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  The Provincial Lady in Wartime -...

  E. M. Delafield

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  The Provincial Lady in Wartime, though the last of the Provincial Lady series, is one of the finest. No further ‘Diaries' had appeared since The Provincial Lady in America (published in 1934) when, in 1939, Harold Macmillan, then chairman of Macmillan publishers and a fan, made a personal request to E. M. Delafield for a new book. The onset of the war with Germany was serious, but, he said, Britain, was in need of the entertaining but pertinent observations from the Provincial Lady! Delafield duly set to work and produced the longest and in a way the most interesting of the ‘Diaries' without losing its sense of fun, of seemingly casual frivolity. The Provincial Lady in Wartime covers a short time - from 1 September 1939 (just before the declaration of war on 3 September) to 21 November 1939, when fact again met fiction and E. M. Delafield was really ‘called up' to work for the Ministry of Information. As a result, the focus in the book was on the ‘Phoney War' when the country found itself in a fever of preparation without the intense action that was to follow a short time after. The Provincial Lady finds herself in London, looking for voluntary work to support the war effort, which proves an unexpectedly difficult thing to achieve. Her interactions with a varied host of companions, also caught up in a strange frenzy, reflect so clearly the mood and tension of the time, yet the account is witty, apposite - and so very English, with the stiff upper lip underpinning it all. This book is both hugely entertaining and a faithful portrait of the months before hostilities began in earnest - as seen, of course, from the quirky eyes and particular milieu of the Provincial Lady, whom we have come to love and admire. Sad, then, that it was to be the last ‘Diary'. However, this recording also contains The Provincial Lady in Russia, the three articles Delafield wrote for Harper's Magazine in 1937 covering her three-month visit to the USSR. These deft pieces of more personal journalism are again witty, observant and informative, showing how ably Delafield combines a light touch with more serious conclusions. The three essays are: 'The Provincial Lady in Moscow' (Harper's Magazine, January 1937)'They Also Serve: The Provincial Lady in Leningrad' (Harper's Magazine, February 1937) 'To Speak My Mind About Russia: The Provincial Lady in Odessa' (Harper's Magazine, March 1937)As always, Georgina Sutton serves E. M. Delafield so well, with a vivacious yet perfectly placed reading.

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  Miss Marley - The Untold Story...

  Vanessa Lafaye

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  ‘Exquisite’ Veronica HenryBefore A Christmas Carol there was… Miss MarleyA seasonal tale of kindness and goodwill 
  Orphans Clara and Jacob Marley live by their wits, scavenging for scraps in the poorest alleyways of London, in the shadow of the workhouse. Every night, Jake promises his little sister ‘tomorrow will be better’ and when the chance to escape poverty comes their way, he seizes it despite the terrible price. 
  And so Jacob Marley is set on a path that leads to his infamous partnership with Ebenezer Scrooge. As Jacob builds a fortress of wealth to keep the world out, only Clara can warn him of the hideous fate that awaits him if he refuses to let love and kindness into his heart… 
  In Miss Marley, Vanessa Lafaye weaves a spellbinding Dickensian tale of ghosts, goodwill and hope – a perfect prequel to A Christmas Carol.Praise for Miss Marley: 
  ‘A spellbinding Dickensian tale of ghosts, goodwill and hope’ Mail on Sunday 
  ‘Redemptive… a fitting legacy for a writer who is so sadly missed’ Red 
  ‘Evocative’ Heat 
  ‘Delightful’ Sunday Mirror 
  ‘A reminder of the power of kindness and love’ Stylist 
  A ‘gem of a tale’ Sunday Express 
  ‘A beautifully written Dickensian tale’ Candis 
  ‘Captivating … A beautiful and tender fable’ Daily Express 
  ‘Fantastic’ Good Housekeeping 
  ‘Ghosts, goodwill and hope on every page’ My Weekly 
  ‘Lafaye masterfully brings the setting of 19th-Century London to life’ Woman 
  ‘Love, disappointment, kindness and greed all play their parts in this delightful companion piece to Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol’ Woman & Home 
  ‘A seasonal tale of kindness and goodwill that captures the atmosphere of Dickens’ Yours 
  ‘Exquisite’ Veronica Henry 
  ‘A beautiful, warm, rich hug of a story and bittersweet reminder to embrace life and enrich others as you go’ Liz Fenwick 
  In this historical fiction, Vanessa Lafaye masterfully intertwines the supernatural and gothic elements, creating a top-tier narrative that is both captivating and evocative. The classic tale of Jacob Marley is reimagined, shedding light on his life before his infamous partnership with Ebenezer Scrooge, and the terrible price he paid for his wealth. 
  For fans of Liz Hyder (The Gifts), Ruth Druart (The Last Hours in Paris), Kristin Hannah (The Women), Robert Ingpen (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-Glass & The Hunting of the Snark), and Lisa Shambrook (A Winter's Romance).

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  If - Classic Tales Edition

  Rudyard Kipling

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  The beloved poem from the great Rudyard Kipling. If you can follow these precepts, you will indeed be a man, my son.

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  The Confidence-Man

  Herman Melville

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  From the author of Moby Dick: A con artist swindles his fellow passengers on a Mississippi River steamboat in this exploration of human nature. A mysterious stranger boards a steamboat bound for New Orleans on April Fools’ Day. But just who is this confidence-man?   At first, he is a mute, clad in cream-colored clothes and a white fur hat, boarding the steamer Fidèle in St. Louis. The man transforms when he meets a group of passengers. He assumes the identities of a crippled beggar named “Black Guinea,” an agent from the Seminole Widow and Orphan Society, and the president of the Black Rapids Coal Company, among other disguises. As the ship makes its way to its final destination and the huckster’s deceptions lead to thefts, everyone on board will be left wondering whom they can trust.   A cultural satire, allegory, and metaphysical treatise, The Confidence-Man is one of the most unconventional works by the legendary author of Moby Dick and Billy Budd, Sailor.

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  The Alexandria Quartet - Justine...

  Lawrence Durrell

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  A four-part story of passion and betrayal in the Mediterranean—voted one of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels of the twentieth century.  The Alexandria Quartet is a striking and sensuous masterpiece, breathing vivid life into each of its unforgettable characters and the dusty Mediterranean city in which they live. Set in Alexandria, Egypt, in the years before, during, and after World War II, the books follow the lives of a circle of friends and lovers, including sensitive Darley, passionate Justine, philosophical Balthazar, and elegant Clea. Written in Durrell’s trademark evocative prose, these four novels explore the central theme of modern love, building into a remarkable whole that the New York Times hailed as “one of the most important works of our time.” This ebook features a new introduction by Jan Morris.

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  People of the Abyss The...

  Jack London

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  Jack London lived for a time within the grim and grimy world of the East End of London, where half a million people scraped together hardly enough on which to survive. Even if they were able to work, they were paid only enough to allow them a pitiful existence. He grew to know and empathise with these forgotten (or ignored) people as he spoke with them and tasted the workhouse, life on the streets, ... and the food, which was cheap, barely nutritious, and foul. He writes about his experiences in a fluid and narrative style, making it very clear what he thinks of the social structures which created the Abyss, and of the millionaires who live high on the labours of a people forced to live in squalor. "... The food this managing class eats, the wine it drinks, ... the fine clothes it wears, are challenged by eight million mouths which have never had enough to fill them, and by twice eight million bodies which have never been sufficiently clothed and housed."

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