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  Ethel Lina White - A Short Story...

  Ethel Lina White

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  Ethel Lina White was born on the 2nd April 1876 in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, in Wales. 
   
  Her family were wealthy due to her father’s invention of a waterproofing material used, initially, for the London Underground. 
   
  Ethel started writing when she was only a child and published essays and poems in children’s papers.  She was also a talented artist. 
   
  As an adult she began to write short stories and, some years later, she started writing novels.  At the time she was working for the Ministry of Pensions in London but resigned in order to accept an advance of ten pounds and begin a career as a novelist.  It was this determination that helped her become one of the best-known crime writers in the English-speaking world during the 1930’s and 40’s. 
   
  Perhaps her best-known books are the ‘The Lady Vanishes’ and ‘The Spiral Staircase’ both of which were originally entitled differently but were republished with new names after being filmed.  Whilst today she lacks attention, in her day she was as popular and as highly regarded as Agatha Christie. 
   
  Ethel Lina White died in London on the 13th of August 1944 of ovarian cancer.  She was 68. 
   
  In her will she made a bizarre condition in order for her sister to receive her estate of £5737.  It read: "I give and bequeath unto Annis Dora White all that I possess on condition she pays a qualified surgeon to plunge a knife into my heart after death."   In life she had a fear of being buried alive.

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  A Witch's Den - A look into the...

  Helena Blavatsky

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  Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, often known as Madame Blavatsky, was born on 12th August 1831 into an aristocratic family in present day Dnipro in Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire.  She was the younger sister of the writer Vera Zhelikhovsky. 
   
  Much of Blavatsky’s life story relies on her own memories which changed much during her lifetime and therefore parts of it are unreliable.  What appears to be certain is that much of her life was lived first on family travels and postings and then on her journeys in an effort to further her own self-education and quest for knowledge. 
   
  As a teenager she developed an interest in Western esotericism and from there she claimed many travels including a trip to India where she encountered a group of spiritual adepts, the ‘Masters of the Ancient Wisdom’, who sent her to Shigatse, Tibet, where they trained her to develop a deeper understanding of the synthesis of religion, philosophy, and science.  
   
  By the early 1870s, Blavatsky was involved in the Spiritualist movement, which was then popular both in Britain and abroad, even though she argued against its main tenet that those ‘contacted’ were the spirits of the dead.  
   
  She moved to the United States in 1873 and became close to the journalist Henry Steel Olcott who helped her gain public attention as a spirit medium and then also became an adherent to her principles.   
   
  In 1875 in New York City she co-founded the Theosophical Society and two years later published ‘Isis Unveiled’, a book outlining her Theosophical world-view from its ancient roots to the modern day.  Her work was even more popular in Asia than elsewhere and is said to have influenced both Ghandi and Nehru amongst many others.  
   
  In 1880, she and Olcott moved to India, where the Society was allied to a Hindu reform movement.  That same year she converted to Buddhism.  However, she was often plagued with accusations of fraudulent paranormal phenomena.  
   
  With her health failing she returned to London and published ‘The Secret Doctrine’, her commentary on claimed ancient Tibetan manuscripts, and other books.  
   
  Helena Blavatsky died in London of influenza during the global pandemic on 8th May 1891.  She was 59.

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  Windswept - A Pride & Prejudice...

  J. Dawn King

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  Will the storm of the century tear Darcy and Elizabeth apart or bring them together forever? 
  Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet join forces when hurricane winds trap them together during the Netherfield Ball. Darcy must confront his prejudices and the dangers that threaten their lives while keeping a secret that, if known, would ruin his family’s reputation. 
  During the worst of the storm, the only person Elizabeth can rely on is the one man she despises—until his repeated acts of selflessness make her distrust her first impression. 
  In this battle of the elements, will Darcy and Elizabeth learn that the other is worthy of their confidence, respect, and deep affection? Can love prosper during the height of destruction? 
  Hold onto your bonnets in this tempestuous twist of Pride & Prejudice where Jane Austen’s beloved characters explore the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity, along with the transformative power of love.

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  Mater 2-10

  Hwang Sok-yong

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  Centred on three generations of a family of rail workers and a laid-off factory worker staging a high-altitude sit-in, Mater 2-10 vividly depicts the lives of ordinary working Koreans, starting from the Japanese colonial era, continuing through Liberation, and right up to the twenty-first century. It is at once a powerful account that captures a nation’s longing for a rail line to reconnect North and South, a magical-realist novel that manages to reflect the lives of modern industrial workers, and a culmination of Hwang’s career ? a masterpiece thirty years in the making. A true voice of a generation, Hwang shows again why he is unmatched when it comes to depicting the grief of a divided nation and bringing to life the cultural identity and trials and tribulations of the Korean people.

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  Rebel Empress: A Novel of...

  Faith L. Justice

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  A beautiful pagan. A ruler searching for a wife. Can a marriage of expedience change the course of an empire? 
  Constantinople, 419 A.D. Athenais holds faint hope for her future. So when the impoverished orphan’s male relatives offer her up as a consort for the emperor, she reluctantly agrees to study the philosophical arguments for the required conversion to Christianity. But while the accomplished scholar quickly falls for her imperial husband, she struggles with the court’s cutthroat political maneuvering and stubborn religious fanaticism. 
  Raised to Augusta after birthing her first daughter, Athenais consolidates her influence to build an entourage of skilled artists, writers, and thinkers, despite her jealous sister-in-law’s protests. But just when the protective philosopher thinks she’s won the fight for her spouse’s respect and affection, a series of catastrophes threatens to undermine her hard-earned position. 
  Can she withstand the storm and claim the throne she so rightly deserves? 
  Rebel Empress is the insightful third tale in the Theodosian Women biographical historical fiction series. If you like learning about forgotten heroines, glimpses into past worlds, and the complex juxtaposition of belief and actions, then you’ll love Faith L. Justice’s path through tragedies and triumphs. 
    
  Buy Rebel Empress today to remain proudly defiant!

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  Officer and a Gentleman An

  Griff Hosker

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  Griff Roberts and the Desert Group find themselves the only British soldiers guarding a huge piece of Egyptian desert. When foreign powers begin to encroach on the land and to raid the caravans it is up to the beleaguered garrison of Fort Farafra to do something about it. Fighting ambush, nature and violent sandstorms the camel riding soldiers are tested to their very limit.

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