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  Taras Bulba (Unabridged)

  Nikolai Gogol

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  Taras Bulba is a romanticized historical novella by Nikolai Gogol. It describes the life of an old Zaporozhian Cossack, Taras Bulba, and his two sons, Andriy and Ostap. The sons study at the Kiev Academy and then return home, whereupon the three men set out on a journey to the Zaporizhian Sich (the Zaporizhian Cossack headquarters, located in southern Ukraine), where they join other Cossacks and go to war against Poland

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  HG Wells -More Selected Short...

  H. G. Wells

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  H.G. Wells is widely regarded as one of the most imaginative and visionary writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Best known for his groundbreaking science fiction novels like The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine, Wells was also a prolific short story writer, producing a diverse body of work that explored many of the same themes as his longer novels: the wonders and perils of scientific progress, the mysteries of the human mind, and the complex relationship between society and the individual. 
  Wells’ short stories, though perhaps less celebrated than his novels, serve as a window into his vast intellectual curiosity and creative range. These stories often play with speculative ideas in compact, inventive ways, offering a glimpse of his talent for combining narrative flair with philosophical inquiry. In these pages, the reader will find tales of strange inventions, eerie encounters, and dystopian visions, all of which reflect Wells’ keen interest in the future of humanity and the ethical dilemmas that arise with technological advancement. 
  Head Stories Audio presents their second selection of Short Stories by H.G Wells, narrated by Simon Hester. With original music.

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  The Breaking Point

  Mary Roberts Rinehart

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  ""The Breaking Point" by Mary Roberts Rinehart is a captivating mystery novel that weaves together suspense, romance, and intrigue. Let's delve into the intriguing plot:    Summary  Setting: The story unfolds in a New York suburban town shortly after the end of World War I.  Protagonist: Meet Dr. Dick Livingston, a quiet man with a mysterious past. He can only remember the last ten years of his life.  Love and Mystery: As Dick practices medicine, he falls in love with Elizabeth Wheeler, a young lady who sings in a church choir.  Unexpected Revelation: One evening, while attending a play, Dick is recognized by the main actress' manager. He is identified as Jud Clark, wanted for questioning in a potential homicide that occurred ten years earlier in Wyoming.  Themes: The novel explores identity, memory, and the consequences of a hidden past.  Mary Roberts Rinehart, often called "America's Agatha Christie," crafted this tale with her signature blend of suspense and character-driven storytelling. As you follow Dick's journey, you'll unravel secrets and confront the breaking point where past and present collide."

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  Freckles - From their pens to...

  William Pett Ridge

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  William Pett Ridge was born at Chartham, near Canterbury, Kent, on 22nd April 1859. 
  His family’s resources were certainly limited. His father was a railway porter, and the young Pett Ridge, after schooling in Marden, Kent became a clerk in a railway clearing-house. The hours were long and arduous, but self-improvement was Pett Ridge’s goal.  After working from nine until seven o’clock he would attend evening classes at Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institute and then to follow his passion; the ambition to write.  He was heavily influenced by Dickens and several critics thought he had the capability to be his successor. 
  From 1891 many of his humourous sketches were published in the St James's Gazette, the Idler, Windsor Magazine and other literary periodicals of the day. 
  Pett Ridge published his first novel in 1895, A Clever Wife. By the advent of his fifth novel, Mord Em'ly, a mere three years later in 1898, his success was obvious.  His writing was written from the perspective of those born with no privilege and relied on his great talent to find humour and sympathy in his portrayal of working class life. 
  Today Pett Ridge and other East End novelists including Arthur Nevinson, Arthur Morrison and Edwin Pugh are being grouped together as the Cockney Novelists.   
  In 1924, Pugh set out his recollections of Pett Ridge from the 1890s: “I see him most clearly, as he was in those days, through a blue haze of tobacco smoke. We used sometimes to travel together from Waterloo to Worcester Park on our way to spend a Saturday afternoon and evening with H. G. Wells. Pett Ridge does not know it, but it was through watching him fill his pipe, as he sat opposite me in a stuffy little railway compartment, that I completed my own education as a smoker... Pett Ridge had a small, dark, rather spiky moustache in those days, and thick, dark, sleek hair which is perhaps not quite so thick or dark, though hardly less sleek nowadays than it was then”. 
  With his success, on the back of his prolific output and commercial success, Pett Ridge gave generously of both time and money to charity. In 1907 he founded the Babies Home at Hoxton.  This was one of several organisations that he supported that had the welfare of children as their mission.  
  His circle considered Pett Ridge to be one of life's natural bachelors. In 1909 they were rather surprised therefore when he married Olga Hentschel.  
  As the 1920’s arrived Pett Ridge added to his popularity with the movies. Four of his books were adapted into films.  
  Pett Ridge now found the peak of his fame had passed. Although he still managed to produce a book a year he was falling out of fashion and favour with the reading public and his popularity declined rapidly.  His canon runs to over sixty novels and short-story collections as well as many pieces for magazines and periodicals. 
  William Pett Ridge died, on 29th September 1930, at his home, Ampthill, Willow Grove, Chislehurst, at the age of 71. 
  He was cremated at West Norwood on 2nd October 1930.

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  Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving...

  L. M. Montgomery

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  Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 - April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a series of novels beginning in 1908 with Anne of Green Gables. The book was an immediate success. The title character, orphan Anne Shirley, made Montgomery famous in her lifetime and gave her an international following.
  Aunt Susanna's Thanksgiving Dinner: "Here's Aunt Susanna, girls," said Laura who was sitting by the north window nothing but north light does for Laura who is the artist of our talented family. Each of us has a little pet new-fledged talent which we are faithfully cultivating in the hope that it will amount to something and soar highly some day.

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  So Big

  Edna Ferber

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  After losing her father and her husband, Selina Peake is left to raise her only son on the farm that was left to her. Dirk Peake, a tenacious boy who grows up to be a successful bond salesman, must come to terms with his own regrets later in life after he decides not to pursue architecture, a passion that both he and his mother shared. This classic novel about family, immigration, and the role of art and culture in society asks an age-old question: Can money really buy happiness?

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