thirteen interrelated stories with characters all connected to record company exec, Bennie Salazar, and his assistant, Sasha.
Cloud Atlas (David Mitchell): Six lives - one amazing adventure, this narrative circles the globe and reaches from the 19th century to a post-apocalyptic future.
Cold Mountain (Charles Frazier): A soldier wounded in the Civil War turns his back on the battlefield and begins the treacherous journey home to Cold Mountain, and to the woman he loved before the war. Inspiration for the Oscar-winning film of the same name.
Gilead (Marilynne Robinson): In 1956, toward the end of Rev John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son - a kind of last testament to his remarkable forebears. Pulitzer Prize winning novel.
If This is a Man/The Truce (Primo Levi): Two books in one, one recounts Levi's experience of entering and living on one of the Auschwitz concentration camps, and the other follows his struggle to return home after leaving the camp.
Me Talk Pretty One Day (David Sedaris): A move to Paris from New York inspired these hilarious pieces, including this title, about his attempts to learn French from a sadistic teacher who declares "every day spent with you is like having a caesarean section".
Schindler's Ark (Thomas Keneally): This novel brought the story of Oskar Schindler to international attention in 1982, when it won the Booker Prize. Steven Spielberg made it into the Oscar-winning film Schindler's List.
The Blind Assassin (Margaret Atwood): Sexually explicit for its time, it describes a risky affair in the 1930s between a wealthy young woman and a man on the run. They concoct a pulp fantasy set on Planet Zycron; and as the story twists through love, sacrifice and betrayal, so does the real one.
The Color Purple (Alice Walker): Set in the American South, it's the story of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped by the man she calls father, she has two children taken from her, is separated from her sister and trapped into an ugly marriage. Then she meets glamorous Shug Avery - a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny.
The Sympathizer (Viet Thanh Nguyen): A gripping spy novel, exploration of extreme politics, and moving love story, the book explores a life between two worlds and examines the legacy of the Vietnam War in literature, film, and the wars we fight today.