Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
The festive traditions that sprang up in Victorian times are often attributed in part to the Christmas stories of Charles Dickens and their evocative depictions of nineteenth-century life. This collection brings together five of Dickens' best-known Christmas stories: the universally loved 'A Christmas Carol', as well as 'The Chimes', 'The Cricket on theHearth', 'The Battle of Life', and 'The Haunted Man'.
Murphy, Samuel Beckett’s first published novel, is set in London and Dublin, during the first decades of the Irish Republic. The title character loves Celia in a striking case of love requited” but must first establish himself in London before his intended bride will make the journey from Ireland to join him. Beckett comically describes the various schemes that Murphy employs to stretch his meager resources and the pastimes that he uses to fill the hours of his days. Eventually Murphy lands a job as a nurse at Magdalen Mental Mercyseat hospital, where he is drawn into the mad world of the patients which ends in a fateful game of chess. While grounded in the comedy and absurdity of much of daily life, Beckett’s work is also an early exploration of themes that recur throughout his entire body of work including sanity and insanity and the very meaning of life.Show book
Spanning the extraordinary breadth of the genre, these terrifying stories are sure to leave you sleeping with the light on for many nights to come. Whether the threat comes from accursed artefacts, supernatural villains, or deadly rituals, there is always some unknowable evil lurking around the corner waiting to pounce.Ranging from the efforts of classic literary writers like Mary Shelley and Robert Louis Stevenson to pulp icon H. P. Lovecraft, these masters of the dark arts knew how to create suspense and an impending sense of dread.Horror fiction found its first connoisseurs amongst the Victorian public. This collection features several of its most accomplished pioneers.Short stories from Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, and Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, show that some of the 19th century's most revered horror novelists could provide equally terrifying experiences in a shorter form.Other authors such as H. P. Lovecraft, William Hope Hodgson, Pearl Norton Swet, and M. P. Shiel established themselves in the emerging pulp magazines of America in the early 20th century. There, they mastered their craft and provided terrifying thrills for an audience eager for a new type of fiction. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, writers like Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, E. F. Benson, and M. R. James mastered the classic ghost story.And who can forget Edgar Allan Poe? He devoted himself almost entirely to his poetry and his short stories, and his lyrical style and ability to evoke an atmosphere are unparalleled.This collection includes stories by:Edward Frederic BensonAmbrose BierceFrancis Marion CrawfordGeorge Allan EnglandWilliam Hope HodgsonW. W. JacobsM. R. JamesVernon LeeJoseph Sheridan Le FanuH. P. LovecraftArthur MachenGuy de MaupassantEdgar Allan PoeCharlotte RiddellMary ShelleyM. P. ShielRobert Louis StevensonBram StokerPearl Norton SwetShow book
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, published serially, then in its entirety in 1869. It is regarded as one of Tolstoy\'s finest literary achievements. The novel chronicles the French invasion of Russia and the impact of the Napoleonic era on Tsarist society through the stories of five Russian aristocratic families.Show book
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. The novel “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” is a continuance of the novel “Adventures of Tom Sawyer“. The author of the novel gave the greatest attention to the adventures of the main character Huckleberry Finn. The theme of the novel is the adventures that this boy experiences during one summer when traveling the Mississippi River.Show book
A Tale of Two Cities is an 1859 historical novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie, whom he had never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.Show book
