Other books that might interest you

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  The People of the Abyss

  Jack London

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  Jack London lived for a time within the grim and grimy world of the East End of London, where half a million people scraped together hardly enough on which to survive. Even if they were able to work, they were paid only enough to allow them a pitiful existence. He grew to know and empathise with these forgotten (or ignored) people as he spoke with them and tasted the workhouse, life on the streets, ... and the food, which was cheap, barely nutritious, and foul.He writes about his experiences in a fluid and narrative style, making it very clear what he thinks of the social structures which created the Abyss, and of the millionaires who live high on the labours of a people forced to live in squalor. "... The food this managing class eats, the wine it drinks, ... the fine clothes it wears, are challenged by eight million mouths which have never had enough to fill them, and by twice eight million bodies which have never been sufficiently clothed and housed."

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  Sitting Pretty

  Kameron Claire

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  What happens when the hot bodybuilder wants to bend the curvy girl like a flexi-straw? 
  He's a personal trainer with a chiseled body who hustles in and out of the gym to take care of his mother and sister. 
  She's a confident curvy girl who runs a plus size online clothing boutique and YouTube fashion channel, using a three-day pass at the fitness resort. 
  She's everything he wants in a woman: smart, confident, and driven with luscious curves to hold on to. 
  Their attraction is instant and undeniable, but will she want him once she learns about his hustling? 
  It might be his past, but he sees no future without her.  
  Can he convince her to be his one and only, giving them their happily ever after?

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  Inside Madeleine - Stories

  Paula Bomer

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  Raw, intense short fiction that “delves into the most complex female territory imaginable and dissects until every honest bone is revealed” (Alissa Nutting, author of Tampa).   From the author of Nine Months and Baby comes a daring new collection that seethes with alienation, lust, and rage. Inside Madeleine takes us from hospitals, halfway houses, and alleyways to boarding schools and Park Avenue penthouses, exploring the complex relationships girls have with their bodies, with other girls, and with boys. The title novella tracks the ins and outs of an outsider’s life: her childhood obesity and kinky sex life, her toxic relationships, whether familial or erotic—and her various disappearing acts, of body and mind.    

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  Female Short Story The - A...

  Susan Glaspell, Radclyffe Hall,...

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  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 9 
  02 - White Bread by Zona Gale 
  03 - A Redeeming Sacrifice by Lucy Maud Montgomery 
  04 - The Stones of the Village by Alice Dunbar Nelson 
  05 - A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell 
  06 - Couching at the Door by D K Broster 
  07 - Devereux's Last Smoke by Izola Forrester 
  08 - The Octoroon's Revenge by Ruth D Todd 
  09 - Guests Unexpected. A Thanksgiving Story by Maude K Griffin 
  10 - Miss Ogilivy Finds Herself by Radclyffe Hall 
  11 - The Mystery of the Gables by Elsie Norris 
  12 - Blessed Are the Meek by Mary Webb 
  13 - Those Who Wait by Ethel Dell 
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  The Hidden Beast

  J. D. Beresford

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  John Davys Beresford (1873-1947) was an English writer, now remembered for his early science fiction and short stories in the horror story and ghost story genres."The Hidden Beast"  is a strange and evocative tale of superstition, supernatural forces and suspense. Could the rumours about a strange beast, imprisoned and tortured in the lonely house in the woods where the weird man lives really be true?

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  Ten Childhood Tales - Poignant...

  Katherine Mansfield, Kenneth...

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  A poignant and profound collection of stories which explore the theme of childhood and a child's perspective on the world.    "The Dabblers" by W. F. Harvey    "The Doll’s House" by Katherine Mansfield    "The Roman Road" by Kenneth Grahame    "The Sailor Uncle" by Mary Lamb    "The Egg" by Sherwood Anderson    "Gabriel-Ernest" by Saki    "A Child’s Revenge" by Paul Bourget    "The Apple Tree" by Katherine Mansfield    "A Falling Out" by Kenneth Grahame    "The Christmas Tree and the Wedding" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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