Three Jumpers
Michael Marra
Publisher: Legend Press
Summary
The irreverent and mostly-true story of a would-be writer who became a stay-home father instead, and subsequently lost his mind when his wife deployed to the desert one summer.
Publisher: Legend Press
The irreverent and mostly-true story of a would-be writer who became a stay-home father instead, and subsequently lost his mind when his wife deployed to the desert one summer.
“Bridging tenderness and violence, and brimming with danger and magic, The Girl Who Cried Diamonds will leave you breathless.” — Anuja Varghese, author of Chrysalis “In these 14 hard-edged and unapologetic stories, debut author Garcia tackles topics ranging from human trafficking and drug abuse to eating disorders and middle-age angst, and in no-frills prose, carves out bizarre and palpable realities, breathing strange life into a horde of depressed, deprived, and abused characters.” — Publishers Weekly The boundaries between realist and fabulist, literary and speculative, are shattered in this remarkable debut collection for readers of Carmen Maria Machado, André Alexis, and Angélique Lalonde A girl born in a small, unnamed pueblo is blessed—or cursed—with the ability to produce valuable gems from her bodily fluids. A tired wife and mother escapes the confines of her oppressive life and body by shapeshifting into a cloud. A girl reckons with the death of her father and her changing familial dynamics while slowly, mysteriously losing her physical senses. Infused with keen insight and presented in startling prose, the stories in this dark, magnetic collection by newcomer Rebecca Hirsch Garcia invite the reader into an uncanny world out of step with reality while exploring the personal and interpersonal in a way that is undeniably, distinctly human.Show book
The lovely young orphan Sedela Craven is very excited to hear that the Marquis of Windlesham is returning home from active service in the Duke of Wellington’s Army in France at the end of the long war against Napoleon Bonaparte. He, however, lingers on in London with his beautiful lover Lady Esther Hasting, an exquisite yet unscrupulous woman who is unfaithful to him while striving to ensnare him into marriage for his riches and his celebrated title. Informed of this by her Nanny, Sedela dresses up as the Windles’s family ghost, Lady Constance, who appears as a warning whenever the family is in danger. Entering the Marquis’s bedroom at midnight through a secret passage she warns him that he is in grave peril from a woman who is unfaithful to him with a man he trusts as his friend. To his fury the Marquis soon discovers that the ‘ghost’ spoke the truth when he catches Esther in bed with his friend. It is only back at his estate preparing with Sedela for a lavish party for his family and friends that he begins to realise what his heart truly desires and it is Sedela. But it seems that it is too late, for she has been kidnapped and faces death at the forked tongue of a deadly cobra. The only hope is that the Marquis can rescue her in time to save her life and their love!Show book
Shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, Cursed Bunny is a genre-defying collection of short stories by Korean author Bora Chung. Blurring the lines between magical realism, horror, and science-fiction, Chung uses elements of the fantastic and surreal to address the very real horrors and cruelties of patriarchy and capitalism in modern society. Anton Hur's translation skilfully captures the way Chung's prose effortlessly glides from being terrifying to wryly humorous.Show book
Ever since the cruel death of her beloved brother, David at the Battle of Waterloo, Lady Ilina Bury’s father, the fifth Duke of Tetbury, has taken out his grief on her and now he too has died and his will reiterates his contempt of her. He leaves the beautiful nothing but the extremely valuable collection of jewels that had been given to his ancestor, the second Duke of Tetbury, by the Nizam of Hyderabad. The trouble is that, although legendary, these jewels are also almost certainly mythical and Ilina and David have been searching Tetbury Abbey for them for years without any success.All but destitute she dreads the arrival of her father’s heir and rather than be a burden, she decides to pretend that she is a paid employee of the poverty-stricken estate.And when the handsome new Duke finally does arrive from the Far East, he is visibly disappointed by what he sees, but worse still he says that he intends to abandon the estate, all its loyal staff and close up The Abbey for ever.He very quickly sees through Ilina’s disguise and then she shows the Duke round the dilapidated house and estate and regales him with the family’s illustrious history over many centuries.Although she despises him, she uses all her charms to persuade the Duke to stay and do his duty for his distinguished and aristocratic family. And, as little by little he yields, so Ilina’s heart slowly opens to love.Show book
What lies behind the gates of the Sanctuary? 'Urgent. Come tomorrow. Can't wait any longer.' Charli Trenthan plans to leave her hometown of Stone Lake. But when she receives a cryptic message from a member of the Sanctuary, a conservative closed community nestled in the forest, she is determined to find answers. A gruesome discovery soon lands Charli in hot water with the police, but how is the Sanctuary connected? As she digs deeper, dark secrets are uncovered and the fight to prove her innocence turns into a fight for her life. A gripping thriller with a shocking conclusion that will leave you spellbound, Deep in the Forest raises questions about who we trust and why.Show book
The team of explorers from The Lost World reunites to face the end of the world in this adventure by the creator of Sherlock Holmes.Prof. George Challenger has made a troubling discovery: The Earth is about to pass through a belt of poisonous gas. He quickly summons his three friends—Professors Summerlee, Lord John Roxton, and Edward Malone—to his home in Sussex with a request to bring tanks of oxygen. Once the men arrive, Professor Challenger leads them and his wife to a sealed room where they can wait out the crisis and observe the chaos outside. But when the poisonous cloud finally dissipates, there is no telling what they will find . . .Show book