Publisher: Interactive Media
The story follows Tarzan as he is forced to confront the evils of his past and protect his family from those who would do them harm. The novel is a testament to Tarzan's strength and resilience, as well as his capacity for love and compassion.
King Alban was a good king, ruling over Albanatolia with kindness, fairness, and above all, efficiency, thanks to the white magic. Everyone had enough to wear, enough to eat, enough to do, and had their washing done for free at the Palace, on Mondays from 10 to 4. One day, the king's lavish and vain long-lost brother returned to the kingdom to bring a bit of colour to the realm with his own particular brand of magic, while stirring up discontent among the citizens, so that he might take the throne for himself. This amusing allegory by E. Nesbit explores themes of political propaganda, populism and responsible leadership, all told with Nesbit's signature charm, wit and whimsy. The Plush Usurper was first published in Nine Unlikely Tales, 1901.Show book
The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them is T Baron Russell.Show book
Vernon Lee was born Violet Paget on 4th October 1856 in Boulogne, France to intellectual expatriate British parents. In common with several other very talented literary women of the day she felt it necessary to publish under a masculine pseudonym in order for her writing to be taken seriously. Indeed she seems to have adopted that persona across her whole lifestyle becoming personally known and acknowledged by all as Vernon Lee and accordingly dressed as a man. Her first published work, in 1880, was taken from her collection of essays that had originally appeared in Fraser’s Magazine with the scholarly title of; ‘Studies of the Eighteenth Century in Italy.’ It reflected her passion for music and centered on the rich creative lives of poet-librettist Pietro Metastasio and dramatists Carlo Goldoni and Carlo Gozzi. She wrote over a dozen volumes of essays on art, music, and travel with her scholarly appreciation animated by wit and imagination. Lee was well-regarded as an expert on the Italian Renaissance and was a proponent of the Aesthetic movement. Her literary talents were extensive and she wrote a number of novels and plays. Perhaps her best remembered works are her haunting and powerful short stories exploring the supernatural. Lee has often received accolades for these and glowingly compared to other authors such as M R James. A committed pacifist she was resolved to protest against World War I. Her social activism in other areas was perhaps fueled by her feminist beliefs. In her private life she was a lesbian and had long-term passionate relationships with three women including the doomed author and poet, Amy Levy. Vernon Lee died on 13th February 1935 in San Gervasio Bresciano, Italy. In Dionea we discover that a young girl has been washed ashore near Genoa. Her life could be one of misery or success depending on the fates. But despite her ravishing beauty Dionea grows up to be not the woman all had hoped she might become.Show book
"King Pest" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe in which two drunken sailors, Legs and Hugh, enter a strange house during a plague in London. There, they encounter a bizarre court led by King Pest and his grotesque entourage, resulting in strange and darkly funny events.Show book
Valancy Stirling is twenty-nine years old. She has never been married, nor has she ever been in love. She lives with her quite judgmental mother and aunt, who constantly harp on her to get on with her life. An old maid by current societal standards, Valancy seeks reprieve from her current state in the form of reading books that take her to the Blue Castle, a place where all of her dreams and wishes come true. When her life takes a turn for the worse, she comes to terms with the person she wants to be and rebels against her family to fight for her own version of the Blue Castle.Show book
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on 4th July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a town synonymous with the earlier Salem Witch Trials. It was instrumental in Hawthorne’s later use of American Gothic and dark romanticism in his writing. He was a mere four years old when his father died and his mother took him and his two sisters to live with her family and then on to their own home in Raymond, Maine. The young Hawthorne had a passion for fiction and poetry and voraciously read the works of Ann Radcliffe, Henry Fielding and Lord Byron. He was sent to college at his maternal uncle’s insistence. During these years he met and befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future U S president Franklin Pierce. These friendships were lifelong and to have a crucial impact on his writings and career. At college Hawthorne had made attempts at writing short stories and essays but without opportunities to publish. It was only in 1828 that he finally published his novel ‘Franshawe’ to little success and so he began work as editor for the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge. Hawthorne’s short stories were first published in magazines but in 1837 were collected and published as ‘Twice-Told Tales’. A steady literary career still did not come his way and so he worked in a good position at Salem’s port and married the love of his life Sophia Peabody. They moved to live in ‘The Old Manse’ at Concord, Massachusetts. Finally. in 1850 came spectacular literary and commercial success with ‘The Scarlet Letter’ followed by ‘The House of the Seven Gables’ the following year. In 1852, Hawthorne published a biography of presidential candidate Franklin Pierce. After Pierce’s victory he was appointed consul in Liverpool, a position that offered prestige, money and fame. At the end of this appointment he returned several times to Europe before settling in Massachusetts and resuming writing and publication. During the early 1860’s his health declined and on 19th May 1864 during a trip to Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was 59 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.Show book
