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A slow paced story of love and self-sacrifice with thoughtful character development. In this novel, the heroine Sylvia is on the verge of receiving a large and unexpected inheritance. But soon an unexpected discovery leads to unexpected consequences as Sylvia dives deeper into family secrets.
Kenneth Grahame was born on 8th March 1859 in Edinburgh. At age 5 his mother succumbed to puerperal fever. His father, who had a drinking problem, now sent his 4 children to live with their grandmother at her large house in Cookham, Berkshire. Here the children lived in large open grounds next to the river. These early experiences would in later years, be retold in his writing through a myriad of characters. Grahame loved being a pupil at St Edward's School, Oxford and wanted to enroll at the university there but his guardian demurred on account of the cost. Instead, a banking career was chosen for him, starting in 1879 at the Bank of England, where he rose steadily to the rank of its Secretary until retiring, with a pension, in 1908 due to ill health. Alongside his commercial career Grahame had written and published various stories and essays in several periodicals. Some were anthologized as ‘Pagan Papers’ in 1893, and two years later ‘The Golden Age’ and later still ‘Dream Days’ and its masterpiece ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ became part of many home libraries. His ability to view life through the lens of a young and curious child was superb, enabling the reader to easily identify with the character. Grahame married Elspeth Thomson in 1899 and they had one child; Alastair, born semi-blind and plagued by health problems. In a heart-rending tragedy he would later take his own life whilst attending Oxford University in 1920. In 1908 Grahame reworked many of the bedtime stories he had fashioned for his son into the enduring favourite; ‘The Wind in the Willows’, describing the heart-warming adventures of Mr Toad and his friends. Kenneth Grahame died in Pangbourne, Berkshire, on 6th July 1932. 01 - Kenneth Grahame - A Short Story Collection - An Introduction 02 - A Saga of the Seas by Kenneth Grahame 03 - Dies Irae by Kenneth Grahame 04 - The Magic Ring by Kenneth Grahame 05 - Mutabile Semper by Kenneth Grahame 06 - The Inquity of Oblivion by Kenneth GrahameMostra libro
Jarl Dragon Heart and his special sword prove to be magnets for every young warrior who wishes to make a name for himself. After three assassination attempts the Viking goes to Wessex where he helps Egbert, the King of Wessex fight off an invasion from Mercia backed by Danes from Jorvik. A fast moving book which moves from the Jorvik to London and back concluding in a cataclysmic battle back in the Isles of Man.Mostra libro
Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace was born on the 1st April 1875 in Greenwich, London. Leaving school at 12 because of truancy, by the age of fifteen he had experience; selling newspapers, as a worker in a rubber factory, as a shoe shop assistant, as a milk delivery boy and as a ship’s cook. By 1894 he was engaged but broke it off to join the Infantry being posted to South Africa. He also changed his name to Edgar Wallace which he took from Lew Wallace, the author of Ben-Hur. In Cape Town in 1898 he met Rudyard Kipling and was inspired to begin writing. His first collection of ballads, The Mission that Failed! was enough of a success that in 1899 he paid his way out of the armed forces in order to turn to writing full time. By 1904 he had completed his first thriller, The Four Just Men. Since nobody would publish it he resorted to setting up his own publishing company which he called Tallis Press. In 1911 his Congolese stories were published in a collection called Sanders of the River, which became a bestseller. He also started his own racing papers, Bibury’s and R. E. Walton’s Weekly, eventually buying his own racehorses and losing thousands gambling. A life of exceptionally high income was also mirrored with exceptionally large spending and debts. Wallace now began to take his career as a fiction writer more seriously, signing with Hodder and Stoughton in 1921. He was marketed as the ‘King of Thrillers’ and they gave him the trademark image of a trilby, a cigarette holder and a yellow Rolls Royce. He was truly prolific, capable not only of producing a 70,000 word novel in three days but of doing three novels in a row in such a manner. It was estimated that by 1928 one in four books being read was written by Wallace, for alongside his famous thrillers he wrote variously in other genres, including science fiction, non-fiction accounts of WWI which amounted to ten volumes and screen plays. Eventually he would reach the remarkable total of 170 novels, 18 stage plays and 957 short stories. Wallace became chairman of the Press Club which to this day holds an annual Edgar Wallace Award, rewarding ‘excellence in writing’. Diagnosed with diabetes his health deteriorated and he soon entered a coma and died of his condition and double pneumonia on the 7th of February 1932 in North Maple Drive, Beverly Hills. He was buried near his home in England at Chalklands, Bourne End, in Buckinghamshire.Mostra libro
The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia is a philosophical tale by Samuel Johnson that explores the nature of happiness and the human condition.Rasselas, the prince of Abyssinia, lives in the idyllic and seemingly perfect "Happy Valley," where all desires are met, yet he feels a profound sense of dissatisfaction. This restlessness leads him to question the purpose of life and the nature of true happiness. Despite the comforts surrounding him, Rasselas longs to understand life beyond the confines of his sheltered existence.Driven by his discontent, Rasselas escapes the valley with his sister Nekayah, her maid Pekuah, and their wise companion Imlac. Together, they embark on a journey to Cairo, seeking to uncover what brings genuine fulfillment. Throughout their travels, they encounter various individuals—pleasure-seekers, philosophers, and those burdened by life's hardships—each providing insights into the complexities of happiness.Mostra libro
Will José be drawn into the dangerous life of a smuggler? Or settle down to a quiet life in his father’s shop in Havana? In 1760 Cuba, José Albañez, a free boy of color, resents his charming but unprincipled uncle Domingo’s pressure to join him to sea on one of his smuggling ventures. He would rather continue his studies at the Jesuit school and then follow his father into the joiner’s trade. Instead, he finds himself struggling to master seamanship, lodging with a Jewish trading family on Jamaica in the aftermath of a slave revolt, and confronting kidnappers on Saint-Domingue. The arrival of a British fleet off of Cuba in 1762 forces him to decide where his future lies.Mostra libro
