{"title":"Books by John Seilern","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781068761300","title":"CRUMBS FROM THE BANQUET","description":"Istanbul, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Hanoi, Delhi, Cairo: the author spent two months in each to explore, in search of man-made beauty still resisting the march of time: winding alleys, cobbled squares, shingled roofs and grand palazzi, which have somehow escaped globalisation and slipped through the tourist net. \n “I was captivated by this book. It is concise, witty, unusual, honest and excellently contrived.  It certainly deserves to succeed.”  — Alexander Waugh, author of The House of Wittgenstein\n“I couldn’t put it down. One of the best travel books I’ve ever read.” — Rupert Everett, actor; author of Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins and Vanished Years\n\"John Seilern has orchestrated a valse noble et sentimentale in this vividly personal, and deeply sentient account of random journeys to several far-flung, diverse cities… their environs, their history, customs, and colour. Take it when going to any one of them, and keep it close at hand.”\n— Nicky Haslam, author of Redeeming Features and Folly de Grandeur.\n“A trip like none other. One would like to join him.” \n— Esther Vilar, author of The Manipulated Man\n“A highly readable account of the travels of a latter-day ‘homme du monde’.” \n— Philip Hook, author of Breakfast at Sotheby's.\n“Trieste native and cosmopolitan writer John Seilern brings an eye for absurdity and a respect for ritual to this compelling tour in search of beauty past and present. Blessed with a vast network of relations dotted across the globe, he forms new friendships wherever he goes. A delight to read.”\n— Flora Fraser, author of Beloved Emma and The Unruly Queen","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56296217280885,"sku":"9781068761300","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781068761300_5d59e123-66cc-4d04-923a-8e22fd50acc1.jpg?v=1786017380"},{"product_id":"9781068761317","title":"MIXED BLESSINGS","description":"The reader of these stories will follow the author around the world. From Bangkok to Brixton, Capri to Cairo, Truro to Trinidad and Venice to the Vatican, they reflect his travels and mindset. Some have happy endings, many don’t; all shine a light on the human condition and its varied stimuli: generosity and greed; decency and deceit; love shared and love denied. \n“There could be no more apt title for this collection than Mixed Blessings. The world they describe is opulent: Gstaad, Mustique, Rome, Switzerland, Monte Carlo. But the people in these stories are not made happy by their vast wealth, their membership of private clubs, nor their rare collections of furniture or ancient books: there’s a scorpion’s sting in every tale. John Seilern has reimagined Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected for the White Lotus age. Just don’t expect the fast cars, beautiful women and opulence in these pages to bring anything other than bad fortune.” \n— Cressida Connolly, author of After the Party\n‘These are very enjoyable stories from international high life written with great panache.’ \n— James Stourton\nJohn Seilern’s outstanding short stories evoke Stefan Zweig in their human sympathy, with a tinge of Roald Dahl in their narrative twists. — Philip Hook, author of Breakfast at Sotheby’s","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56312116248949,"sku":"9781068761317","price":16.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781068761317_fae9d70d-1359-4983-bf8c-656dfca8f09d.jpg?v=1786017381"},{"product_id":"the-zalumirsk-affair","title":"The Zalumirsk Affair","description":"Vienna, 5 July 1914. Constantin Capogreco wakes up in a sanatorium with no recollection of his identity, his family or the events that brought him there. All he knows is that the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, has been shot dead. Which is odd, because Constantin fell unconscious twelve hours before the assassination. The crisis occurred when he and his former schoolfriend Giovanni Valori broke down at a house party in the far-flung Galician castle of Zalumirsk. No one observed the lead-up to their collapse, and no one can explain it. While Giovanni retreats into silence, Constantin's fractured memories suggest a web of sexual betrayal and psychological dominance. But there is a darker force at play, a force that neither science nor reason can explain. Three weeks into the Great War, Constantin falls in action, dashing any hope of explaining his prescience. After the conflict, his father Dimitri decides to get to the bottom of it. But as he scours Mittel- and Southern Europe, from Vienna to Trieste and from Venice to the newly founded kingdom of Yugoslavia, he butts against a persistent obstacle: Giovanni Valori, his only hope of finding out the truth, has vanished. In the end, after many highs and lows, he tracks Giovanni down to a snowbound friary in Croatia. Spanning the fall of an empire, the destruction of a generation and a chilling disclosure, The Zalumirsk Affair is a haunting story of guilt, forbidden love and the terrible consequences of surrendering to evil.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57680069788021,"sku":"9781918233063","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781918233063.jpg?v=1792423050"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-john-seilern.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}