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  Guy de Maupassant - A Short...

  Guy de Maupassant

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  Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was born on August 5th, 1850 near Dieppe in France.  
   
  Maupassant’s early life was badly torn when at age 11 (his younger brother Hervé was then five) his mother, Laure, a headstrong and independent-minded woman, risked social disgrace in order to obtain a legal separation from her husband. 
   
  After the separation, Laure kept custody of her two boys. With the father now forcibly absent, Laure became the most influential and important figure in the young boy's life.   
   
  Maupassant’s education was such that he rebelled against religion and other societal norms but a developing friendship with Gustave Flaubert began to turn his mind towards creativity and writing. 
   
  After graduation he volunteered for the Franco-Prussian war. With its end he moved to Paris to work as a clerk in the Navy Department.  Gustave Flaubert now took him under his wing.  Acting as a literary guardian to him, he guided the eager Maupassant to debuts in journalism and literature.  For Maupassant these were exciting times and the awakening of his creative talents and ambitions. 
   
  In 1880 he published what is considered his first great work, ‘Boule de Suif’, (translated as as ‘Dumpling’, ‘Butterball’, ‘Ball of Fat’, or ‘Ball of Lard’) which met with a success that was both instant and overwhelming.  Flaubert at once acknowledged that it was ‘a masterpiece that will endure.’ Maupassant had used his talents and experiences in the war to create something unique.  
   
  This decade from 1880 to 1891 was to be the most pivotal of his career.  With an audience now made available by the success of ‘Boule de Suif’ Maupassant organised himself to work methodically and relentlessly to produce between two and four volumes of work a year.  The melding of his talents and business sense and the continual hunger of sources for his works made him wealthy. 
   
  In his later years he developed a desire for solitude, an obsession for self-preservation, and a fear of death as well as a paranoia of persecution caused by the syphilis he had contracted in his youth.  
   
  On January 2nd, 1892, Maupassant tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat.  Unsuccessful he was committed to the private asylum of Esprit Blanche at Passy, in Paris.  It was here on July 6th, 1893 that  
  Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant died at the age of only 42. 
  1 - Guy de Maupassant - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction 
  2 - The Piece of String  
  3 - Two Little Soldiers  
  4 - Two Friends 
  5 - Suicides  
  6 - The Grave 
  7 - An Uncomfortable Bed 
  8 - Regret 
  9 - Love 
  10 - The Kiss 
  11 - The Dowry 
  12 - The Vendetta 
  13 - A Dead Woman's Secret 
  14 - Mother Sauvage

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  He Taught Me to Hope

  P. O. Dixon

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  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. 

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  The Castle of Otranto (Legend...

  Horace Walpole

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  “He was persuaded he could know no happiness but in the society of one with whom he could for ever indulge the melancholy that had taken possession of his soul.” 
  The Castle of Otranto is a macabre tale that revolves around a haunted castle. Manfred, the lord of Otranto, finds his son, Conrad, smashed by an enormous helmet on his wedding day. It is soon revealed that according to an ancient ambiguous prophecy Conrad's death might have been an ominous event that signifies the end of his lordship. To rectify the situation Manfred decides to marry his son's bride despite having a wife. Will Manfred plot succeed? Is he indeed a true prince of the castle? 
  Walpole got the inspiration for this bizarre story from a dream. He gave his novel a very authentic embellishment using the plan of Strawberry Hill castle for the set in the novel. He also went as far as to make a believable spoof in the Preface to the first edition that the novel was recovered and translated from an old Italian manuscript. Not as culturally present and talked about a title as other Gothic classics like Frankenstein or Dracula, Otranto became the cornerstone text of the genre. The echoings of Otranto are even noticeable in more contemporary gothic tales such as Toni Morrison's Beloved where a building is more than a location but an entire mysterious entity in itself. 
  The Legend Classics series:Around the World in Eighty DaysThe Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Importance of Being EarnestAlice's Adventures in WonderlandThe MetamorphosisThe Railway ChildrenThe Hound of the BaskervillesFrankensteinWuthering HeightsThree Men in a BoatThe Time MachineLittle WomenAnne of Green GablesThe Jungle BookThe Yellow Wallpaper and Other StoriesDraculaA Study in ScarletLeaves of GrassThe Secret GardenThe War of the WorldsA Christmas CarolStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeHeart of DarknessThe Scarlet LetterThis Side of ParadiseOliver TwistThe Picture of Dorian GrayTreasure IslandThe Turn of the ScrewThe Adventures of Tom SawyerEmmaThe TrialA Selection of Short Stories by Edgar Allan PoeGrimm Fairy TalesThe AwakeningMrs DallowayGulliver’s TravelsThe Castle of OtrantoSilas MarnerHard Times

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  Mad Monkton

  Wilkie Collins

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  William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories.Mad Monkton is a bizarre ghost story. It is said that a strain of hereditary madness blights the Monkton family, heirs to the huge domain of Wincot Abbey. Rumours in the neighbourhood are that Alfred, the youngest scion, has inherited this insanity. His odd behaviour certainly points that way. Alfred is engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Ada Elmslie.But at the very moment when various obstacles to the match are overcome, Alfred suddenly departs for Italy on what appears to be a wild goose chase, seeking the corpse of his disreputable uncle, who is believed to have been killed in a duel.But what could have driven Alfred to do this? And why does he so desperately want to find his late uncle's remains? The mystery is bizarre and gruesome...and the tale takes on one weird twist after another.

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  Sodom and Gomorrah – Part II

  Marcel Proust

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  In Sodom and Gomorrah, Part II, Marcel continues his voyage of discovery through the homosexual world, where the affairs of the ageing Baron de Charlus lead to unexpected and hilarious adventures. But the discovery of a secret in the past of his mistress, Albertine, fills Marcel with fear and forces him to change his plans. Sodom and Gomorrah – Cities of the Plain addresses the subject of homosexual love with insight and understanding.

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  Zip the Adventures of a Frisky...

  Frances Trego Montgomery

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  Zip, a little fox terrier, lives in the town of Maplewood in the house of his owner, Dr. Elsworth. Each day when Dr. Elsworth drives his carriage to visit his patients, Zip goes along with him so that he can keep the doctor company and, most importantly, visit with the other animals in the town. Zip likes to find out all the latest news so that he can tell it to his best friend, Tabby the cat, who also lives with Dr. Elsworth. However, he also finds himself getting into mischief, whether it's trying to solve a burglary, sneaking fried chicken from a picnic, getting stuck in a stovepipe or fighting with Peter-Kins the monkey. Zip is one dog who never has a dull day.

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