Editora: Alien Ebooks
Shy retiree Unsworth strikes up a tentative friendship with a widow, Mrs. Cruse. This classic short story first appeared in MacLean’s, December 1, 1932.
Vernon Lee was born Violet Paget on 4th October 1856 in Boulogne, France to intellectual expatriate British parents. In common with several other very talented literary women of the day she felt it necessary to publish under a masculine pseudonym in order for her writing to be taken seriously. Indeed she seems to have adopted that persona across her whole lifestyle becoming personally known and acknowledged by all as Vernon Lee and accordingly dressed as a man. Her first published work, in 1880, was taken from her collection of essays that had originally appeared in Fraser’s Magazine with the scholarly title of; ‘Studies of the Eighteenth Century in Italy.’ It reflected her passion for music and centered on the rich creative lives of poet-librettist Pietro Metastasio and dramatists Carlo Goldoni and Carlo Gozzi. She wrote over a dozen volumes of essays on art, music, and travel with her scholarly appreciation animated by wit and imagination. Lee was well-regarded as an expert on the Italian Renaissance and was a proponent of the Aesthetic movement. Her literary talents were extensive and she wrote a number of novels and plays. Perhaps her best remembered works are her haunting and powerful short stories exploring the supernatural. Lee has often received accolades for these and glowingly compared to other authors such as M R James. A committed pacifist she was resolved to protest against World War I. Her social activism in other areas was perhaps fueled by her feminist beliefs. In her private life she was a lesbian and had long-term passionate relationships with three women including the doomed author and poet, Amy Levy. Vernon Lee died on 13th February 1935 in San Gervasio Bresciano, Italy. In this story a writer of Operas discovers the history of a venetian singer whose very voice could lift an audience to ecstasy, love and even death.Ver livro
A rich American heiress gets murdered, and her jewels get stolen, in this fast paced Agatha Christie mystery novel, set on the luxury "Blue Train" also known in the story as the the Millionaires Train. None other than famous French detective Hercules Poirot happens to be traveling on the train at the same time, and he quickly applies his immense crime-solving skills to the task of tracking down the perpetrators. This is no easy task however, and the story bobs and weaves to a fascinating conclusion.Ver livro
“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings bruised, exhausted, fluttering back to earth.” The Awakening follows Edna Pontellier, a resident of coastal Grand Isle of Louisiana, in her late twenties, who has a quintessential set-up for a content housewife. Indeed, her husband makes good money, and her daily routine should gleefully hinge on the two children, but, Edna is neither a self-sacrificing mother, nor a devoted wife. Instead, she is gradually awoken to rebel against this ‘perfect set-up’. Edna finds herself in the middle of two extremes. On one hand, she finds selfless Madame Ratignolle, who is a model wife. On the other, there is dejected Mademoiselle Reisz, who pursues her artistic aspiration in solitude. While taking bold decisions and carving her niche, she explores her sexuality with a womanizer, Alcee and an intimate understanding with a young man, Robert Lebrun. Will this awakening predetermine her ultimate happiness or signpost personal tragedy? Will the duality of the ‘outward existence’ and ‘inward life’ be reconciled for Edna to signify her emancipation? This short novel is widely acknowledged to do both, encapsulating the features of fin de siècle realism in its linear narrative, and anticipates literary modernism of the early twentieth century. Edna’s defiance of the American alternative of Victorian ‘Angel in the House’ is reminiscent of such classics as Anna Brontë’s Tenant of the Wildfell Hall. The Awakening also procures modernist works where the heroines look for the self - namely, Mrs Dalloway, Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Bell Jar. The condensed and intense prose style gives the novel a cryptic charm in line with Fitzgerald’s classic, The Great Gatsby. Besides, vivid natural symbolism of water, birds and the moon are the calling card of the novel that enhances its level of ambiguity and multivalence. The Legend Classics series:Around the World in Eighty DaysThe Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Importance of Being EarnestAlice's Adventures in WonderlandThe MetamorphosisThe Railway ChildrenThe Hound of the BaskervillesFrankensteinWuthering HeightsThree Men in a BoatThe Time MachineLittle WomenAnne of Green GablesThe Jungle BookThe Yellow Wallpaper and Other StoriesDraculaA Study in ScarletLeaves of GrassThe Secret GardenThe War of the WorldsA Christmas CarolStrange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr HydeHeart of DarknessThe Scarlet LetterThis Side of ParadiseOliver TwistThe Picture of Dorian GrayTreasure IslandThe Turn of the ScrewThe Adventures of Tom SawyerEmmaThe TrialA Selection of Short Stories by Edgar Allan PoeGrimm Fairy TalesThe AwakeningMrs DallowayGulliver’s TravelsThe Castle of OtrantoSilas MarnerHard TimesVer livro
The Voyage Out is the first novel by Virginia Woolf, published in 1915 by Duckworth. Woolf began work on The Voyage Out by 1910 (perhaps as early as 1907) and had finished an early draft by 1912. The novel had a long and difficult gestation; it was not published until 1915, as it was written during a period in which Woolf was especially psychologically vulnerable. She suffered from periods of depression and at one point attempted suicide. The resultant work contained the seeds of all that would blossom in her later work: the innovative narrative style, the focus on feminine consciousness, sexuality and death.Ver livro
The story revolves around a portrait of Dorian Gray by Basil Hallward, an artist impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied amoral experiences while staying young and beautiful; all the while, his portrait ages and records every one of Dorian's sins.Ver livro
"Emma was looking for a reason to live, a reason to die." Emma Rouault is a woman born out of her time. Raised on a diet of sentimental romance novels and dreams of Parisian high society, she marries Charles Bovary—a dull, well-meaning country doctor—only to find herself suffocated by the grey monotony of provincial life. In a desperate bid to find the "ecstasy" she has read about, Emma enters a spiral of illicit affairs and reckless luxury, unaware that her pursuit of the ideal is leading her toward inevitable ruin. Flaubert's meticulous prose captures the heartbreaking gap between our grandest fantasies and the brutal reality of our lives. The Architect of Realism: Flaubert famously spent days searching for le mot juste (the right word). Madame Bovary is celebrated for its precise, unemotional observation of human folly. By pioneering the "Free Indirect Discourse" technique, Flaubert allows the reader to step inside Emma's delusional mind while maintaining a critical distance, creating a reading experience that is both intimate and chillingly objective. A Critique of Romanticism: Emma is the ultimate victim of her own imagination. She views life as a stage, her lovers as heroes, and her surroundings as mere set dressing. Flaubert uses her story to critique the shallow romanticism of the 19th century, showing how the refusal to accept "the ordinary" can become a toxic force that destroys not only the self but everyone in its wake. Witness the birth of the modern novel. Purchase "Madame Bovary" today and experience the beauty of a tragedy told with surgical precision.Ver livro
