D'autres livres qui pourraient vous intéresser

• 

  Barnaby Rudge

  Charles Dickens

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Barnaby Rudge is a powerful historical novel by Charles Dickens that combines vivid social commentary with gripping drama, set against the turbulent backdrop of the Gordon Riots of 1780. As one of Dickens's lesser-known yet deeply compelling works, the novel explores the dangers of mob violence, political fanaticism, and the human cost of social unrest.
  
  At the heart of the story is Barnaby Rudge, a kind-hearted young man with an intellectual disability, whose innocence and vulnerability stand in stark contrast to the chaos surrounding him. Guided by his devoted mother and accompanied by his ominous raven, Grip, Barnaby becomes tragically swept up in the violent anti-Catholic riots that engulf London. His personal journey unfolds alongside a wide cast of characters, including secretive fathers, conflicted lovers, and ruthless agitators, whose lives intersect as private grievances collide with public disorder.
  
  Dickens masterfully portrays the frightening psychology of crowds and the ease with which fear and prejudice can ignite mass violence. Through dramatic scenes of destruction and upheaval, he exposes the manipulation of ordinary people by demagogues and highlights the fragility of justice and reason in times of crisis. At the same time, the novel remains deeply human, emphasizing compassion, loyalty, and moral responsibility.
  
  Rich in atmosphere and historical detail, Barnaby Rudge blends suspense, romance, and social criticism in Dickens's signature style. Its exploration of innocence versus corruption, order versus chaos, and individual conscience versus collective madness remains strikingly relevant.
  
  Barnaby Rudge stands as an important work in Dickens's canon and a vivid reminder of the destructive power of intolerance and extremism. It is an essential read for lovers of classic literature, historical fiction, and novels that probe the darker currents of society while affirming the enduring value of humanity and empathy.

  Voir livre

• 

  The Guilty River

  Wilkie Collins

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  After spending some years abroad, Gerard Roylake returns to England to take up his inheritance at Trimley Deen. As he assumes his complicated new life amongst strangers, his encounter with Cristel Toller, the miller’s daughter, recalls happier childhood memories and brings him into contact with a strangely beautiful man known only as the Lodger.
  	Deaf and embittered by his isolation from the world, the Lodger, besotted with Cristel, exerts a powerful sway over those with whom he comes into contact. His envy of Gerard, his rival for Cristel’s affections, leads him to plot his removal, but will his malign scheming keep the lovers apart?
  	Written two years before the author’s death, The Guilty River touches on questions of social status and the darker side of human nature, while the plot exhibits Collins’s trademark twists and turns.

  Voir livre

• 

  Top 10 Short Stories The - The...

  F Scott itzgerald, Sherwood...

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  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. 
   
  In this volume the Jazz Age blossoms with an exuberance of spirit and panache.  Life is for now, the future seems so very far away.  Our American authors bring the decade to life with stories that perhaps could only come to pass in this decade of the United States. 
   
  01 - The Top 10 - The 1920's - The Americans - An Introduction 
  02 - Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F Scott Fitzgerald 
  03 - Brothers by Sherwood Anderson 
  04 - The Color Out of Space by H P Lovecraft 
  05 - The Great Slave by Zane Grey 
  06 - The Golden Honeymoon by Ring Lardner 
  07 - The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell 
  08 - The Difference by Ellen Glasgow 
  09 - Skulls in the Stars by Robert E Howard 
  10 - The City of Refuge by Rudolph Fisher 
  11 - Spurs by Tod Robbins

  Voir livre

• 

  Rudin

  Ivan Turgenev

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "Rudin" by Ivan Turgenev is a captivating and introspective novel that explores the complexities of human nature, love, and intellectual ideals in 19th-century Russia. Through the compelling character of Dmitry Rudin, Turgenev presents a profound examination of the clash between lofty ideals and the realities of life. With its lyrical prose and profound exploration of the human condition, "Rudin" serves as a timeless reflection on the complexities of human nature and the eternal quest for personal fulfillment. Turgenev's masterful storytelling and astute social commentary make this novel a compelling and thought-provoking work that continues to resonate with readers today.

  Voir livre

• 

  The Ankardyne Pew - From their...

  W F Harvey

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  William Fryer Harvey AM was born on 14th April 1885 into a wealthy Quaker family in Leeds, West Yorkshire. 
  He was educated at the Quaker Bootham School in Yorkshire and Leighton Park School in Reading before university at Balliol College, Oxford.  
  His health was fragile and he poured his energies into writing short stories and in 1910 published his first collection ‘Midnight House’. 
  In the Great War he was with the Friends' Ambulance Unit and then served as a surgeon-lieutenant in the Royal Navy.  There he received the Albert Medal for Lifesaving but lung damage received at that time troubled him for the rest of his life. 
  He continued to write short stories, and even a memoir, but by 1925 ill health had forced his retirement to any outside work.  Three years later he published his second collection which contained his macabre classic ‘The Beast with Five fingers’, only one more collection would come from his pen in his lifetime. 
  For many years of his life he now lived in Switzerland with his wife but a yearning to be home saw them come back to England in 1935. 
  W F Harvey died in Letchworth on the 4th June 1937. He was 52.

  Voir livre

• 

  Marguerite de Valois Volume 1

  Alexandre Dumas

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "Marguerite de Valois" by Alexandre Dumas is a captivating historical novel set during the tumultuous reign of Marguerite de Valois, Queen of France. Amidst the religious wars between Catholics and Huguenots, Marguerite’s marriage to Henri of Navarre becomes a political pawn in a nation divided. The story delves into courtly intrigue, betrayal, and forbidden love, as Marguerite navigates her own desires while grappling with duty and power struggles. Dumas paints a vivid portrait of 16th-century France, blending romance, danger, and political machinations. A tale of passion and resilience, this work explores themes of loyalty, ambition, and survival in a world rife with conflict and shifting alliances.

  Voir livre