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  Nothing Left to Fear from Hell

  Alan Warner

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  Shortlisted for The Winston Graham Historical Fiction Prize and The Highland Book Prize 
   
   
   
  A battle lost. A daring escape. A long walk into obscurity. The ultimate failure . . . 
   
   
   
  In the aftermath of the disastrous Battle of Culloden, a lonely figure takes flight with a small band of companions through the islands and mountains of the Hebrides. His name is Charles Edward Stuart: better known today as Bonnie Prince Charlie. He had come to the country to take the throne. Now he is leaving in exile and abject defeat. 
   
   
   
  In prose that is by turns poetic, comic, macabre, haunting, and humane, multi- award-winning author Alan Warner traces the frantic last journey through Scotland of a man who history will come to define for his failure.

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  Johny Gruelle: Raggedy Ann...

  Johnny Gruelle

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  As I write this, I have before me on my desk, propped up against the telephone, an old rag doll. Dear old Raggedy Ann! The same Raggedy Ann with which my mother played when a child. There she sits, a trifle loppy and loose-jointed, looking me squarely in the face in a straightforward, honest manner, a twinkle where her shoe-button eyes reflect the electric light. Evidently Raggedy has been to a "tea party" today, for her face is covered with chocolate. She smiles happily and continuously. True, she has been nibbled by mice, who have made nests out of the soft cotton with which she has been stuffed, but Raggedy smiled just as broadly when the mice nibbled at her, for her smile is painted on. What adventures you must have had, Raggedy! What joy and happiness you have brought into this world! And no matter what treatment you have received, how patient you have been! What lessons of kindness and fortitude you might teach could you but talk; you with your wisdom of fifty-nine years. No wonder Rag Dolls are the best beloved! You are so kindly, so patient, so lovable. The more you become torn, tattered and loose-jointed, Rag Dolls, the more you are loved by children. Who knows but that Fairyland is filled with old, lovable Rag Dolls—soft, loppy Rag Dolls who ride through all the wonders of Fairyland in the crook of dimpled arms, snuggling close to childish breasts within which beat hearts filled with eternal sunshine. So, to the millions of children and grown-ups who have loved a Rag Doll, I dedicate these stories of Raggedy Ann. 

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  Franz Kafka: The Metamorphosis -...

  Franz Kafka

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  This story, about a man who wakes up transformed into a bug and the repercussions it has on his life and the people around him, has intrigued me for many years. What does it mean? [Spoiler possibly]In my mind it is not complicated at all and is most probably an autobiography of how Kafka himself had experienced his early life living with his parents. Kafka describes how he had experienced his parents’ financial and emotional exploitations of him, to the point of detaching from them and thereby ceasing to be their son (the real metamorphosis). Gregor’s metamorphosis is that of Kafka’s being an obedient son, subserviently paying for his parents’ narcissistic needs with his own life, into being a disobedient one—as if he had become a ‘piece of vermin’. Gregor’s parents possessed a large sum of money in savings, which symbolizes the needlessness of Gregor’s exploitation. In other words, the parents did not love him for who he was, but for his loyal willingness to undergo this exploitation. Reduced to vermin, Gregor can (or will) no longer financially benefit his parents. It is the parents that caused Gregor’s/Kafka’s metamorphosis. The debt Gregor intended to repay his parents symbolizes the emotional debt many adult children continue to feel towards their elderly parents for the love and care they have provided. Sister Grete, at first siding with her brother against their unfriendliest father, eventually switches sides after her brother’s metamorphosis, conveniently seizing first place in the sibling hierarchy, a reference to Kafka’s relationship with one of his siblings. The reason why the book continues to enjoy popularity among large audiences of readers, in my opinionm is because they recognize themselves in Gregor Samsa, which makes it all the more astounding how many ‘expert’ interpretations attempt to distract students of Kafka away from the most likely one. 

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  No Gods for Drowning

  Hailey Piper

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  The old gods have fled, and the monsters they had kept at bay for centuries now threaten to drown the city of Valentine, hunting mankind as in ancient times. In the midst of the chaos, a serial killer has begun ritually sacrificing victims, their bodies strewn throughout the city. Lilac Antonis wants to stop the impending destruction of her city by summoning her mother, a blood god—even if she has to slit a few throats to do it. But evading her lover Arcadia and her friends means sneaking, lying, and even spilling the blood of people she loves. Alex and Cecil of Ace Investigations have been tasked with hunting down the killer, but as they close in—not knowing they're hunting their close friend Lilac—the detectives realize the gods may not have left willingly. As flooding drags the city into the jaws of sea demons and Arcadia and her evacuation team struggle to save people, Lilac’s ritual killings at last bear fruit—only to reveal her as a small piece in a larger plan. The gods’ protection costs far more than anyone has ever known, and Alex and Cecil are running out of time to discover the true culprit behind the gods’ disappearance before an ancient divine murder plot destroys them all.

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  El Verdugo - A story set during...

  Honoré de Balzac

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  Honoré de Balzac was born on the 20th May, 1799 in the French city of Tours into an upper middle class family.  
   
  At birth Balzac was wet-nursed and often then schooled away from home by parents who seemed remote.  So difficult was life that at 15 he attempted suicide. The family’s intention was for him to have a career in law but Balzac preferred literature.  An avid reader, he began writing but his early attempts showed little promise.  
   
  He thereafter settled in Paris and began to publish anonymously across political, philosophical, and historical novels. 
   
  In 1825, Balzac purchased a printing house.  He was soon bankrupt and forced to return to writing in order to reduce his debts.  But his literary fortunes had changed, and his writing was now to achieve considerable success.  He was accepted among the city’s literary élites and its salons and would play an important role in establishing the copyright law in France.  
   
  Balzac often worked on more than one project at a time and in his magnus opus ‘The Human Comedy’ all types of texts were collected to offer a rare narrative of different classes and social stereotypes of society.  For many Balzac is considered the father of French realism, yet his works also cover philosophical and psychological questions.  His writing was a fundamental source of inspiration for many distinguished and later writers such as Flaubert, Zola and Proust.  
   
  Balzac also tried his hand at magazine publication with ‘La Chronique de Paris’ and ‘La Revue Parisienne.’  Although he was partnered with others such as Victor Hugo, it was another complete financial failure.  
   
  As a committed Catholic, Balzac’s stories also dealt with themes of mysticism, esotericism and spirituality, as well as universality and humanism.  
   
  In politics, he was a staunch defender of the French Crown but unlike his contemporaries he was not an implacable enemy of the republicans.  He often presented disagreements between royalists and republicans as a tolerable difference in political opinion.  
   
  Despite many relationships Balzac married only towards the end of his life and it was in 1833 that he met the Polish Countess Hanska, who only became his wife 17 years later after an extensive relationship by correspondence and, by then, his health was ruinously bad.  
   
  Honoré de Balzac died on 18th August 1850 in Paris.  He was 51.

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  Gods in Exile - An incredible...

  Heinrich Heine

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  Now all but forgotten his works, both as poet and writer, encapsule ambition and talent that few others posess.

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