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  The Blockade Runners

  Jules Verne

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  Writing at the end of the American Civil War, Verne weaves this story of a Scottish merchant who, in desperation at the interruption of the flow of Southern cotton due to the Union blockade, determines to build his own fast ship and run guns to the Confederates in exchange for the cotton piling up unsold on their wharves. His simple plan becomes complicated by two passengers who board his new ship under false pretenses in order to carry out a rescue mission, one which Capt. Playfair adopts as his own cause. This is going make the Rebels in Charleston rather unhappy with him. 
  Sure, his new ship is fast - but can it escape the cannonballs of both North and South? (Summary by Mark Smith)

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  Mr Darwin's Shooter - A Novel

  Roger McDonald

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  A man of faith faces a personal reckoning after working aboard HMS Beagle in this “gripping” historical novel (The Wall Street Journal).   Heading off to sea at the age of thirteen, Syms Covington became Charles Darwin’s manservant for seven years, sailing on the historic voyage of the Beagle. Their relationship was an odd one, but it furnished exactly what Darwin needed in order to complete his groundbreaking work, as Covington shot and collected hundreds of specimens which became fodder for The Origin of Species.   Now, as Darwin’s groundbreaking book is about to be published, Covington has retired to Australia in poor health—and in a state of moral crisis over his role in undermining the Christian faith that has supported him during his life. As the novel progresses, he looks back on his upbringing in Bedford, England; his coming of age and wholehearted enjoyment of the sensual pleasures available to young sailors; and his unceremonious dismissal by Darwin once the research was complete.   “A captivating seafarer’s tale rich in period detail and insight into relations among men,” Mr. Darwin’s Shooter paints a poignant and unforgettable picture of one man forging, then struggling to maintain his faith in an era when it is constantly under attack—from science, from the daily brutality of life during colonial expansion, and from one’s own cold, inexorable logic (Publishers Weekly).   “A spectacular tale of 19th-century exploration and the conflict between science and religion, all based on Charles Darwin’s famous voyage of discovery . . . Brilliant.” —Kirkus Reviews

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  The Sleeping Car Porter

  Suzette Mayr

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  SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 
  WINNER OF THE 2022 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE 
  WINNER OF THE 2023 GEORGES BUGNET AWARD FOR FICTION 
  FINALIST FOR THE 2023 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S AWARD FOR ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FICTION 
  PUBLISHERS WEEKLY TOP 20 LITERARY FICTION BOOKS OF 2022 
  OPRAH DAILY: BOOKS TO READ BY THE FIRE 
  THE GLOBE 100: THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022 
  CBC BOOKS: THE BEST CANADIAN FICTION OF 2022 
  SHORTLISTED FOR THE CAROL SHIELDS PRIZE FOR FICTION 
  WINNER OF THE CITY OF CALGARY W.O. MITCHELL BOOK PRIZE 
  SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2022 REPUBLIC OF CONSCIOUSNESS PRIZE 
  When a mudslide strands a train, Baxter, a queer Black sleeping car porter, must contend with the perils of white passengers, ghosts, and his secret love affair 
  The Sleeping Car Porter brings to life an important part of Black history in North America, from the perspective of a queer man living in a culture that renders him invisible in two ways. Affecting, imaginative, and visceral enough that you’ll feel the rocking of the train, The Sleeping Car Porter is a stunning accomplishment. 
  Baxter’s name isn’t George. But it’s 1929, and Baxter is lucky enough, as a Black man, to have a job as a sleeping car porter on a train that crisscrosses the country. So when the passengers call him George, he has to just smile and nod and act invisible. What he really wants is to go to dentistry school, but he’ll have to save up a lot of nickel and dime tips to get there, so he puts up with “George.” 
  On this particular trip out west, the passengers are more unruly than usual, especially when the train is stalled for two extra days; their secrets start to leak out and blur with the sleep-deprivation hallucinations Baxter is having. When he finds a naughty postcard of two queer men, Baxter’s memories and longings are reawakened; keeping it puts his job in peril, but he can’t part with the postcard or his thoughts of Edwin Drew, Porter Instructor. 
  "Suzette Mayr brings to life –believably, achingly, thrillingly –a whole world contained in a passenger train moving across the Canadian vastness, nearly one hundred years ago. As only occurs in the finest historical novels, every page in The Sleeping Car Porter feels alive and immediate –and eerily contemporary. The sleeping car porter in this sleek, stylish novel is named R.T. Baxter –called George by the people upon whom he waits, as is every other Black porter. Baxter’s dream of one day going to school to learn dentistry coexists with his secret life as a gay man, and in Mayr’s triumphant novel we follow him not only from Montreal to Calgary, but into and out of the lives of an indelibly etched cast of supporting characters, and, finally, into a beautifully rendered radiance." – 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize Jury

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  Top 10 Short Stories The - D H...

  D H Lawrence

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  Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart.  A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. 
   
  In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?  
   
  The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme.  Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. 
   
  Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made.  If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. 
   
  In his hey-day and his pomp, D H Lawrence was regarded as both a genius and a pornographer.  Today his works are powerful reminders of his talents and his unique outlook on life.  Lawrence is one of a select few able to bring character and narrative into a pulsating blend of literary fiction.   
   
  01 - The Top 10 - D H Lawrence - An Introduction 
  02 - A Modern Lover  
  03 - The Rocking Horse Winner  
  04 - The Old Adam 
  05 - The Border Line  
  06 - A Fragment of Stained Glass  
  07 - Her Turn 
  08 - Odour of Chrysanthemums  
  09 - The Fly In The Ointment 
  10 - The Horse Dealer's Daughter  
  11 - A Lesson On A Tortise

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  Fields of Bounty (Leah's Garden...

  Lauraine Snelling

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  They must set aside their own plans and rely on their faith to bring their true destiny to light. 
   
  Lilac Nielsen's dream has come true: handsome young Reverend Ethan Pritchard has finally noticed her. Yet she must balance this new courtship with the pursuit of another dream--the publication of her artwork in a New York paper. She has secretly been submitting a series of drawings under a pen name, and if anyone traces the drawings back to her and finds out where Lilac and her sisters settled, the entire Nielsen family could be in danger. 
   
  As their family farm expands and Lilac's relationship with the reverend grows, it's a time of new beginnings. But when a family crisis back in Ohio shakes the Nielsen sisters, can they continue to build the new life they've begun in Nebraska? And will Lilac be prepared for what God has in store for her future?	   
   
  "A tender story. I know my readers will enjoy these stories and look forward to the books yet to come."--TRACIE PETERSON, bestselling author of the Pictures of the Heart series

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  The Red Gene - An Emotional...

  Barbara Lamplugh

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  “Traces the intergenerational legacies of the Spanish civil war through two groups of families . . . an enthralling novel with real historical heft.” —Judith Keene, author of Treason on the Airwaves 
   
  When Rose, a young English nurse with humanitarian ideals, decides to volunteer in the Spanish Civil War, she is little prepared for the experiences that await her. 
   
  Working on the front line and witness to the horrors of war, she falls in love with a Republican fighter. As defeat becomes inevitable, Rose is faced with a decision that will change her life and leave her with lasting scars. 
   
  Meanwhile we meet Consuelo, a girl growing up in a staunchly Catholic family on the other side of the ideological divide. When she discovers that she was adopted, her attempts to learn more about her origins come to a dead end. 
   
  But years later Consuelo’s daughter, Marisol, growing up in a rapidly changing Spain, decides to investigate the dark secrets of her family and find the answers that have until now eluded her mother . . . 
   
  What links Rose and Consuelo? Will Marisol uncover the truth? 
   
  Sometimes the truth lies in the darkest places. 
   
  “A wonderful book. It is so evocative of 1930s Britain and the generation for whom Spain was a huge issue . . . I really enjoyed reading it, with so many of the characters so brilliantly realised.” —Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the Labour Party 
   
  “The big themes of history are brought alive through the stories of a diverse cast of characters.” —John Simmons, author of Spanish Crossing

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