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  The Prince and the Archer - Lord...

  Griff Hosker

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  ‘In loyalty, there lies betrayal.’ 
  William Wallace is dead and Sir Gerald Warbow should be able to rest on his well- 
  won laurels, but his oath to King Edward the 1st stands firm. As new enemies of the Crown 
  emerge from the shadows, Warbow must once again guide his men to protect the realm. Sir 
  Gerald, as always, strives to obey orders but when a new monarch takes the throne, will his 
  past loyalties prove treasonous? Or will the ageing archer be able to outwit those who seek 
  his downfall?

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  War Girls The: Book Summary &...

  Alexander Pike

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  This content is an independent and unofficial summary created for informational and educational purposes only. It is not affiliated with, authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by the original author or publisher. All rights to the original work belong to its respective copyright holders. This summary is not intended to substitute the original book, but to offer a concise overview and interpretation of its main ideas.
   
  
  
   
  Set against the brutal backdrop of World War II, The War Girls tells the gripping, intertwined stories of two cousins torn apart by ideology and fate. One, a brave member of the Polish resistance risking everything to save lives; the other, a young woman indoctrinated into the Nazi regime, struggling to reclaim her humanity.
   
  This powerful tale explores loyalty, betrayal, and redemption as these women navigate the horrors of war, their fractured relationship, and their shared hope for a future beyond violence.
   
  With heart-pounding suspense, emotional depth, and unforgettable characters, The War Girls is an inspiring story of courage, resilience, and the unbreakable bonds of family—even in the darkest of times.
   
  Perfect for listeners who crave stories that uplift the human spirit and demonstrate the profound strength of standing up for what is right.

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  3 Stories - Set in Puritan New...

  Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington...

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  There is something about the number 3.    
   
  The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two.   
   
  Most religions also have 3 this and 3 that and, of course, in these more modern times, three’s a crowd may be too many, except when it’s a ménage à trois.  It seems good things usually come in threes. 
   
  Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating. 
   
  From their pens to your your ears.

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  Owen Oliver - A Short Story...

  Owen Oliver

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  Owen Oliver was born Joshua Albert Flynn in Sheerness, Kent, on 15th September 1863.  He was the eldest son of Albert Spencer Flynn and benefitted from a good education at private schools and then on to graduating at King's College, London.    Writing came after he had established himself as a senior civil servant and after he married Ada Parkinson who he had two sons and three daughters with.   
   
  Flynn served in South Africa as financial adviser to Lord Kitchener, worked for the Admiralty and the War Office from 1885 and was appointed director-general of finance at the Ministry of Pensions in 1916.  He excelled professionally and was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1910 and knighted in 1919.  
   
  Under his pen name, Owen Oliver, he contributed over 250 short stories in different genres that were published in the popular magazines of the day.  Science fiction mainly in the Yellow Magazine, romance in the Windsor Magazine and numerous adventure stories in the London Magazine and  Cassell’s.  In 1918, he published the novel "An Author's Daughter" followed by A Knight at Heart, which delved into themes of chivalry, honour and love, set against the backdrop of historical events. Through his evocative prose and engaging narratives Oliver transported readers to different worlds, inviting them to experience the thrill of adventure and life in possibly a simpler time.  He wrote one further novel as well as a non-fiction book on the civil service that included the idea of widening recruitment outside of the elite universities. 
   
  Joshua Albert Flynn, aka Owen Oliver, died in Streatham, south London on 8th October 1933.  He was 70. 
   
  1 - Owen Oliver - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction 
  2 - The Cloud-Men by Owen Oliver 
  3 - Days of Darkness by Owen Oliver 
  4 - The Awakening by Owen Oliver 
  5 - An Unsolicited Contribution by Owen Oliver 
  6 - The Specification by Owen Oliver

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  The Sleeping Car Porter

  Suzette Mayr

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  WINNER OF THE 2022 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE
  		 
  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY TOP 20 LITERARY FICTION BOOKS OF 2022
  		 
  OPRAH DAILY: BOOKS TO READ BY THE FIRE
  		 
  THE GLOBE 100: THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022
  		 
  CBC BOOKS: THE BEST CANADIAN FICTION OF 2022
  		 
  When a mudslide strands a train, Baxter, a queer Black sleeping car porter, must contend with the perils of white passengers, ghosts, and his secret love affair
  		 
  The Sleeping Car Porter brings to life an important part of Black history in North America, from the perspective of a queer man living in a culture that renders him invisible in two ways. Affecting, imaginative, and visceral enough that you’ll feel the rocking of the train, The Sleeping Car Porter is a stunning accomplishment.
  		 
  Baxter’s name isn’t George. But it’s 1929, and Baxter is lucky enough, as a Black man, to have a job as a sleeping car porter on a train that crisscrosses the country. So when the passengers call him George, he has to just smile and nod and act invisible. What he really wants is to go to dentistry school, but he’ll have to save up a lot of nickel and dime tips to get there, so he puts up with “George.”
  		 
  On this particular trip out west, the passengers are more unruly than usual, especially when the train is stalled for two extra days; their secrets start to leak out and blur with the sleep-deprivation hallucinations Baxter is having. When he finds a naughty postcard of two queer men, Baxter’s memories and longings are reawakened; keeping it puts his job in peril, but he can’t part with the postcard or his thoughts of Edwin Drew, Porter Instructor.
  		 
  ”Suzette Mayr’s The Sleeping Car Porter offers a richly detailed account of a particular occupation and time—train porter on a Canadian passenger train in 1929—and unforcedly allows it to illuminate the societal strictures imposed on black men at the time—and today. Baxter is a secretly-queer and sleep-deprived porter saving up for dental school, working a system that periodically assigns unexplained demerits, and once a certain threshold is reached, the porter loses his job. Thus, success is impossible, the best one can do is to fail slowly. As Baxter takes a cross-continental run, the boarding passengers have more secrets than an Agatha Christie cast, creating a powder keg on train tracks. The Sleeping Car Porter is an engaging and illuminating novel about the costs of work, service, and secrets.” – Keith Mosman, Powell's Books
  		 
  ”I thought The Sleeping Car Porter was fantastic! It strikes a balance between being about the struggles of being black and gay at that time while not being too heavy handed with it. I enjoyed his constant mental math on how many demerits he might receive for each infraction. The reader really gets a sense of the conflict that Baxter is going through. I really liked reading a book from the perspective of a porter.” – Hunter Gillum, Beaverdale Books

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  Top 10 Short Stories The - The...

  Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman...

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  Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart.  A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. 
   
  In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?  
   
  The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme.  Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. 
   
  Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made.  If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. 
   
  The North-East region of the United States has a long and excellent history of literary works from its talented sons and daughters.   Although some travelled the continent, and even further afield, their roots are unfailingly of this American landscape, its people and their shared experiences.  
   
  1 - The Top 10 - US Authors of the North-East - An Introduction 
  2 - Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne 
  3 - Bartleby the Scrivener - Part 1 by Herman Melville 
  4 - Bartleby the Scrivener - Part 2 by Herman Melville 
  5 - The Rats in the Walls by H P Lovecraft 
  6 - The Yellow Wall Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman 
  7 - The Outcasts of Poker Flat by Bret Harte 
  8 - The Fullness of Life by Edith Wharton 
  9 - The Devil and Tom Walker by Washington Irving 
  10 - The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe 
  11 - The Open Boat by Stephen Crane 
  12 - The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell

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