The Wanderer or Female Difficulties - Volume V - Volume V

Frances Burney

Sinopsis

Frances Burney was born on June 13th, 1752 in Lynn Regis (now King’s Lynn). By the age of 8 Frances had still not learned the alphabet and couldn’t read. She now began a period of self-education, which included devouring the family library and to begin her own ‘scribblings’, these journal writings would document her life and cover the next 72 years. Her journal writing was accepted but writing novels was frowned upon by her family and friends. Feeling that she had been improper, she burnt her first manuscript, The History of Caroline Evelyn, which she had written in secret. It was only in 1778 with the anonymous publication of Evelina that her talents were available to the wider world. She was now a published and admired author. Despite this success and that of her second novel, Cecilia, in 1785, Frances travelled to the court of King George III and Queen Charlotte and was offered the post of "Keeper of the Robes". Frances hesitated. She had no wish to be separated from her family, nor to anything that would restrict her time in writing. But, unmarried at 34, she felt obliged to accept and thought that improved social status and income might allow her greater freedom to write. The years at Court were fruitful but took a toll on her health, writing and relationships and in 1790 she prevailed upon her father to request her release from service. He was successful. The ideals of the French Revolution had brought support from many English literates for the ideals of equality and social justice. Frances quickly became attached to General Alexandre D'Arblay, an artillery officer who had fled to England. In spite of the objections of her father they were married on July 28th, 1793. On December 18th, 1794, Frances gave birth to their only child, a son, Alexander. Frances’s third novel, Camilla, in 1796 earned her £2000 and was enough for them to build a house in Westhumble; Camilla Cottage. In 1801 D'Arblay was offered service with the government of Napoleon in France, and in 1802 Frances and her son followed him to Paris, where they expected to remain for a year. The outbreak of the war between France and England meant their stay extended for ten years. In August 1810 Frances developed breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy performed by "7 men in black”. Frances was later able to write about the operation in detail, being conscious through most of it, anesthetics not yet being in use. With the death of D'Arblay, in 1818, of cancer, Frances moved to London to be near her son. Tragically he died in 1837. Frances, in her last years, was by now retired but entertained many visits from younger members of the Burney family, who gathered to listen to her fascinating accounts and her talents for imitating the people she described. Frances Burney died on January 6th, 1840.

Disponible desde: 01/11/2015.

Otros libros que te pueden interesar

A Piece of Steak - American...

Jack London

John Griffith Chaney was born on January 12th, 1876 in San Francisco.

His father, William Chaney, was living with Flora Wellman when she became pregnant. Chaney insisted she have an abortion. Flora's response was to turn a gun on herself. Although her wounds were not severe the trauma made her temporarily deranged.

In late 1876 his mother married John London and the young child was brought to live with them as they moved around the Bay area, eventually settling in Oakland where now, calling himself Jack, he completed grade school.

Jack worked hard at several jobs, sometimes 12-18 hours a day, but his dream was university. He studied hard and borrowed the money to enrol in the summer of 1896 at the University of California in Berkeley.

In 1897, at 21, Jack searched out newspaper accounts of his mother's suicide attempt and for the name of his biological father. He wrote to Chaney, then living in Chicago, who claimed he could not be Jack’s father because he was impotent and casually asserted that London's mother had relations with other men. Jack, devastated by the response, quit Berkeley and went to the Klondike. Other accounts suggest that his dire finances presented Jack with the excuse he needed to leave.

In the Klondike Jack began to gather material for his writing but also accumulated many health problems, including scurvy, which together with hip and leg problems he would carry for the rest of his life.

During the late 1890's Jack was regularly publishing short stories and by the turn of the century full blown novels.

By 1904 Jack had married, fathered two children and was now in the process of divorcing. A stint as a reporter on the Russo-Japanese war of 1904 was equal amounts trouble and experience. But that experience was always put to good use in a continuing and remarkable output of work.

In 1905 he married Charmian Kittredge who at last was a soul and companion who brought him some semblance of peace despite his advancing alcoholism and his incurable wanderlust.

Twelve years later Jack had amassed both wealth and a literary reputation through such classics as ‘The Call of the Wild’, ‘White Fang’ and many others. He had a reputation as a social activist and was a tireless friend of the workers.

Jack London died suffering from dysentery, late-stage alcoholism and uremia, aged only 40, on November 22nd 1916 at his property in Glen Elen in California

In ‘A piece of Steak’ an ageing prizefighter seeks one last win. Not for glory, or to revisit fame, but simply to put food on the table and keep his family together. But to do that he must beat a highly rated up and coming adversary.

Ver libro

He Taught Me to Hope

P. O. Dixon

Elizabeth is already engaged when she meets Mr. Darcy, the one man who captures her heart and soul like no other. Further complicating matters, Darcy is also engaged to another - an engagement of a peculiar kind. A shared connection fueled by imagination and longing teaches Darcy to hope and Elizabeth to trust, proving that dreams really can come true. 
Pemberley meets Camelot in this charming Pride and Prejudice retelling, which will leave you enchanted long after the story is told.

Ver libro

The Trial

Franz Kafka, Breon Mitchell

If Max Brod had obeyed Franz Kafka’s dying request, Kafka’s unpublished manuscripts would have been burned, unread. Fortunately, Brod ignored his friend’s wishes and published The Trial, which became the author’s most famous work. Now Kafka’s enigmatic novel regains its humor and stylistic elegance in a new translation based on the restored original manuscript. Thirty-year-old Josef K., a financial officer in a European city bank, is suddenly arrested. He is subjected to hearings, questioning, and visits from officials. Defending his innocence against charges that are never explained to him, he watches his life dissolve into absurdity. Whether read as an existential tale or a parable, this haunting story stands out as one of the great novels of our time. Breon Mitchell, a professor of Germanic Studies and Comparative Literature at Indiana University, has received national awards for his literary translations. The renewed energy and power of this classic work are complemented by veteran narrator George Guidall’s superb performance. Publisher’s note, translator’s preface, and fragments are included on the final tape.

Ver libro

The Three Dogs

Andrew Lang

The Three Dogs' tells the story of a shepherd who trades his three sheep with a stranger for three dogs with magical powers. The dogs are able to help him slay a dragon and win a princess.

Ver libro

Scandal in Bohemia A - The...

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

A Scandal in Bohemia is the first short story, and the third overall work, featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. It is the first of the 56 Holmes short stories written by Doyle and the first of 38 Sherlock Holmes works illustrated by Sidney Paget. The story is notable for introducing the character of Irene Adler, often used as a romantic interest for Holmes in later derivative works. Doyle ranked "A Scandal in Bohemia" fifth in his list of his twelve favourite Holmes stories. "A Scandal in Bohemia" was first published on 25 June 1891 in the July issue of The Strand Magazine, and was the first of the stories collected in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in 1892.

Ver libro

London - The East End Stories

William Pett Ridge, Arthur...

London’s East End has over the centuries been a magnet for immigration, innovation, culture, crime and a vast spectrum of other things. 
 
It is often seen as both part of and yet very distinct from the vast metropolis of London.  Today it has been transformed from the often grimy, derelict and overcrowded area, that many of these stories describe, into a landscape of gentrification, sleek and shiny buildings and a booming economy. 
 
But here such noted talents as Arthur Morrison, Henry W. Nevinson, William Pett Ridge and Thomas Burke show The East End as it really was.

Ver libro