Other books that might interest you

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  The Tales of Terror

  Robert Louis Stevenson

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  The Short Stories Of Robert Louis Stevenson. The short story is often viewed as an inferior relation to the Novel.  But it is an art in itself.  To take a story and distil its essence into fewer pages while keeping character and plot rounded and driven is not an easy task.  Many try and many fail.  In this series we look at short stories from many of our most accomplished writers.  Miniature masterpieces with a lot to say.  In this volume we examine some of the short stories of Robert Louis Stevenson.  In the Scottish canon to be placed alongside Burns is high praise indeed but it’s a rightful place for one of Scotland’s finest novelists.  Born in 1850 he managed to cram much into his 44 years travelling widely to France, the United States, Samoa and the South Seas.  Of course he is widely feted for his classics Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde, Treasure Island and poetry volumes such as A Child’s Garden Of Verses.  Here we concentrate on his short stories Olalla, The Body Snatchers and The Pavillion On The Links.  All offer compelling examples of narration and suspense superbly reduced to their essence.  Some of these stories are also available as an audiobook from our sister company Word Of Mouth.  Many samples are at our youtube channel   http://www.youtube.com/user/PortablePoetry?feature=mhee   The full volume can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon and other digital stores.  They are read for you by Richard Mitchley & Robbie McNab.  Index Of Titles; The Body Snatcher; Olalla.

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  Gods in Exile - Heine pulls at...

  Heinrich Heine

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  Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was born in Düsseldorf, Germany on 13th December 1797 to assimilated Jewish parents. 
   
  Heine studied law at the universities of Bonn, Göttingen, and Berlin but his greater commitment was to studying poetry and literature.   
   
  He converted to Protestantism in order to obtain work as there were draconian anti-Jewish laws in force at the time.   
   
  He was part of the German Romantic movement but also responsible in part for ushering in the post-Romantic crisis and the presumed failure of art as unable to overcome or explain the growing traumas of modernity.  However, his literary reputation was cemented in the second half of the 1820’s with his poetry collection ‘The Book of Songs’ together with his collection of ‘Pictures of Travel’ stories that blended fact and fiction together into commercial and critical successes. 
   
  After the July 1830 Revolution in France, he went to live in Paris, where he remained until his death.  
   
  Here he wrote much in the way of essays discussing the political and cultural scene in France together with volumes of social criticism on Germany. 
   
  By 1835, his works had been banned by the German government.  His lifelong subsidised lifestyle ended in 1844 when his uncle died leaving him nothing.  He turned once more to lyric poetry and created perhaps his finest poetical works.  A trip to Germany resulted in the long satirical poem ‘Germany. A Winter's Tale’. His second volume of poetry, ‘New Poems’ in 1844, included poems that had originally appeared in Karl Marx’s newspaper ‘Forward’ and continued the satirical style he now preferred.   
   
  In May 1848, Heine, in poor health, fell and was paralyzed and confined to his bed.  He called it his ‘mattress-grave’ and only death would remove him from it.  He was also experiencing eye problems and suffering from chronic lead poisoning. 
   
  Heinrich Heine died on 17th February 1856.  He was 58.   
   
  ‘Gods in Exile’ is perhaps a prophetic piece on his own life.  The old gods are overthrown by the new novelty of Christianity.  What will be their role now?  Is there life after for them?

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  The Haunted Dolls' House

  M. R. James

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  When Mr. Dillet buys a breathtakingly beautiful antique dolls' house from a dealer, he is delighted with his purchase and has it installed in his bedroom at home. When he goes to bed, however, he hears a clock strike one and then a strange scene unfolds before his eyes, leading him into a vision from the past in which he unravels a mysterious unsolved murder...

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  If I Had Two Wings - Stories

  Randall Kenan

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  Mingling the earthy with the otherworldly, these ten stories chronicle ineffable events in ordinary lives.In Kenan's fictional territory of Tims Creek, North Carolina, an old man rages in his nursing home, a parson beats up an adulterer, a rich man is haunted by a hog, and an elderly woman turns unwitting miracle worker. A retired plumber travels to Manhattan, where Billy Idol sweeps him into his entourage. An architect who lost his famous lover to AIDS reconnects with a high-school fling. Howard Hughes seeks out the woman who once cooked him butter beans.Shot through with humor and seasoned by inventiveness and maturity, Kenan riffs on appetites of all kinds, on the eerie persistence of history, and on unstoppable lovers and unexpected salvations. If I Had Two Wings is a rich chorus of voices and visions, dreams and prophecies, marked by physicality and spirit. Kenan's prose is nothing short of wondrous.

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  Meant To Be - A Perfect Fit...

  Alison Bliss

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  Sidney Larson always thought dark-haired, blue-eyed Brett Carmichael was sinfully sexy, to say nothing of the muscular mechanic's talent with his hands. But Sidney so didn't have time for Brett's overbearing tendencies when they were together so she broke things off. Now a chance encounter brings Brett back into her life, and Sidney can't help but notice intriguing changes in her ex. So what's stopping her from revisiting their scorching-hot chemistry? Since Sidney dumped him, Brett's made major life adjustments, thanks to therapy and a long, hard look at himself. Sure, he's still intense, but he knows how to focus his energy on his career, not on trying to control a fantastic woman like Sidney. Brett finds the sweet, generous brunette more seductive than ever, but now that he's finally worthy of her, will she be willing to give him a second chance?

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  Classic Cat Stories

  Becky Brown

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  Listen to this collection of celebrated classic cat stories read by an ensemble cast of beloved audiobook readers - including Samuel West, Lorelei King and Imogen Church.Classic Cat Stories is an anthology that includes fairy tales and fables from the likes of Rudyard Kipling and Charles Perrault as well as comic tales from Saki and E. F. Benson. Cats, of course, have always had a dark and mysterious side which is explored to chilling effect by the likes of Edgar Allan Poe in The Black Cat. But above all, we love them and you’ll find here stories about all kinds of cats that tug at the heartstrings like The Man of the House by Ethel Colburn Mayne and other stories which celebrate their curious ways. This edition is edited by anthologist, editor and literary agent Becky Brown.Stories included are:The Cat That Walked By Himself by Rudyard KiplingDick Baker's Cat by Mark TwainThe Cat by Mary E Wilkins Freeman The Black Cat by Edgar Allan PoeThe Philanthropist and the Happy Cat by SakiThe Man of the House by Ethel Colburn MayneNo. 25 to be Let or Sold by Compton MackenziePuss in Boots by Charles PerraultDick Dunkerman's Cat by Jerome K JeromeThe White Cat by E NesbitThe King of Cats by Stephen Vincent BenetPuss-Cat by E. F. BensonBroomsticks by Walter de la MareTobermory by Saki

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