Other books that might interest you

• 

  Kisses and Rogues - Four Regency...

  Anthea Lawson

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  ~Four sweet-to-spicy Regency Stories by USA Today bestselling author Anthea Lawson~ 
  FIVE WICKED KISSES 
  To pay off her father’s debt, Juliana Tate must accept five kisses from the Earl of Eastbrook... but she never suspects how delicious each kiss will be. 
  MAID FOR SCANDAL 
  Miss Anna Harcourt disguises herself as a maid to be near the man she think she loves, but little does she know how far this charade will lead her ... or how close to scandal. 
  THE PIANO TUTOR 
  Encouraged by her scandalous friend to take a lover, Lady Diana Waverly finds that the new piano tutor is more than he seems – especially when it comes to passion. 
  TO WED THE EARL 
  Miss Miranda Price detests her neighbor Edward Havens, the rakish Earl of Edgerton—but when he catches her breaking into his library at midnight, secrets are revealed that will change the course of their lives... forever.

  Show book

• 

  Female Short Story The - A...

  Baroness Orczy, Netta Syrett,...

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  A wise man once said ‘The safest place for a child is in the arms of his mother’s voice’.  This is a perfect place to start our anthology of female short stories. 
   
  Some of our earliest memories are of our mothers telling us bedtime stories. This is not to demote the value of fathers but more to promote the often-overshadowed talents of the gentler sex. 
   
  Perhaps ‘gentler’ is a word that we should re-evaluate. In the course of literary history it is men who dominated by opportunity and with their stranglehold on the resources, both financial and technological, who brought their words to a wider audience.  Men often placed women on a pedestal from where their talented words would not threaten their own.   
   
  In these stories we begin with the original disrupter and renegade author Aphra Behn.  A peek at her c.v. shows an astounding capacity and leaves us wondering at just how she did all that. 
   
  In those less modern days to be a woman, even ennobled, was to be seen as second class.  You literally were chattel and had almost no rights in marriage.  As Charlotte Smith famously said your role as wife was little more than ‘legal prostitute’.  From such a despicable place these authors have used their talents and ideas and helped redress that situation.   
   
  Slowly at first.  Privately printed, often anonymously or under the cloak of a male pseudonym their words spread.  Their stories admired and, usually, their role still obscured from rightful acknowledgement. 
   
  Aided by more advanced technology, the 1700’s began to see a steady stream of female writers until by the 1900’s mass market publishing saw short stories by female authors from all the strata of society being avidly read by everyone.  Their names are a rollcall of talent and ‘can do’ spirit and society is richer for their works.   
   
  In literature at least women are now acknowledged as equals, true behind the scenes little has changed but if (and to mis-quote Jane Austen) there is one universal truth, it is that ideas change society.  These women’s most certainly did and will continue to do so as they easily write across genres, from horror and ghost stories to tender tales of love and making your way in society’s often grueling rut.  They will not be silenced, their ideas and passion move emotions, thoughts and perhaps more importantly our ingrained view of what every individual human being is capable of.    
   
  It is because of their desire to speak out, their desire to add their talents to the bias around them that we perhaps live in more enlightened, almost equal, times.   
   
  Within these stories you will also find very occasional examples of historical prejudice.  A few words here and there which in today’s world some may find inappropriate or even offensive.  It is not our intention to make anyone uncomfortable but to show that the world in order to change must reconcile itself to the actual truth rather than put it out of sight.  Context is everything, both to understand and to illuminate the path forward.  The author’s words are set, our reaction to them encourages our change. 
   
  01 - The Female Short Story. A Chronological History - An Introduction - Volume 7 
  02 - The Coach by Violet Hunt 
  03 - Suggestion by Mrs Ernest Leverson 
  04 - Another Freak by Mary Angela Dickens 
  08 - Red Tape by Mary Sinclair 
  06 - An Idyl of London by Beatrice Harraden 
  07 - The Love Germ by Constance Cotterell 
  08 - The Black Crusader by Alicia Ramsay 
  09 - The Lame Priest by Susan Morrow writing as S Carleton 
  10 - A Pen and Ink Effect by Frances E Huntley 
  11 - Far Above Rubies by Netta Syrett 
  12 - My Honoured Master by Catherine Anne Dawson Scott 
  13 - A Knot of Ribbon by Laurence Alma-Tadema 
  14 - The Mysterious Death on

  Show book

• 

  Classic Short Stories - Volume...

  Edith Nesbit, Stacy Aumonier,...

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Stories are one of mankind’s greatest artistic achievements.  Whether written down or spoken they have an ability to capture our imagination and thoughts, and take us on incredible journeys in the space of a phrase and the turn of a page. 
   
  Within a few words of text or speech, new worlds and characters form, propelling a narrative to a conclusion with intricate ease. Finely crafted, perfectly formed these Miniature Masterpieces, at first thought, seem remarkably easy to conjure up. But ask any writer and they will tell you that distilling the essence of narrative and characters into a short story is one of the hardest acts of their literary craft.  Many attempt, but few achieve.

  Show book

• 

  The Mystery of the Octagon Room

  Eimar O'Duffy

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Eimar Ultan O'Duffy (1893 – 1935) was an Irish writer, economist and satirist. 
  
  
  "The Mystery of the Octagon Room" is a story about a man who is invited to a remote country house, recently inherited by friends of his. 
  
  
  Many of the rooms in the house are rumoured to be haunted. But an unassuming octagonal room in the tower hides a particularly gruesome and terrifying secret. Nobody can stay there overnight - and those who have tried it were insane by morning. The narrator of the tale cannot resist the challenge and orders a bed, lamps and an oil stove to be installed in the Octagon Room, so that he can put the tale to the test.

  Show book

• 

  Bubbling Well Road

  J. R. Kipling

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) was an English writer. In 1886 he published the book of verses "Departmental Ditties". It was followed by "Plain Tales from the Hills", 1888 – laconic, often rough stories about life of the British India. "Bubbling Well Road" was first published in the Civil and Military Gazette of 18 January 1888. The narrator describes his adventure in Africa. He went to jungle to hunt a pig. When he wanted go back, he missed his dog. Searching his dog, the narrator reached a beautiful place. The story contains vivid descriptions of the African nature. Eventually the hunter came to the hut of an African priest. How did the story end? Read "Bubbling Well Road" to know it.A SmartTouch Media production.

  Show book

• 

  The Black Dog

  Stephen Crane

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was a prolific American poet, novelist, and short story writer. He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation.'The Black Dog' is a supernatural tale of a group of travellers who seek shelter in a remote cabin where an old man lies dying. They hear from the man's nephew of a local tale that when death arrives, it is preceded by the appearance of a ghostly black dog which howls outside the house.

  Show book