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  The Legend of Saint Julian the...

  Gustave Flaubert

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  Gustave Flaubert was born on 12th December 1821 in Rouen, in Normandy, France.  
   
  A gifted child he began writing as early as eight. 
   
  He was educated at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen until 1840 and thence to Paris to study law, a city he disliked. He studied little, made few friends and preferred to spend his time writing. His first finished work was ‘November’, a novella, completed in 1842. By 1846 after an attack of epilepsy, he left Paris and abandoned his law studies. 
   
  That same year he began a relationship with the poet Louise Colet which lasted eight years.  His politics developed in these years of revolutions throughout Europe as stridently against despotism, and as one who celebrated protest against the elite and the establishment. 
   
  In September 1849, Flaubert completed ‘The Temptation of Saint Anthony’. After 4 days reading it aloud to two friends, they advised him to destroy it and to focus his writing on day-to-day life rather than the fantastic. 
   
  A long journey to the Middle East brought encounters with both female and male prostitutes and a case of syphilis caught in Beirut.  On his return he began ‘Madame Bovary’ a work he would take 5 years to complete. When it was serialized in the Revue de Paris in 1856 the government brought an immorality action against both publisher and author, but both were acquitted. This was the birth of French Realism and Flaubert, fastidious with every word, was becoming regarded as a literary genius. He wrote in sullen solitude, sometimes spending a week on a single page, avoiding the inexact, the abstract and the vague.   
   
  He visited Carthage in 1858 to conduct research for ‘Salammbô’, which took 4 years to complete.  ‘Sentimental Education’ took a further 7 and published only in 1869.  The next few years were difficult.  Prussian soldiers occupied his house during the War and his mother died pushing him into financial difficulty and this, together with failing health, especially venereal diseases, shortened his life. 
   
  He toiled on his unfinished ‘Bouvard et Pécuchet’ but did complete ‘Three Tales’ in 1877 from which ‘The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller’ is taken.  
   
  Gustave Flaubert died at Croisset from a cerebral hemorrhage on 8th May 1880. He was 58.

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  If You See Her Face

  B. M. Croker

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  Bithia Mary Croker (1848-1920) was an Irish-born novelist and writer of ghost stories; most of her work concerned life and society in British India.'If You See Her Face' tells the story of Daniel Gregson, political agent to a rajah, and his assistant, Percy Goring, who are travelling to the Delhi durbar when their train is prevented from going on by a break in the line. Gregson decides they should head for the raja's isolated hunting palace in Kori on foot. They are warned by an old woman not to enter the Khana palace, as it's a place where 'if you see her face - you die!'

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  The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

  Anne Brontë

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  "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" is a novel written by Anne Brontë, which was first published in 1848. The book is considered a classic of Victorian literature and is known for its exploration of social issues and the portrayal of a strong, independent female protagonist. The novel is presented in the form of letters and diary entries, revealing the story of Helen Graham, a mysterious woman who takes up residence at Wildfell Hall. As the narrative unfolds, readers discover the dark secrets of Helen's past and the reasons behind her desire for solitude. The novel addresses themes such as marriage, alcoholism, and women's independence, making it a significant work in the context of 19th-century literature.

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  The Complete Chronicles of Avonlea

  Lucy Maud Montgomery

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  The Complete Chronicles of Avonlea includes 27 short stories relating to the fictional Canadian village of Avonlea.Chronicles of Avonlea is a collection of short stories by L.M. Montgomery, related to the Anne of Green Gables series. It features an abundance of stories relating to the fictional Canadian village of Avonlea, and was first published in 1912. Sometimes marketed as a book in the Anne Shirley series, Anne plays only a minor role in the book: out of the 12 stories in the collection, she stars in only one (The Hurrying of Ludovic), and has a small supporting role in another (The Courting of Prissy Strong). She is otherwise only briefly mentioned in passing in five other stories: Each in His Own Tongue, Little Joscelyn, The Winning of Lucinda, Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's and The End of a Quarrel.Further Chronicles of Avonlea is a collection of short stories by L.M. Montgomery and is a sequel to Chronicles of Avonlea. Published in 1920, it includes a number of stories relating to the inhabitants of the fictional Canadian village of Avonlea and its region, located on Prince Edward Island. Anne Shirley plays a minor role in the book: out of the 15 stories in the collection, she narrates and stars in one (The Little Brown Book of Miss Emily), and is briefly mentioned in passing in two others (Aunt Cynthia's Persian Cat and The Return of Hester). Three other characters from the Anne books are seen in brief secondary roles: Diana Barry and Marilla Cuthbert in The Little Brown Book of Miss Emily, and Rachel Lynde in Sara's Way. As well, Matthew Cuthbert is mentioned in passing in The Conscience Case of David Bell.

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  The Autobiography of St Ignatius

  St. Ignatius Loyola

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  This account of the life of St. Ignatius, dictated by himself to Father Gonzalez, is a most valuable record of the great Founder of the Society of Jesus. It, more than any other work, gives an insight into the spiritual life of St. Ignatius. Few works in ascetical literature, except the writings of St. Teresa and St. Augustine, impart such a knowledge of the soul.The saint in his narrative always refers to himself in the third person, and this mode of speech has here been retained. 
  Many persons who have neither the time, nor, perhaps, the inclination, to read larger works, will read, we trust, with pleasure and profit this autobiography. Ignatius, as he lay wounded in his brother's house, read the lives of the saints to while away the time. Touched by grace, he cried, "What St. Francis and St. Dominic have done, that, by God's grace, I will do." May this audiobook, in like manner, inspire its listeners with the desire of imitating St. Ignatius. This autobiography is a valuable key for the understanding of his Spiritual Exercises. It was kept in the archives for about 150 years.

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  White Fang

  Jack London

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  Born in the wild, the wolf-dog White Fang quickly learns the law of nature: eat or be eaten. Captured by Indians, bullied by another dog, and then turned into a killer, he becomes vicious and fiercely independent. Rarely has the raw realism of life on the edge of civilisation been so vividly captured. But in this classic animal novel, Jack London also has other points to make – that animal and human beings alike are deeply affected by the way they are treated.

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