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Elmore Leonard was described by Martin Amis as the closest thing America had to a "national novelist".

When he died in 2013, he left behind a legacy of 45 novels, characterised by a direct narrative voice and short, witty dialogue.

Much of his work was adapted for the screen, including Get Shorty and Rum Punch, which became Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown.

Now an unseen collection of Leonard's early work, written between the ages of 27 and 35, is being published for the first time.

"He was experimenting with voice and attitude and sound - he referred to voice as his sound," said the novelist's son, Peter Leonard.

"Jackie Brown was his favourite; Elmore thought that Quentin Tarantino nailed it and understood him better than any other director."