Other books that might interest you

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  Lazarus

  Leonid Andreyev

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  What did Lazarus see beyond the veil of death?
  In this haunting masterpiece of psychological and philosophical fiction, Leonid Andreyev conjures a vision of resurrection unlike any ever imagined. Lazarus is not a tale of triumph over death—but of what death leaves behind.
  Strange, unsettling, and metaphysical, this is the story of a man raised from the grave only to cast a cold, unblinking gaze back upon the living. Wherever he walks, beauty withers, joy dissolves, and the veneer of meaning slips away. Those who look into his eyes do not die—they unravel.
  Written in a feverish prose that borders on the ecstatic and apocalyptic, Lazarus is a hypnotic meditation on the abyss that separates existence from extinction—and the unspeakable truth that might wait on the other side.
  Perfect for listeners drawn to existential horror, metaphysical fiction, or the eerie brilliance of Dostoevsky, Kafka, or Poe.

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  Eve's Ransom

  George Gissing

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  In Eve's Ransom , George Gissing weaves a poignant and ironic tale of love, loss, and economic desperation in Victorian England. The novel follows Harold Transome, a struggling schoolteacher who returns to London after years abroad, only to find himself entangled with Eve Mayfield, a beautiful young woman trapped in poverty. Drawn into a relationship that blurs duty and desire, Harold sacrifices his modest livelihood to support Eve, believing he is rescuing her from hardship. But as their bond deepens, so too does the complexity of their emotional and financial dependence. Gissing masterfully critiques romantic idealism and gender dynamics, exposing the harsh realities beneath sentimental illusions. A quiet tragedy of misplaced devotion and social constraint, Eve's Ransom explores the cost of love when it becomes an obligation rather than a choice.

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  A Christmas Carol

  Charles Dickens

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  A Christmas Carol is a popular Christmas story by Charles Dickens. Scrooge is a greedy old man, who only cares about himself. One night he is greeted by a couple of ghosts who teach him a lesson. The moral of the story is: be kind, appreciate your family and friends and help those in need. Recommended for age 7+.

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  Of a Promise Broken - From their...

  Lafcadio Hearn

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  Lafcadio Hearn was born on the 27th June 1850 on the Ionian isle of Levkás in Greece to a British Army officer and a Greek Mother. 
  His father, fearing for his career prospects at being married to a Greek Orthodox wife, sent them to Dublin whilst he continued to advance his career with further postings.  Life there was difficult for mother and son.  His father returned, wounded and traumatised, when Lafcadio was three.  He annulled the marriage and she remarried but had to give up care of Lafcadio to her sister-in law.   
  After brief periods for Catholic education in England and France he emigrated to Ohio in the United States when he was 19, taking on a series of casual jobs before embarking on a career as a journalist, publishing poems and essays in Cincinnati.  It was whilst here that he began a side-line in translating, starting with Gautier and Flaubert.  He married in 1874 to a 20 year old African-American woman in violation of Ohio's anti-miscegenation law.  The marriage soon failed. 
  In 1877 he relocated to New Orleans to write on a variety of themes before picking up a two year assignment from Harper’s to write in the West Indies, where he also wrote his first novel. 
  In 1890 Harper’s sent him to Japan.  Here he left journalism and took the remarkable decision to become a schoolteacher in the north of Japan.   Enraptured by the culture he was driven to explain it in various Western publications to those who had little, if any, knowledge of its culture.  Within the year he had fallen in love with, and married, a high-born Japanese lady, together they would have four children.   
  In 1895 he became a Japanese national and took the name Koizumi Yakumo, Koizumi being his wife’s family name. 
  The following few years, whilst a professor of Literature at the Imperial University of Japan, were his most creative and admired period.   
  Lafcadio Hearn died of heart failure on the 26th of September 1904, in Tokyo, Japan shortly before leaving to deliver a series of lectures at Cornell University in New York State.  He was 54.

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  The Crooked Man

  Arthur Conan Doyle

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  The Adventure of the Crooked Man, one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle ranked "The Adventure of the Crooked Man" 15th in a list of his 19 favourite Sherlock Holmes stories....He met Nancy that evening, who was shocked to learn he was alive. Unknown to her, however, he followed her home and witnessed the argument, for the blinds were up and the glass door open. He climbed over the low wall and entered the room. An apoplectic fit caused by the sight of him killed the Colonel instantly, and Nancy fainted. Henry's first thought then was to open the inside door and summon help, and he took the key from the now-unconscious Nancy to do so. Realizing that the situation looked very bad for him and that he himself could be charged with murder, he chose instead to flee, stopping long enough to retrieve Teddy, his mongoose that he used in his conjuring acts, which had escaped from the wooden box. However, he did drop his stick, the strange weapon that was later found, and he inadvertently carried the key off with him. An inquest has already exonerated Nancy, having found the cause of the Colonel's death... Famous works of the author Arthur Conan Doyle: A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, The Valley of Fear, His Last Bow, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, Stories of Sherlock Holmes, The Lost World.

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  Anne of Avonlea

  Lucy Maud Montgomery

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  When twelve-year-old Anne Shirley came to Avonlea, she quickly won everyone's heart. Now, she's five years older, almost a woman, and about to embark on a new adventure: becoming the teacher in her old Avonlea school. It's an exciting year as Anne struggles to win over all her students, welcomes two new members to her family, and feels the first stirrings of love.

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