Publisher: Charles River Editors
G.K. Chesterton was an English writer, theologian and poet. Chesterton, also known as the prince of paradox, wrote on a vast variety of subjects using an unorthodox yet interesting writing style. This edition of The Napoleon of Notting Hill includes a table of contents.
A remarkable novel of a young boy whose dream of being a Pony Express rider teaches him the meaning of bravery, perseverance, and true friendship. When Billy applies to the Pony Express, he doesn’t expect superintendent, Mr. Slade, to hire him as a farmhand for some remote relay station called Mud Springs. Amos, the station manager, is none too pleased either. Instead of a strong, full-grown farmhand, he’s sent a twelve-year-old boy. As soon as he arrives at the Mud Springs station, Billy realizes he’s in for a challenge. Situated miles from anywhere, surrounded by vast stretches of bleak, dangerous land, the station is nothing more than a stable and a cramped soddy, managed by a grumpy man named Amos who can’t seem to keep his hired help. Right from the start, tempers flare as Amos and Billy clash. While Amos is determined to prove that Billy is too young for the job, Billy sets out to show that he can do the job as well as any man and, hopefully, prove to Mr. Slade he has what it takes to be a Pony Express rider. But life in such an isolated land is full of dangers. Amos and Billy soon discover they have bigger enemies than each other and need to join forces to save the station, the valuable horses, even their own lives.Show book
A businessman leaves prison and heads to Chicago to regain his fortune—but his past follows close behind him—in this absorbing historical epic. Newly released from prison, Frank Cowperwood immediately dives back into the stock market after the Panic of 1873, aiming to recover his lost fortune and become a millionaire once more. This time, he has a new plan and sets out for Chicago with his mistress, Aileen. Using his brutal business sense to snuff out his opponents, Frank has his eyes on the city’s street-railway system as his ticket back to the top. But as Frank knows, the past cannot remain buried forever, and it’s only a matter of time before his previous misdeeds come back to find him in his new home, threatening his stability—and more importantly, his money. “The great American novelist.”—Publishers WeeklyShow book
The profound coming-of-age story of a young boy growing up in rural Virginia, and the historic summer that would change his life foreverDuring the summer of 1959, Virginia’s Prince Edward County is entirely consumed by passionate resistance against, and in other corners, support for, the desegregation of schools as mandated by Brown v. Board of Education. Benjamin Rome, the ten-year-old son of a chicken farmer in one of the county’s small townships, struggles to comprehend the furor that surrounds him, even as he understands the immorality of racial prejudice. Within his own family, opinions are sharply divided, and it is against this charged backdrop that Ben spends the summer working with his friend Burghardt, a black farmhand, under the predatory gaze of Ben’s grandfather.While the elders of Prince Edward focus on closing the schools, life ambles on, and Ben grows closer to his pregnant sister, Lainie, and his troubled older brother, Al, while also coming to recognize the painful and inherent limitations of his friendship with Burghardt.Evocative and written with lush historical detail, Prince Edward is a refreshing bildungsroman by bestselling author Dennis McFarland, and a striking portrait of the social upheaval in the American South on the eve of the civil rights movement.Show book
Jodie and Bethan are about as different as two young women can be, but growing up they develop a strong bond of friendship in the quiet town of Harmony, North Carolina. As the world plunges into war, though, their friendship is tested by a devastating loss. Jodie blames God for the horror and sorrow of the world as she goes off to college dreaming of a grand future. But Bethan’s quiet desire to follow God’s will keeps her close to home, where her love and simple faith can serve as a model of inspiration for Jodie. Christina Moore’s illuminating narration of this moving story captures the quiet simplicity of lives given over to love and acceptance.Show book
The author of A Marriage of Convenience spins a Victorian tale “full of dark secrets and deceit . . . An entertaining novel” (Historical Novel Society). 1840. Miranda Jarvis would do anything to protect her sister—so when Lucy comes down with a fever, she thinks nothing of stealing a loaf of bread from a local landowner. After all, things can’t get much worse: after their father died, they were turned out of their home, and their mother lost her life on the road giving birth to a stillborn infant. Robbed by strangers, the pair of them have nothing, and no one to help them. Miranda doesn’t count on being nearly brained by the cook’s rolling pin . . . but nor does she count on the house’s owner himself. The seemingly respectable businessman Sir James, known for his philanthropy, takes a keen interest in Miranda and her sister, and they are soon established in his household. But Sir James has quarreled with his nephew, the rakish but reluctant smuggler Fletcher Taunt, and—little does Miranda know—the hostility between the two men, one of whom she comes to love, will change her life forever . . . “A fascinating historical love story full of mystery, struggle, and hope, Woods’ latest is a novel sure to enthrall.” —Booklist “A smugglers adventure where two young girls fall prey to the seedier side of human nature more than once, but eventually find the kindness and love they deserve.” —The Zest QuestShow book
Last Days of Pompeii is a novel written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. Once a very widely read book and now relatively neglected, it culminates in the cataclysmic destruction of the city of Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.The novel uses its characters to contrast the decadent culture of first-century Rome with both older cultures and coming trends. The protagonist, Glaucus, represents the Greeks who have been subordinated by Rome, and his nemesis Arbaces the still older culture of Egypt. Olinthus is the chief representative of the nascent Christian religion, which is presented favorably but not uncritically. (Summary from Wikipedia)Show book
