Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
Adam's Breed - cover

Adam's Breed

Radclyffe Hall

Publisher: Renard Press

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

Gian-Luca has a rocky start in life, his mother dying in childbirth, his father unknown, and he is sent to grow up with his grandparents amongst an Italian immigrant community on Old Compton Street. He becomes a waiter, where he learns the value of hard work, and soon lands a promotion to head waiter in a fine-dining restaurant. He excels in this position, and it is not long before he meets Maddelena, to whom he gets married. It seems he has found a happy ending.
However, despite his marriage to Maddelena and his achievements in his work, he finds he is not happy, after all. Life loses its joy, and he comes to despise those he serves in the restaurant, seeing in the diners the ugly side of society. Disconsolate, he sets out to seek a more fulfilling life, and becomes a hermit, trying to reconnect with nature, and hoping to find peace outside of society.
Despite winning awards upon its publication, Adam's Breed sank into obscurity following the censorship of Hall's later novel The Well of Loneliness. An early example of immigrant narratives, yet still relevant today, it is time Gian-Luca's stirring tale found its way back to the canon.
Available since: 03/29/2023.
Print length: 408 pages.

Other books that might interest you

  • Arch Rascal An - From their pens to your ears genius in every story - cover

    Arch Rascal An - From their pens...

    Knut Hamsun

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Knud Pedersen was born in Lom in the Gudbrandsdal valley of Norway on the 4th of August, 1859 in what was then the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway.  He was the fourth son of seven children born to poor parents who, when he was three, were invited to an uncle’s farm to work his land. 
    When he was nine he moved away from his family to help another uncle who ran a post office.  Whilst with him he was beaten and starved which manifested in a series of chronic nervous difficulties.  The treatment endured for six years until he managed to escape back to Lom. 
    For some time he now took any job that was available to him, including store clerk, peddler, shoemaker's apprentice, sheriff's assistant, elementary-school teacher and ropemaker's apprentice.  At about the same time, with the wealth of these gained experiences, he began to explore his literary talents. 
    In 1877 he published his first book ‘The Enigmatic Man: A Love Story from Northern Norway’, others soon followed but real success only came in 1890 with ‘Hunger’, an influential work for later novelists with its internal monologue and bizarre logic.  His work is often associated with Pantheism; where nature and mankind are unified in a strong and often mystical bond.   
    His work was so influential that in 1920 he was awarded the Novel Prize for Literature. 
    Shortly after this point his works became fewer and his interests darker.  During World War II he became a fervent admirer of the Nazi’s, even meeting Hitler, even though German armies had overrun Norway.  With the war’s end he was detained on charges of treason.  His old age was apparently the primary reason given for Hamsun receiving only a fine.  Other reasons also sought to excuse his abhorrent behaviour but it was clear that whilst he was loved for his literature he was detested for his politics and morals. 
    His literary canon includes more than 20 novels, a poetry collection, short stories, plays, a travelogue, other works of non-fiction and essays. 
    Knut Hamsun died on the 19th February 1952 in Grimstad. He was 92.
    Show book
  • Scarecrow of Oz The [The Wizard of Oz series #9] - cover

    Scarecrow of Oz The [The Wizard...

    L. Frank Baum

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Cap'n Bill and Trot journey to Oz and, with the help of the Scarecrow, the former ruler of Oz, overthrow the villainous King Krewl of Jinxland. This was allegedly L. Frank Baum's personal favourite Oz book.
    Show book
  • D H Lawrence - Six of the Best - Their legacy in 6 classic stories - cover

    D H Lawrence - Six of the Best -...

    D H Lawrence

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Six has always been a number we group things around – Six of the best, six of one half a dozen of another, six feet under, six pack, six degrees of separation and a sixth sense are but a few of the ways we use this number. 
     
    Such is its popularity that we thought it is also a very good way of challenging and investigating an author’s work to give width, brevity, humour and depth across six of their very best. 
     
    In this series we gather together authors whose short stories both rivet the attention and inspire the imagination to visit their gems in a series of six, to roam across an author’s legacy in a few short hours and gain a greater understanding of their writing and, of course, to be lavishly entertained by their ideas, their narrative and their way with words. 
     
    These stories can be surprising and sometimes at a tangent to what we expected, but each is fully formed and a marvellous adventure into the world and words of a literary master. 
     
     1 - Six of the Best - D H Lawrence - An Introduction 
    2 - D H Lawrence - An Introduction 
    3 - The Rocking Horse Winner by D H Lawrence 
    4 - The Horse Dealer's Daughter by D H Lawrence 
    5 - Odour of Chrysanthemums by D H Lawrence 
    6 - The Old Adam by D H Lawrence 
    7 - A Fragment of Stained Glass by D H Lawrence 
    8 - A Modern Lover - Part 1 by D H Lawrence 
    9 - A Modern Lover - Part 2 by D H Lawrence
    Show book
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - cover

    The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

    L. Frank Baum

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    The story follows a young girl named Dorothy who is swept away by a tornado from her home in Kansas to the magical Land of Oz. In this strange new world, she meets a scarecrow in need of a brain, a tin man who wants a heart, and a cowardly lion who wants courage. Together, they embark on a journey to meet the Wizard of Oz, hoping he can help them with their problems. Along the way, they encounter various obstacles and characters, both friendly and dangerous, as they make their way to the Wizard's city of emeralds. In the end, they discover that the Wizard is not the all-powerful being they thought he was, and that the answers they were seeking were within themselves all along. With its timeless themes of friendship, determination, and self-discovery, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a beloved classic of children's literature.
    Show book
  • HorrorBabble's PICKMAN'S MODEL - A Dramatic Adaptation - cover

    HorrorBabble's PICKMAN'S MODEL -...

    Ian Gordon, H.P. Lovecraft

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    This is a dramatic adaptation of Lovecraft's classic tale of the macabre, "Pickman's Model". First published in 1927, the story is recounted by Thurber, an art enthusiast, who describes his unsettling experiences with the reclusive artist Richard Upton Pickman. Known for his disturbingly lifelike paintings of grotesque creatures, Pickman’s work goes beyond imagination, hinting at something horrifyingly real.
    Show book
  • The Story of Doctor Dolittle - cover

    The Story of Doctor Dolittle

    Hugh Lofting

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    "Why can't a man learn to speak the language of the beasts?"
    
    John Dolittle, MD, is a respected physician in the quiet town of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh—until his growing collection of pets frightens away his human patients. Armed with the secret knowledge passed down by his wise parrot, Polynesia, the Doctor learns to speak the languages of the animal kingdom. From the smallest mouse to the largest elephant, Dolittle becomes the world's first "animal doctor." When a dire message arrives about an epidemic among the monkeys in Africa, the Doctor sets sail on a perilous journey that introduces him to the rarest creatures on Earth, including the two-headed Pushmi-pullyu.
    
    A Legacy of Compassion: Hugh Lofting famously began writing these stories in letters to his children from the trenches of World War I. Seeking an alternative to the violence he witnessed, he created a hero whose greatest weapons are empathy, linguistics, and a deep respect for all living things. The Doctor's house becomes a sanctuary where the "Animal Family"—including Jip the dog, Gub-Gub the pig, and Dab-Dab the duck—live in harmony.
    
    The Grand Adventure: The voyage to Africa is a masterclass in early 20th-century adventure. From escaping the King of the Jolliginki to crossing the "Precipice of the Barbary Coast," Lofting blends high-seas drama with the gentle humor of the Doctor's eccentric personality. It is a story that celebrates the idea that the "wild" world is not a place to be conquered, but a community to be understood.
    
    Discover the magic of communication. Purchase "The Story of Doctor Dolittle" today and start listening to the world around you.
    Show book