Hideous Kinky: Esther Freud (Penguin Essentials, 50) - Tapa blanda

Esther Freud's best-known novel, which inspired the Kate Winslet film, published as Penguin Essential for the first time.

Two little girls are taken by their mother to Morocco on a 1960s pilgrimage of self-discovery. For Mum it is not just an escape from the grinding conventions of English life but a quest for personal fulfilment; her children, however, seek something more solid and stable amidst the shifting desert sands.

'Just open the book and begin, and instantly you will be first of all charmed, then intrigued and finally moved by this fascinating story' Spectator.

'We were still hours from Marrakech when the van backfired, veered sharply off the road into a field, and shuddered to a halt.'

Julia, a beautiful young idealist, travels to Morocco with her two small daughters, intent on finding an alternative to the stultifying conventions of English life.

Unable to settle upon a suitable lover let alone one of the many spiritual paths on offer, she allows her children to roam the streets and bazaars unchecked. Her daughters, however, would like nothing more than the simple ordinary life their mother seeks to escape in this hot, arid land.

'A remarkable triumph' Sunday Telegraph