Other books that might interest you

• 

  Two Tales From Thomas Hood

  Thomas Hood

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Thomas Hood (May 23, 1799 - May 3, 1845) was an English poet, author and humorist. Hood wrote regularly for the magazines, The London Magazine, Athenaeum, and Punch. He later published a magazine largely consisting of his own works. Hood, never robust, lapsed into invalidism by the age of 41, and died at the age of 45. The following includes Hood's short stories: The Widow of Galicia and The Golden Cup and The Dish of Silver.

  Show book

• 

  Shirley - Yorkshire Mills in the...

  Charlotte Brontë

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Yorkshire in 1812, mill-owners against machine-breakers, and two women who want work of their own in a world that offers them only marriage. Charlotte Brontë wrote it while her brother and both her sisters were dying, and the argument about what women are for is unmistakably hers.

  Show book

• 

  The First Men in the Moon

  H. G. Wells

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Two explorers journey beyond Earth and discover a strange civilization hidden on the Moon.
  
  H. G. Wells's The First Men in the Moon follows an adventurous journey into space after an extraordinary scientific discovery makes travel to the Moon possible.
  
  When the explorers reach the lunar surface, they encounter an unexpected world unlike anything they imagined. Their adventure introduces strange environments, mysterious inhabitants, scientific invention, and questions about humanity's place in the universe.
  
  Combining imaginative science fiction with adventure and humor, Wells creates a memorable vision of lunar exploration that remains an important work in the history of the genre.
  
  Join the first explorers on an extraordinary journey to the Moon and discover a world beyond imagination.

  Show book

• 

  The American Claimant

  Mark Twain

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "The American Claimant" by Mark Twain is a humorous and satirical novel that explores themes of identity, inheritance, and the enduring fascination with aristocracy in both America and England. Blending comedy with social commentary, Twain pokes fun at the idea of inherited status and the absurd lengths people will go to in pursuit of wealth and titles.
  
  The story centers on the long-disputed claim to an English earldom, a title that has passed into legend and controversy. When an elderly American woman insists that her long-lost son is the rightful heir, the claim sets off a series of misunderstandings, impostures, and comedic encounters on both sides of the Atlantic. Twain weaves together multiple storylines, including mistaken identities and romantic subplots, to highlight the contrast between democratic American values and the rigid class structures of British society.
  
  As the novel unfolds, Twain's satire takes aim at social pretension, blind reverence for nobility, and the romanticization of old-world aristocracy. His characters—eccentric, hopeful, and often deluded—serve as vehicles for examining human vanity and the universal desire for recognition and legitimacy.
  
  While lighter in tone than some of Twain's more famous works, The American Claimant showcases his wit, narrative skill, and keen eye for social absurdity. The novel reflects Twain's skepticism toward inherited privilege and his belief in merit over birthright.
  
  Entertaining, clever, and insightful, The American Claimant is an engaging classic for readers who enjoy satire, transatlantic comedy, and Mark Twain's sharp critique of social conventions.

  Show book

• 

  Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure...

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and one of eight stories in the volume His Last Bow. 
  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (May 22, 1859-July 7, 1930) was a British author most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction. 
  Public Domain (P)2017 Listen & Live Audio

  Show book

• 

  Stranger Than Fiction - From...

  Lafcadio Hearn

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Lafcadio Hearn was born on the 27th June 1850 on the Ionian isle of Levkás in Greece to a British Army officer and a Greek Mother. 
  His father, fearing for his career prospects at being married to a Greek Orthodox wife, sent them to Dublin whilst he continued to advance his career with further postings.  Life there was difficult for mother and son.  His father returned, wounded and traumatised, when Lafcadio was three.  He annulled the marriage and she remarried but had to give up care of Lafcadio to her sister-in law.   
  After brief periods for Catholic education in England and France he emigrated to Ohio in the United States when he was 19, taking on a series of casual jobs before embarking on a career as a journalist, publishing poems and essays in Cincinnati.  It was whilst here that he began a side-line in translating, starting with Gautier and Flaubert.  He married in 1874 to a 20 year old African-American woman in violation of Ohio's anti-miscegenation law.  The marriage soon failed. 
  In 1877 he relocated to New Orleans to write on a variety of themes before picking up a two year assignment from Harper’s to write in the West Indies, where he also wrote his first novel. 
  In 1890 Harper’s sent him to Japan.  Here he left journalism and took the remarkable decision to become a schoolteacher in the north of Japan.   Enraptured by the culture he was driven to explain it in various Western publications to those who had little, if any, knowledge of its culture.  Within the year he had fallen in love with, and married, a high-born Japanese lady, together they would have four children.   
  In 1895 he became a Japanese national and took the name Koizumi Yakumo, Koizumi being his wife’s family name. 
  The following few years, whilst a professor of Literature at the Imperial University of Japan, were his most creative and admired period.   
  Lafcadio Hearn died of heart failure on the 26th of September 1904, in Tokyo, Japan shortly before leaving to deliver a series of lectures at Cornell University in New York State.  He was 54.

  Show book