Other books that might interest you

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  Little Women

  Louisa Walcott

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  With humor and pathos, Little Women follows the lives of four young women and their mother as they face the daily struggles of life in the 19th century. First published in 1868, this memorable and touching coming-of-age masterpiece is beloved by generations.  Set in Concord, Massachusetts, this is the story of four sisters who learn hard lessons of poverty and growing up in New England during the American Civil War. Each of the March sisters has a vision of what their ideal future will bring, though ultimately experiencing, as most young do, something completely different. The sisters are put to the test when their mother must leave them to attend to their father who is badly wounded in the war.

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  Evermore - A Saga of Slavery and...

  Gretchen Craig

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  Nicolette Chamard, a woman of color in the most color-conscious city in the world, rejoices when the Union Army marches into New Orleans. At last her people will be free, and even knowing her collaboration with the Union will put her in danger, she means to help make it happen. Marcel Chamard, Nicolette's privileged white half-brother, surveys the same parade and sees conquerors, not liberators. If the Union wins the war, it will mean the end of the slave-holding culture, the end of wealth and ease. Marcel wants nothing to change, not the family's rich cane plantation, not the life he plans with his lovely white bride, and not the life he lives with his beloved colored mistress and their two sons. Finnian McKee, a Union Army officer, comes from a family of abolitionists. He is determined to do his small part to make the ideal of freedom a reality for all. When he meets the fascinating Nicolette Chamard, he is too new to New Orleans to recognize that though she is light-skinned, she is by Louisiana standards a Negress. Torn apart by the war and by a culture that forbids their union, his heart's desire is to find love with this woman that will transcend the bonds of race.

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  Spirit of Lost Angels

  Liza Perrat

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  They drowned Victoire's mother, claiming she was a witch. Then, her father died beneath the wheels of a nobleman's carriage. Forced to leave her village, Victoire finds work in Paris. But domestic employment comes at a high price, and the orphaned girl suffers gruesome abuse at the hands of a diabolical aristocracy.
   
  Accused of a heinous crime, they imprison her in the depraved lunatic asylum, La Salpêtriere. With the help of ruthless seductress, Jeanne de Valois - con-woman of the Necklace Affair that brought down Marie Antoinette - Victoire must find the strength to join the revolutionary force storming the Bastille.
   
  Can she survive a chilling betrayal and rise above her impoverished peasant roots to take her place in this new, post-revolutionary France?
   
  Based on historical fact, Spirit of Lost Angels is a riveting testament to the courage of women facing tragedy, betrayal, and insanity in a world where their gift can be their curse.

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  Charlotte - Perfect for fans of...

  Helen Moffett

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  Everybody believes that Charlotte Lucas has no prospects. She is unmarried, plain, poor and reaching a dangerous age. When she stuns the neighbourhood by accepting the proposal of buffoonish clergyman Mr Collins, her best friend Lizzy Bennet is appalled by her decision. Yet this is the only way Charlotte knows how to provide for her future. Her married life will propel her into a new world: not only of duty and longed-for children, but secrets, grief, unexpected love and friendship, and a kind of freedom. Jane Austen cared deeply about the constraints on women in Regency England. This powerful reimagining takes up where Austen left off in Pride and Prejudice, showing us a woman determined to carve a place for herself in the world. Charlotte offers a fresh, feminist addition to the post-Austen canon, beautifully imagined, and brimming with passion and intelligence.

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  The Short Stories of Leo Tolstoy...

  Leo Tolstoy

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  Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 in the Russian province of Tula to a wealthy noble family. As a child, he had private tutors but he showed little interest in any formal education. When he went to the University of Kazan in 1843 to study oriental languages and law, he left without completing his courses.  Life now was relaxed and idle but with some writing also taking place.  Gambling debts forced an abrupt change of path and he joined the army to fight in the Crimean War.  He was commended for his bravery and promoted but was appalled at the brutality and loss of life.  He recorded these and other earlier experiences in his diaries which formed the basis of several of his works. 
   
  In 1852 ‘Childhood’ was published to immediate success and was followed by ‘Boyhood’ and ‘Youth’. 
   
  His experience in the army and the horrors he witnessed resulted in ‘The Cossacks’ in 1862 and the trilogy ‘Sevastopol Tales’. After the war he travelled around Europe, visiting London and Paris and meeting such luminaries as Victor Hugo and Charles Darwin.  
   
  It was now that Tolstoy began his masterpiece, ‘War and Peace’. Published in 1869 it was an epic work that changed literature. He quickly followed this with ‘Anna Karenina’.  
   
  These successes made Tolstoy rich and helped him accomplish many of his dreams but also brought problems as he grappled with his faith and the lot of the oppressed poor. These revolutionary views became so popular that the authorities now kept him under surveillance.  
   
  He led a life of asceticism and vegetarianism and put his socialist ideals into practice by establishing numerous schools for the poor and food programmes. He also believed in giving away his wealth, which caused much discord with his wife.  
   
  His writing continued to bring forth classics such as ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’ and many brilliant and incisive short stories such as ‘How Much Land Does A Man Need’.  
   
  In 1901 Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Church and controversially deselected for the Nobel Prize for Literature. 
   
  Whilst undertaking a pilgrimage by train in October 1910 with his daughter Aleksandra he caught pneumonia in the nearby town of Astapovo.  Leo Tolstoy died on November 9th, 1910, he was 82. 
  01 - Leo Tolstoy - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction 
  02 - Diary of a Lunatic by Leo Tolstoy 
  03 - A Dialogue Among Clever People by Leo Tolstoy 
  04 - Aloysha The Pot by Leo Tolstoy 
  05 - God Sees The Truth But Waits by Leo Tolstoy 
  06 - How Much Land Does A Man Need by Leo Tolstoy

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  The Devil's Slave - A Novel

  Tracy Borman

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  The acclaimed author of The King’s Witch continues her epic trilogy of Jacobean England as conspiracy haunts the court of King James.In the court of King James, lady-in-waiting Frances Gorges was suspected of witchcraft for her healing skills. But when her lover was executed for his role in the Gunpowder Plot, she fled for her life—and that of her unborn child. Now Frances is compelled to return to the dissolute and dangerous court to marry Sir Thomas Tyringham, King James’s master of hounds, who has agreed to assume paternity of her son. Meanwhile, whispers of conspiracy continue to echo through the royal palace. Against this perilous backdrop, Frances reunites with her former mistress, the Princess Elizabeth, as well as other less friendly members of the court: Prince Henry, the unscrupulous heir to the crown; Lord Cecil, eager to persecute Frances as a witch; and King James himself, ever more paranoid and cruel towards alleged traitors. But she also discovers a surprising new ally: Sir Walter Raleigh, himself a prisoner in the tower of London. As he makes his intentions known, Frances again finds herself caught in a web of secrets, promises, and plots.

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