Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Gooseberries - From their pens...

  Anton Chekhov

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  Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on 29th January 1860 in Taganrog, on the south coast of Russia.  
  His family life was difficult; his father was strict and over-bearing but his mother was a passionate story-teller, a subject Chekhov warmed to. As he later said; ‘our talents we got from our father, but our soul from our mother’.  
  At school Chekhov was distinctly average. At 16 his father mis-managed his finances and was declared bankrupt. His family fled to Moscow. Chekhov remained and eked out a living by various means, including writing and selling short sketches to newspapers, to finish his schooling. That completed and with a scholarship to Moscow University obtained he rejoined his family. 
  He was able to help support them by selling satirical sketches and vignettes of Russian lifestyles and gradually obtained further commissions. In 1884, he qualified as a physician and, although it earned him little, he often treated the poor for free, he was fond of saying ‘Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my mistress.’ 
  His own health was now an issue as he began to cough up blood, a symptom of tuberculosis.  Despite this his writing success enabled him to move the family into more comfortable accommodation.  
  Chekhov wrote over 500 short stories which included many, many classics including ‘The Kiss’ and ‘The Lady with a Dog’.  His collection ‘At Dusk’ won him the coveted Pushkin Prize when was only 26.  
  He was also a major playwright beginning with the huge success of ‘Ivanov’ in 1887.   
  In 1892 Chekhov bought a country estate north of Moscow. Here his medical skills and money helped the peasants tackle outbreaks of cholera and bouts of famine. He also built three schools, a fire station and a clinic.  It left him with less time for writing but the interactions with real people gained him detailed knowledge about the peasantry and their living conditions for his stories.  
  His most famous work, ‘The Seagull’ was received disastrously at its premiere in St Petersburg. It was later restaged in Moscow to highlight its psychological aspects and was a huge success. It led to ‘Uncle Vanya’, ‘The Three Sisters’ and ‘The Cherry Orchard’.  
  Chekhov suffered a major lung hemorrhage in 1897 while visiting Moscow. A formal diagnosis confirmed tuberculosis and the doctors ordered changes to his lifestyle.  
  Despite a dread of weddings the elusive literary bachelor quietly married the actress Olga Knipper, whom he had met at rehearsals for ‘The Seagull’, on 25th May 1901. 
  By May 1904 with his tuberculosis worsening and death imminent he set off for the German town of Badenweiler writing cheerful, witty letters to his family and assuring them his health was improving.  
  On 15th July 1904 Anton Chekhov died at Badenweiler.  He was 44.

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  The Hand but Not the Heart - Or...

  T. S. Arthur

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  Jessie Loring marries a man she does not love because everyone agrees she should, and gives him her hand and nothing else — for the rest of both their lives. Arthur left school at thirteen, half-blind and apprenticed to a watchmaker, and became one of the most widely read Americans of his century; he wrote to instruct, and the instruction here is aimed squarely at the families who arrange these things.

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  Jane Eyre An Autobiography - The...

  Charlotte Brontë

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  Before she could find true love and freedom, she had to survive a world that wanted her broken. 
  Orphaned, destitute, and fiercely independent, young Jane Eyre is subjected to the cruelest of upbringings at Gateshead Hall. Punished for a passionate spirit she refuses to suppress, she is cast away to the bleak, oppressive halls of the Lowood Institution. But amidst freezing rooms, meager rations, and harsh discipline, Jane's soul refuses to be extinguished. Armed with sharp intellect, fierce resilience, and an unwavering sense of justice, she embarks on a turbulent journey to forge her own destiny. 
  As she steps into the mysterious shadows of Thornfield Hall to begin anew as a governess, dark secrets of the past and a brooding, enigmatic master threaten to shatter her hard-won independence. Will her steadfast morality and desperate craving for love be her salvation, or her ultimate undoing? 
  Why you will love this: As a towering achievement of Classic Literature, this brilliant audiobook breathes vibrant new life into the beloved story. Fans of Victorian fiction, strong female protagonists, and triumphant coming-of-age tales will be utterly swept away by Jane's defiance against oppressive societal norms. It remains the ultimate masterclass in slow-burn romance and gothic suspense. 
  About the Author: Charlotte Brontë was a trailblazing 19th-century English novelist and poet whose revolutionary exploration of female independence and private consciousness reshaped the literary landscape. Writing under the pseudonym Currer Bell, her fierce, deeply emotional prose cemented her legacy as one of the most brilliant minds of the Victorian era.

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  The Bellamy Trial

  Frances Noyes Hart

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  We rely on your support to help us keep producing beautiful, free, and unrestricted editions of literature for the digital age. Will you support our efforts with a donation ? Mimi Bellamy is dead—stabbed multiple times and discovered in a deserted cottage. Now, two people close to her are on trial for her murder: her husband, Stephen Bellamy, and her friend, Sue Ives. The prosecution claims they killed her out of revenge, supposedly after learning about her affair with Sue's husband, Patrick. But the defense has its own story to tell. Over the course of an eight-day trial family members, friends, servants, and eyewitnesses take the stand, and with each testimony the story shifts, with every revelation the trial changes course. We experience it all through the eyes of a red-haired writer making her debut as a court reporter, and the veteran reporter seated next to her. For the both of them, and for us, the suspense lasts until the very end: did Stephen and Sue kill Mimi? With The Bellamy Trial , Frances Noyes Hart wrote one of the very first legal thrillers. In writing it she was undoubtedly inspired by her husband, an attorney to whom she dedicated this book, but the main inspiration for The Bellamy trial is the Hall–Mills murder case, a trial that was widely reported on at the time. Frances Noyes Hart (died 1943) was an influential writer of the modernist period. Their work has endured across generations and continues to be read and studied worldwide. As a work of classic literary fiction, The Bellamy Trial exemplifies the narrative craft and social insight that defined great storytelling of its era. Literary fiction of this period was characterized by careful attention to character psychology, social milieu, and the moral questions that animated public discourse.

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  The Boarding House - From their...

  James Joyce

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  James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was born on the 2nd February 1882 in Dublin into a middle-class family, and the eldest of ten surviving siblings 
  Admired as a brilliant student he briefly attended the Christian Brothers-run O'Connell School before excelling at the Jesuit schools of Clongowes and Belvedere.  From there he went on to attend University College Dublin from 1898, studying English, French and Italian 
  In 1902, Joyce was now in his early twenties, and went to Paris to study Medicine but soon abandoned his teachings.  Back in Dublin to attend to his dying Mother he met Nora Barnacle. They bonded immediately into a life-long match. Together they decided to emigrate to Europe.  The couple lived in Trieste, Rome, Paris, and finally Zürich where Joyce pursued a variety of jobs and ventures to supplement his literary pursuits but none of these paid off.  
  After publishing a poetry volume, ‘Chamber Music’, in 1907, his short story collection ‘The Dubliners’, in 1914, helped establish his talent in the rapidly changing world.  
  Although far from home Joyce’s literary heart and works were set in his recollections of Dublin.  Characters are close resemblances of family and friends and indeed enemies.  His landmark work ‘Ulysses’, published in 1922, is set in the streets and alleyways of the city as it parallels Homer’s Odyssey in a variety of styles including its famed stream of consciousness. 
  His pen continued to produce classics of the order of ‘A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man’ and ‘Finnegan’s Wake’ together with several volumes of poetry and a play ‘The Exiles, in 1918.   
  On the 11th January 1941, Joyce underwent surgery in Zürich for a perforated duodenal ulcer. The next day he fell into a coma. On the 13th after a brief period of lucidity in which he called for his wife and son he passed.  He was 58.

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  The Adventure of the Speckled...

  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, John Scott

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  The Speckled Band is one of the most popular stories about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Modernized for today's world, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, follows a young woman, Helen Stoner, who believes there is a plot to kill her. She turns to Holmes and Watson for help - and the dynamic duo investigate sinister events which ultimately lead them back to an old family estate where the mystery unfolds. In this tale of murderous revenge, Sherlock's keen powers of deduction are put to work as he investigates a mysterious death in the posh British countryside. 
  Embark on a literary journey like no other and experience Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic adventure, 'The Speckled Band,' in a unique audiobook format. Relax as you are immersed in a rich background environment of sound that transports you right into the heart of London and puts you at the center of the action. Listen as our experienced narrator reads at a steady pace, allowing you to take in every detail and savor every moment of this timeless classic. Get comfy in your armchair, clasping a warm cup of tea as Sherlock Holmes, aided by Dr. John Watson, delves deep into the mysteries of yet another complex case. Follow their journey as they unravel the a web of dangerous web of family ties and riches. 
  The Lullify Audiobook is a unique listening experience that immerses you in the story through background environments and foley sounds. By bringing narration to life with these elements, we transport you directly into the heart of the tale. Designed for a more calming experience this is the perfect new way to take in classic stories. The original story has been altered and modernized for today's world. While the story remains true to the original tale, some details and events have been updated to make sense if this story were to take place today!

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