Other books that might interest you

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  A Respectable Woman - From their...

  Kate Chopin

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  Katherine O'Flaherty was born on the 8th February 1850 in St Louis, Missouri to parents of French and Irish descent. 
  At age 5, she was sent to the Sacred Heart Academy and, apart from a 2 year period at home when her father died, remained there until graduating in 1868.  Whilst there she began writing and became an avid reader of almost anything that crossed her path.   
  Kate married Oscar Chopin in 1870 and the couple moved to New Orleans, and later to the rural setting of Cloutierville, Louisiana to raise their 6 children.  
  In 1882 her husband died leaving her in a deep trench of debt.  Despite her best efforts to turn the businesses around they were sold, and she moved the family back to St Louis and the financial help of her mother.  Sadly, her mother died within the year.  Kate, now struggling with depression, pushed herself to write and gained a local reputation as a writer of short stories that captured the local color and vibrancy of her surroundings. 
  By the early 1890’s her short stories were published nationally.  With this widespread audience also came negative reviews, controversy, and cries of immorality as themes such as interracial relationships, the rights of women and other burning issues of the day were written about. 
  Despite the criticism, which unnerved her, she continued to write though in the main her works, around 100 short stories and two novels, were not attributed with any literary worth. 
  Kate Chopin died from a brain haemorrhage in St Louis Missouri on the 22nd of August 1904.  She was 54. 
  For much of the 20th Century her work was forgotten and out of print.  It was only in early 1970’s, with the rise of feminism and the call for a more just society that she was given the status her works had long described and shone a literary light at.  She is now safely revered as one of America’s great authors.

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  The Marquise of O and Other...

  Heinrich von Kleist

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  A respectable young widow and mother of two children, the Marquise of O— finds herself inexplicably pregnant after being rescued by a Russian officer from the attentions of his soldiers during the storming of her town’s citadel. Convinced of her own innocence and wishing to vindicate her own integrity, the Marquise places an advert in the newspapers, appealing for the father to come forward and promising to marry him. But will this be enough to quench her family’s doubts and the derision of the society around her? Will this help her solve the mystery and urge the perpetrator to acknowledge paternity of the child? 
   
  One of the great classics of German literature, Heinrich von Kleist’s sexually charged novella is as edgy today as it was when it was first published in 1808, and is accompanied here by two other celebrated stories, ‘The Earthquake in Chile’ and ‘The Foundling’, showcasing the range of their author’s narrative abilities and his taste for the ambiguous and the paradoxical.

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  My Own True Ghost Story

  Rudyard Kipling

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  In My Own True Ghost Story, Rudyard Kipling delivers a hauntingly humorous tale set in the shadowy outposts of British India—where the rational mind meets the inexplicable. When a weary English traveler spends the night in a decrepit dâk-bungalow, the howling wind, flickering candles, and creaking walls seem to come alive. Then comes the unmistakable sound of a billiard game—played in a room far too small to hold a table, and by players who no longer exist. 
  Kipling’s mastery of tone—balancing wit, irony, and eerie suspense—makes this one of his most memorable supernatural stories. A blend of colonial realism and gothic unease, My Own True Ghost Story reminds us that even the most skeptical traveler may find himself haunted when logic and legend collide. 
  Narrated with crisp wit and quiet tension by Michael Lyons, this performance captures both the humor and horror of Kipling’s classic ghost tale.

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  Top 10 Short Stories The -...

  Franz Kafka, Anton Chekhov,...

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  The Top 10 – Eastern Europe - An Introduction 
   
  From the Central plain of Europe to the Urals, many thousands of miles away, the nations of Eastern Europe have risen to become Empires and fallen underfoot to others.  Their literary tradition has always been strong and vibrant, bold and beguiling.  Within the many cultures and societies the narrative of the human condition is told in many startling and beautiful ways. 
   
  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. 
   
  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. 
   
  1 - The Top Ten - Eastern Europe - An Introduction 
  2 - A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka 
  3 - The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov 
  4 - The Cloak by Nikolai Gogol also known as 'The Overcoat' 
  5 - The District Doctor by Ivan Turgenev 
  6 - The Shot by Alexander Pushkin 
  7 - A Legend of Old Egypt by Boleslaw Prus 
  8 - Hide And Seek or Pliatki by Fyodor Sologub 
  9 - Silence by Leonid Nikolaevich Andreyev 
  10 - The Bundle of Letters by Moritz Jokai 
  11 - The Chamomile Drops by Jaroslav Hasek

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  Two Tales From O Henry

  O. Henry

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  William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 - June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer born in Greensboro, NC, known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. O. Henry's stories are known for their naturalist observations, witty narration, and surprise endings. The following includes the short stories, "Hearts and Hands" and "A Comedy In Rubber."

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  Overboard - A Short Story Musical

  Samuel Kissner

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  Why did Claire have to drink so much at a small gathering of old friends, and how will she get home now that the host has kicked her out of his house? Hungover and ashamed, Claire begins a harrowing journey back to her apartment. Songs blend into the narrative and reveal harsh truths Claire would prefer to avoid.

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