Publisher: Interactive Media
Elizabeth was initially hesitant to publish the poems, believing they were too personal. However, her husband insisted they were the best sequence of English-language sonnets since Shakespeare's time and urged her to publish them. To offer the couple some privacy, she decided to publish them as if they were translations of foreign sonnets.
From “the most ingenious, inventive, and exciting of our novelists”: Three brilliant novels exploring colonialism, faith, and the mysteries of desire (V. S. Pritchett). This collection features three classic novels that explore Graham Greene’s most important themes: Catholicism, international intrigue, and the never-ending struggle to know oneself. From West Africa to Vietnam to Mexico, these stories prove that “no serious writer of [the twentieth] century has more thoroughly invaded and shaped the public imagination than Graham Greene” (Time). The Heart of the Matter: In a British colony of West Africa, Henry Scobie is a pious man of modest means charged with securing borders. But when he’s passed over for a promotion, the humiliation hits hard—for his wife. To make it up to her, Henry accepts a loan from a black marketeer to secure Louise’s passage out of Africa. His single indiscretion quickly leads him—one moral compromise after another—into a web of blackmail, adultery, and murder. “A powerful, deep-striking novel . . . of a spirit lost in the darkness of the flesh.” —New York Herald Tribune The Quiet American: Vietnam, 1955. British journalist Thomas Fowler is covering the insurgency against French colonial rule and doing what he can to protect his Vietnamese lover, Phuong. Alden Pyle of the CIA believes in bringing American democracy to Vietnam by any means necessary. But when his ideas of conquest come to include Phuong, pride, passion, and blind moral conviction collide with terrible consequences. “A heartrending romance . . . Haunting and profound.” —All Things Considered, NPR The Power and the Glory: In 1930s Tabasco, Mexico, Catholicism is being outlawed. As churches are razed and devotees are executed, a member of the clergy known only as the “whisky priest” flees. He now travels as one of the hunted—attending, in secret, to the spiritual needs of the faithful. When a peasant begs him to return to Tabasco to hear the confessions of a dying man, the whisky priest knows it’s a trap. But it’s also his duty—and possibly his salvation. “A thriller—but also a novel of ideas . . . A book I would have simply died to write.” —Scott Turow, New York Times–bestselling authorShow book
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was born on August 28th, 1814, at 45 Lower Dominick Street, Dublin, into a literary family with Huguenot, Irish and English roots The children were tutored but, according to his brother William, the tutor taught them little if anything. Le Fanu was eager to learn and used his father's library to educate himself about the world. He was a creative child and by fifteen had taken to writing poetry. Accepted into Trinity College, Dublin to study law he also benefited from the system used in Ireland that he did not have to live in Dublin to attend lectures, but could study at home and take examinations at the university as and when necessary. This enabled him to also write and by 1838 Le Fanu's first story The Ghost and the Bonesetter was published in the Dublin University Magazine. Many of the short stories he wrote at the time were to form the basis for his future novels. Indeed, throughout his career Le Fanu would constantly revise, cannabilise, embellish and re-publish his earlier works to use in his later efforts. Between 1838 and 1840 Le Fanu had written and published twelve stories which purported to be the literary remains of an 18th-century Catholic priest called Father Purcell. Set mostly in Ireland they include classic stories of gothic horror, with grim, shadowed castles, as well as supernatural visitations from beyond the grave, together with madness and suicide. One of the themes running through them is a sad nostalgia for the dispossessed Catholic aristocracy of Ireland, whose ruined castles stand in mute salute and testament to this history. On 18 December 1844 Le Fanu married Susanna Bennett, the daughter of a leading Dublin barrister. The union would produce four children. Le Fanu was now stretching his talents across the length of a novel and his first was The Cock and Anchor published in 1845. A succession of works followed and his reputation grew as well as his income. Unfortunately, a decade after his marriage it became an increasing source of difficultly. Susanna was prone to suffer from a range of neurotic symptoms including great anxiety after the deaths of several close relatives, including her father two years before. In April 1858 she suffered an "hysterical attack" and died in circumstances that are still unclear. The anguish, profound guilt as well as overwhelming loss were channeled into Le Fanu’s work. Working only by the light of two candles he would write through the night and burnish his reputation as a major figure of 19th Century supernaturalism. His work challenged the focus on the external source of horror and instead he wrote about it from the perspective of the inward psychological potential to strike fear in the hearts of men. A series of books now came forth: Wylder's Hand (1864), Guy Deverell (1865), The Tenants of Malory (1867), The Green Tea (1869), The Haunted Baronet (1870), Mr. Justice Harbottle (1872), The Room in the Dragon Volant (1872) and In a Glass Darkly. (1872). But his life was drawing to a close. Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu died in Merrion Square in his native Dublin on February 7th, 1873, at the age of 58. In this famous story two college students rent rooms in Dublin’s Aungier Street once owned by a brutal hanging judge who seems to still haunt both place and mind…..Show book
This portrait of a Southern family’s downfall was the literary debut of the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Sophie’s Choice. A finalist for the National Book Award, Lie Down in Darkness centers on the Loftis family—Milton and Helen and their daughters, Peyton and Maudie. The story, told through a series of flashbacks on the day of Peyton’s funeral, is a powerful depiction of a family doomed by its failure to forget and its inability to love. Written in masterful prose that “achieves real beauty” (The Washington Post), William Styron’s debut novel offers unflinching insight into the ineradicable bonds of place and family. The story of Milton, Helen, and their children reveals much about life’s losses and disappointments. Lie Down in Darkness, poignant and compelling, is a classic of modern American literature from the author who went on to earn high critical acclaim—with a Pulitzer Prize for The Confessions of Nat Turner and a National Book Award for Sophie’s Choice—and a place at the top of the New York Times bestseller list. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of William Styron, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Styron family and the Duke University Archives.Show book
Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884-1941) was a New Zealand-born English novelist famous for his skill at scene setting and vivid plots. He was a best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s and remains popular to this day. One recurring theme in his works, based in his own unhappy experiences of being bullied at school, is alienation in childhood.The Ruby Glass is a story of dysfunctional childhood. The Cole family play host to their little cousin, Jane, one spring. The other children, Jeremy, Helen, and Mary take an instant dislike to this scrawny, terrified child, and although they do their best to include her in their games, Jane will not join in or engage with them.The only person who seems to like Jane is Hamlet, Jeremy's beloved dog. Jeremy is having a period where whatever he does, he seems to be in increasing trouble with his parents. And the hated cousin, Jane, always seems to be at the root of everything that goes wrong. He feels that she will be the source of his downfall.Then one day, the Jane commits the worst act that any of the children could possibly imagine. And Jeremy's response...even with hindsight he cannot understand how on earth he came to do what he did. And why. Why on earth did he do that?Show book
Follow the story of the orphan Oliver as he escapes child labor to join a gang of young criminals. The 1838 novel reveals the social conditions at the time in England for many orphans who were forced into child labor, satirizing the industrial era and the poverty and crime that surrounded it. The book was adapted into a musical which eventually became a Best Picture-winning film in 1968. Join Oliver Twist on a remarkable journey through Charles Dickens' timeless tale expertly narrated by Rick Kistner. Step into the world of 19th-century England as Oliver navigates the challenges of his orphaned life, from the harsh reality of child labor to the allure of a young criminal gang. Through this skilled narration, experience the intricate web of social dynamics, poverty, and resilience that define Oliver's world. Immerse yourself in the world of Oliver Twist as the narrator weaves a rich tapestry of characters and settings, bringing to life the struggles and triumphs of this beloved literary classic. Experience the highs and lows alongside Oliver as he seeks his place in a society rife with poverty and crime, all while striving for a better future. This audiobook edition of Oliver Twist is a must-listen for those captivated by Charles Dickens' exploration of the human spirit in the face of adversity.Show book
An empty suit of armor is the hero in this witty novella, a picaresque gem-now available in an independent volume for the first time-that brilliantly parodies medieval knighthood. Set in the time of Charlemagne and narrated by a nun with her own secrets to keep, The Nonexistent Knight tells the story of Agilulf, a gleaming white suit of armor with nothing inside it. A challenge to his honor sends Agilulf on a search through France, England, and North Africa to confirm the chastity of a virgin he saved from rape years earlier. In the end, after many surprising turns of plot, a closing confession draws this sparkling novella to a perfect finish.Show book
