Other books that might interest you

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  Tamar - From their pens to your...

  Lady Eleanor Smith

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  Lady Eleanor Furneaux Smith was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside in England on the 7th August 1902 into a privileged family steeped in titles and politics. 
  Part of her education was at Miss Douglas's school at Queen's Gate.  Here she met and befriended several other young women that the British tabloid press would later call the ‘Bright Young Things’, a group of bohemian young aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. 
  Smith's paternal great-grandmother, was said to have been a Gypsy, and this sparked an early and life-long interest with the Romani people, she even went so far as to learn to read and speak the language, which she called ‘musical and broken.’ 
  Her life was full of adventure and mishaps.  A mistaken encounter with a man she thought could help her into the film business turned out to be threats of marriage and death from a man wanted for the murder of his father.  She was even arrested twice.  Once for listing her career as a journalist and another, in Rome, for walking around in a sleeveless dress. 
  Smith began her career writing society gossip columns for various newspapers but later received an offer to write for the newly-formed Great Carmo Circus, with which she travelled for several years and was the source material for many of her books. 
  Her first novel, ‘Red Wagon’, was published when she was 28 and it was an immediate bestseller.  A prolific writer several of her works were also adapted for films. 
  Smith also wrote ghost stories and others flavoured with evil.  Her support for the Conservative party may be forgiven but her attributed quote to be a ‘warm adherent of General Franco’ less so. 
  Lady Eleanor Furneaux Smith died on the 20th October 1945 in Westminster after a long illness.  She was 43.

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  Me and My Baby View the Eclipse

  Lee Smith

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  A storyteller in the very best southern tradition, Lee Smith pens unexpected plots vibrant with luminous prose. Her powerful short stories in Me and My Baby View the Eclipse capture those extraordinary moments in everyday life when greatness and tragedy shimmer through the surface. This collection was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Richly satisfying, each tale portrays ordinary people meeting trouble head on with courage and compassion: a teenaged girl coping with her father's nervous breakdown, a housewife filling her humdrum days with an eccentric lover, and a single mother struggling to hang onto her wayward son. With narrators Linda Stephens' and Tom Stechschulte's brilliant performances, these lyrical stories-made to be read aloud-will linger long in your memory. The collection includes: Bob, a Dog; Mom; Life on the Moon; Tongues of Fire; Dreamers; The Interpretation of Dreams; Desire on Domino Island; Intensive Care; and Me and My Baby View the Eclipse.

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  The Cats of Ulthar - From their...

  HP Lovecraft

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  Howard Phillips Lovecraft is among the greatest American masters of fantasy and the supernatural.  
  Born in 1890, a native of Providence, Rhode Island, his health was uncertain from childhood and he led a sheltered early life. His semi-invalidism enabled him to read omnivorously, and as a shy imaginative child he began to invent what would in his adult life become a whole macabre fantastic world of his own, peopled by creatures out of his own weird imagination.  
  As an adult he was retiring, almost a recluse. Tall, thin and pale, but with bright alert eyes, he was much given to wandering his native city in the dark hours of the night, and he became a devoted student of its antiquities.  
  Although he began to write early he had nothing published until he was in his twenties. He set many of his stories around the imaginary town of Arkham, and invented an entire mythology of his own, its core being the demoniac cult of Cthulhu, based on the lore or legend that the world was at one time inhabited by another race who, in practising black magic, lost their foothold or were expelled, yet live on outside, ever ready to take possession of this earth again. 
  Since his early death in 1937 his stories have continued to attract attention and praise from an ever-growing audience.

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  The Fall of the House of Usher

  Edgar Allan Poe

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  Title: The Fall of the House of Usher 
  Author: Edgar Allan Poe 
  Narrator: Jonathan Dunne 
  Original Publication: 1839 
  Public Domain: Yes 
  Series Placement: Number 45 in the Timeless Terrors series 
  Description: 
  The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe stands as one of the defining masterpieces of gothic horror — a tale where decay, madness, and the supernatural intertwine within the crumbling walls of a doomed mansion. When an unnamed narrator visits the melancholic Roderick Usher and his ailing sister Madeline, he becomes ensnared in a world where the line between reality and delusion dissolves, and the very house itself seems alive with a malignant sentience. 
  Poe’s prose conjures an atmosphere of suffocating dread, exploring the collapse of body, mind, and bloodline. Every shadow, every whisper within the Usher estate echoes the inevitability of ruin — a meditation on mortality, isolation, and the inescapable power of fear. 
  Narrated by Amazon bestselling horror author Jonathan Dunne, this performance captures the story’s haunting rhythm and the slow, irresistible descent into terror that has enthralled readers for nearly two centuries. While the text is in the public domain, this narration is an original performance and copyright © 2025 Jonathan Dunne. 
  Part of Timeless Terrors, a series devoted to resurrecting the masters of the macabre and uncanny, The Fall of the House of Usher endures as one of Poe’s most enduring works — a symphony of melancholy and madness that reminds us: when the house falls, it takes the soul with it.

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  The Problem Club

  Barry Pain

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  Welcome to The Problem Club, where logic takes a holiday and wit is the law of the land. In this delightful collection of early 20th-century comic tales by Barry Pain, twelve eccentric gentlemen gather regularly in an upscale London club to tackle bizarre, imaginative challenges—each one a “problem” designed to confound, amuse, and showcase their cleverness. 
  From the unforgettable “Giraffe Problem”—in which each member must devise a scheme to make a woman say, “You ought to have been a giraffe”—to other equally ludicrous puzzles, Pain’s sharp humor and dry British charm shine through. 
  Narrated with elegance and flair by Mike Polischuk, this audiobook is a perfect escape for lovers of clever banter, satirical storytelling, and tales that celebrate the absurd.

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  The Unknown Masterpiece

  Honoré de Balzac

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  The Unknown Masterpiece by Honoré de Balzac is a profound and visionary novella that explores the consuming nature of artistic genius and the perilous pursuit of perfection. First published in 1831 and later incorporated into La Comédie Humaine, this remarkable work has fascinated readers, writers, and artists for generations with its penetrating insight into creativity, obsession, and the fragile boundary between brilliance and madness.
  
  Set in 17th-century Paris, the story revolves around three painters whose lives intersect in a tense and revealing encounter. The young and ambitious Nicolas Poussin seeks recognition and guidance in the competitive world of art. He is introduced to the renowned yet enigmatic master Frenhofer, a reclusive genius who has spent years working in secret on what he believes will be the ultimate painting—a flawless representation of life itself.
  
  Frenhofer speaks passionately about capturing not merely the outward appearance of his subject, but the very essence of reality. For him, true art transcends imitation; it must embody breath, spirit, and movement. Yet as he tirelessly refines his canvas, layering detail upon detail, his masterpiece remains unseen by the world.
  
  When at last the hidden work is revealed, the outcome is both shocking and tragic. What Frenhofer perceives as perfection appears to others as incomprehensible chaos. The contrast between the artist's vision and external judgment exposes the isolation that often accompanies creative ambition. Balzac raises haunting questions: Is genius always understood? Can the pursuit of absolute perfection destroy the very beauty it seeks to create?
  
  Through concise yet richly philosophical prose, Balzac examines the psychology of creation. He portrays the artist as both visionary and vulnerable, driven by an internal standard that may be unreachable. The novella also explores themes of rivalry, mentorship, and the tension between innovation and tradition in the artistic world.
  
  The Unknown Masterpiece has resonated far beyond its era, influencing modernist and avant-garde thinkers who recognized in Frenhofer's struggle a reflection of their own artistic dilemmas. The story anticipates debates about abstraction, realism, and the limits of representation, making it strikingly ahead of its time.
  
  Intense, reflective, and intellectually compelling, The Unknown Masterpiece stands as one of Balzac's most enduring explorations of the creative spirit. It is a timeless meditation on art, ambition, and the price of striving for the unattainable—a haunting reminder that genius, in its highest form, can be both sublime and solitary.

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