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  Lifeboatmen

  Simon Wills

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  Based on a true story, a riveting novel of a deadly hurricane, a dramatic rescue attempt, and a quest for redemption in a nineteenth-century English town . . .   Dorset, England, 1866: The worst hurricane in over a century is devastating the south coast of England. In the town of Poole, the newly appointed lifeboat is launched to aid the numerous stricken ships in the vicinity—but unaccountably fails to save any lives. Many sailors drown as a result.   In an era when gallantry and self-sacrifice are expected, the lifeboatmen are publicly accused of cowardice by local dignitaries, creating a serious rift in a close-knit community. It is in this atmosphere of suspicion and blame that lifeboat coxswain Richard Stokes finds himself tasked with overcoming a prevailing sense of pessimism and creating a viable team that will be ready for the next maritime emergency.   By recognizing the weaknesses that lie within both his crew and himself, he endeavors to take the sometimes-painful steps to put things right. In a divided community battered by the rages of the sea, relationships and loyalties are tested. When another opportunity eventually presents itself for the lifeboatmen to test their mettle, they are prepared to venture into violent seas to the site of a treacherously unstable wreck—in an attempt to redeem themselves, and to save forty-six souls trapped on board . . .   This fast-paced historical novel based on a true story provides an authentic and enthralling evocation of a seafaring community on the brink of great change.</The worst hurricane for over a century devastated the south coast of England in 1866, during a period when emergency services were in their infancy.In the town of Poole, Dorset, the newly appointed lifeboat is launched to aid the numerous stricken ships in the vicinity but unaccountably fails to save any lives. Many sailors are drowned as a result. In an era when gallantry and self-sacrifice were expected, the lifeboatmen are publicly accused of cowardice by local dignitaries creating a serious rift in a close-knit community.It is in this atmosphere of suspicion and blame that lifeboat coxswain Richard Stokes finds himself, tasked with overcoming a prevailing sense of pessimism and creating a viable team which will be ready for the next maritime emergency. By recognising the weaknesses that lie within both his crew and himself, he endeavours to take the sometimes painful steps to put things right. In a divided community battered by the rages of the sea, relationships and loyalties are tested in dramatic style.When another opportunity eventually presents itself for the lifeboatmen to test their mettle, they are prepared to put all their plans into action and present a courageous front. In violent seas, they are called to a treacherously unstable wreck with forty-six men trapped on board. Will the coxswain and his men be able to save all souls on board and redeem past mistakes, or will this be yet another opportunity for the community to blast their efforts and deem their services dangerously insufficient?This fast paced true story provides an authentic and enthralling evocation of a nineteenth century seafaring community on the brink of great change.As featured on BBC Radio Solent and in the Bournemouth Echo

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  Collection: Tales of the Cities

  Various authors

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  This is a collection of city stories, fiction or non-fiction, in English and published before 1923. Contributions have been chosen by the readers themselves. Summary by BellonaTimes.

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  The Other Bed

  E. F. Benson

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  Edward Frederic Benson (1867 – 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer, best known as the true master of the gothic ghost story.The Other Bed tells the tale of a hotel guest who is allocated what appears to be a very fine first floor room at a highly reasonable price. There are two beds in the room and even on the first night, the weary traveller develops an inexplicable horror of one of these beds. This, together with several other odd happenings, such as the waiter who repeatedly appears bringing a bottle of whisky which has not been ordered, makes him suspect that there is something very wrong with the room. As the week goes on, the other bed reveals its true horror...

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  Mangawhai New Zealand

  Jack Freestone

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  Short story based upon the author's true fishing experiences as a teenager in his hometown Mangawhai, Northland, New Zealand.

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  O Henry - A Short Story...

  O Henry

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  William Sydney Porter was born on 11th September 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. At age 3 his mother died from tuberculosis. From an early age it was clear Porter had a large appetite for reading as he absorbed the world around him. 
   
  He first attended at a school run by his aunt before enrolling at the Lindsey Street High School and then worked at his uncle’s drugstore and gained a pharmacists’ license in 1881.  
   
  A persistent cough took him to Texas in the hope that a change of climate would help his symptoms. He took on various types of work, initially from ranch hand and cook and then as varied as pharmacist, draftsman, bank teller and journalist. He also began to write, though for now, purely as a hobby. 
   
  He was a member of several singing and dramatic groups when he met 17 year old Athol Estes, daughter of a wealthy Austin family. Despite her mother’s objection owing to Athol’s tuberculosis, they began courting and in July 1887, they eloped and soon married. 
   
  Athol, impressed by his writing, encouraged him to get them published. A job as a draftsman at the Texas General Land Office paid a healthy $100 dollars per month and life was good. 
   
  But then life turned cruel. His son died a few hours after birth although a daughter, Margaret, came the following year.  His job had to be vacated but another was found at the First National Bank of Austin. The bank operated informally and Porter was careless in keeping the books. He lost that job but began writing for the humourous weekly The Rolling Stone and the Houston Post. Some time later the federal Bank auditors went through his former accounts and he was arrested on charges of embezzlement. 
   
  Porter fled the day before his trial to Honduras. Holed up for several months he began to write.  Athol had become too ill to travel to meet him and learning that her health was deteriorating he surrendered to the court in February 1897.  Bail was obtained so that he could stay with Athol during her final days.  
   
  Porter was sentenced to five years at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. His pharmacy qualifications got him the job of night druggist.  His sentence also gave him time to write and publish fourteen short stories. In December 1899 in McClure’s Magazine he published a short story as O Henry.  
   
  He was released two years early in July 1901, and reunited with Margaret, now 11, in Pittsburgh.  He now began his most prolific period of writing; a short story per week for the New York World, while also publishing works in other magazines.  Eventually over 600 of his short stories were published. 
   
  Porter was a heavy drinker and in 1908 his health, which had deteriorated for several years, took a dramatic turn for the worse, as did his writing. 
    
  O Henry died of cirrhosis of the liver complicated by diabetes and an enlarged heart on 5th June 1910. 
  1 - O Henry - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction - Volume 1 
  2 - The Gift of the Magi by O Henry 
  3 - A Harlem Tragedy by O Henry 
  4 - According to Their Lights by O Henry 
  5 - After Twenty Years by O Henry 
  6 - Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen by O Henry 
  7 - Transients in Arcadia by O Henry 
  8 - The Cop and the Anthem by O Henry 
  9 - The Caballero's Way by O Henry 
  10 - The Count and the Wedding Guest by O Henry 
  11 - The Dream by O Henry 
  12 - The Furnished Room by O Henry

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  Witty Weird & Outrageous - Saki...

  Saki Saki

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  Presented here are the favorites (including many of the adventures of Clovis): The Open Window, Clovis on Parental, The Lumber-Room, Sredni Vahtar and more.

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