Publisher: Margaret Oliphant
“WE are to see each other no more.” These words were breathed rather than spoken in the dim recess of a window, hidden behind ample curtains, the deep recess in which the window was set leaving room enough for two figures standing close together. Without was a misty night, whitened rather than lighted by a pale moon.
This classic novel of the American Civil War evokes the horrors of battle and the psychology of fear as it recounts the experience of a young, untried Union Army volunteer.Henry Fleming longs to prove himself by winning the red badge beyond all doubt. But when he finally does come under fire, he learns the grim truth about war's "glory" and the real meaning of bravery.Abridged and adapted by Stephen Feinstein.Show book
Set against a background of Imperial Britain, this novel depicts life on the fringes of fashionable London in the 1880's. The author examines a `rational' marriage and the frustrations of an English `Madame Bovary'.Show book
Once upon a time there was a little girl called Lucie, who lived at a farm called Little-town. She was a good little girl—only she was always losing her pocket-handkerchiefs! One day little Lucie came into the farm-yard crying—oh, she did cry so! I’ve lost my pocket-handkin! Three handkins and a pinny! Have you seen them, Tabby Kitten?An Interactive Media audio production.Show book
"A Tragic Actor" by Anton Chekhov follows the story of Masha, a young and impressionable woman who falls in love with the titular character Fenogenov, a struggling actor. Despite her father's disapproval, Masha decides to run away with Fenogenov and marry him. However, her idealized view of her husband quickly crumbles as she discovers his lack of stability and success. In a desperate moment, Masha must turn to her father for help, leading to a confrontation between father and daughter as well as a reflection on the consequences of following one's heart over practicality. The story highlights themes of love, sacrifice, and the complexities of family relationships.Show book
O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), an American writer of outstanding short stories, known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and surprise endings.'The Robe of Peace' is a story which explains the mysterious disappearance of New York's leading swell, the fashion king Johnny Bellchambers.Show book
"The Man Who Could Work Miracles" is a British fantasy-comedy short story by H. G. Wells first published in 1898 in The Illustrated London News. It carried the subtitle "A Pantoum in Prose."The story is an early example of Contemporary fantasy (not yet recognized, at the time, as a specific sub-genre). In common with later works falling within this definition, the story places a major fantasy premise (a wizard with enormous, virtually unlimited magic power) not in an exotic semi-Medieval setting but in the drab routine daily life of suburban London, very familiar to Wells himself.Show book
